Weekly Round-Up - IRINSA-352: 05-Oct-07
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa
Tel: +27 11 880 4633
Fax: +27 11 880 1421
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za
SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-Up 352
29 September - 5 October 2007
CONTENTS:
MALAWI: La Nina puts country on flood alert
ZIMBABWE: Food shortages bite as teachers strike for more pay
MALAWI: Corruption seen as worsening
AFRICA: La Nina: Worst is yet to come, warn climatologists
ZIMBABWE: Promise of full shop shelves met with scepticism
ZIMBABWE: People living with HIV/AIDS use new ways to handle hard times
ZIMBABWE: HIV-positive pastor shouts from the pulpit
ZIMBABWE: Informal markets boom with homemade commodities
ZIMBABWE: Recession hits renal patients
ZIMBABWE: Charities lend the elderly a hand
MALAWI: La Nina puts country on flood alert
Malawi's Department of Meteorological Services predicts that the
development of a weak La Nina phenomenon in the eastern Pacific Ocean
could lead to flooding across the greater part of the country. Donald
Kamdonyo, Director of Meteorological Services, said the appearance of La
Nina, which occurs when cooler water wells up to the surface of the
eastern central Pacific Ocean, was associated with above normal rainfall
over southern Africa.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74662
ZIMBABWE: Food shortages bite as teachers strike for more pay
Shortages of basic commodities like bread and maizemeal, brought on by
the world's highest inflation rate, prompted Zimbabwean teachers unable
to cope with escalating prices to go on strike this week, demanding a
salary hike.
There is virtually no bread for sale, and the government's Agricultural
Extension Services Department revealed in a recent report that the
winter wheat harvest had only reached 144,870 metric tonnes (mt),
against a national requirement of 400,000mt.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74625
MALAWI: Corruption seen as worsening
Assurances by President Bingu wa Mutharika's government that it has
adopted a zero-tolerance approach to corruption have not altered the
view of a leading international monitoring body that graft in Malawi is
worsening.
Transparency International (TI), the global corruption watchdog, said in
its latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI) that Malawi had dropped 28
places from 90 in 2004 to 118 this year, a three-year time-frame
mirroring Mutharika's assumption of the presidency in 2004 on an
electoral ticket that promised to clean up the administration.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74577
AFRICA: La Nina: Worst is yet to come, warn climatologists
Eastern Africa could face dry conditions early next year, with the
possibility of seasonal rains being delayed by the effects of a climate
phenomenon called La Nina, climatologists say.
"The second rainy season starts now for the Horn of Africa and Eastern
Africa - we expect the rains to be near normal over much of the Greater
Horn of Africa," said Bwango Apuuli, deputy director of the
Nairobi-based Climate Prediction and Application Centre (ICPAC) of the
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional grouping.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74578
ZIMBABWE: Promise of full shop shelves met with scepticism
Predictions by Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono, that empty
supermarket shelves will soon be packed with goods are being received
somewhat sceptically by Zimbabweans.
Gono's upbeat assessment of the country's prospects in his mid-year
monetary policy statement on Monday coincided with an absence of bread
on shop shelves because of a poor winter wheat harvest, adding to the
list of widespread shortages of basic items that includes fuel, water,
electricity and medicines. Donor agencies estimate that more than a
third of Zimbabweans are on the cusp of severe food shortages.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74619
ZIMBABWE: People living with HIV/AIDS use new ways to handle hard times
Dire shortages of such essentials as electricity and water are forcing
Zimbabweans living with HIV/AIDS to combat the country's hardships with
new and novel approaches.
According to the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey, 18.1 percent of
the population of about 11.5 million are infected with HIV - the sixth
highest prevalence in the world.
Once one of the most prosperous countries in the sub-Saharan region,
Zimbabwe's economy is in freefall, with an inflation rate of more than
6,000 percent and international donor agencies predicting that by the
end of the year a third of the population will require emergency food
aid.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74599
ZIMBABWE: HIV-positive pastor shouts from the pulpit
Rev Maxwell Kapachawo is the only known pastor in Zimbabwe who publicly
admits to being HIV-positive; he is also encouraging any of his peers
infected and affected by the disease to speak openly about HIV/AIDS from
the pulpit.
Churches in Zimbabwe tend to approach HIV/AIDS as a moral issue,
Kapachawo told IRIN, and treat those infected as immoral, but the
disease afflicting one in five Zimbabweans between the ages of 15 and 49
should actually be addressed as a medical matter.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74646
ZIMBABWE: Informal markets boom with homemade commodities
Unable to get their hands on scarce and often expensive essentials,
Zimbabweans are settling for food items such as cooking oil that are
cheap, often substandard, and sometimes dangerous, which are now
flooding the informal markets.
"We are worried by the presence of unhygienic and substandard foodstuffs
on the market, particularly in the black market," said Rosemary
Siyachitema, executive director of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe
(CCZ), a watchdog body.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74648
ZIMBABWE: Recession hits renal patients
Thousands of lives have been put at risk since the only two functioning
dialysis machines in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, broke down three
weeks ago.
The dialysis machines were at Mpilo Central hospital, Bulawayo's main
referral hospital for more than a million people, including those living
in far-flung rural areas in the three southern provinces of Matabeleland
North, South and Masvingo.
In the capital, Harare, 10 of the 18 dialysis machines at Parirenyatwa
Hospital, the country's largest referral centre, broke down a month ago.
Desperate patients now queue for treatment around the clock.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74581
ZIMBABWE: Charities lend the elderly a hand
Despite help from relatives abroad, Zimbabwe's elderly people are
struggling to cope with food shortages and high transport costs, brought
on by an inflation rate of more than 6,000 percent, and a lack of fuel
and foreign exchange that make it difficult for most to obtain even
basic essentials, prompting charities to lend a helping hand.
"Even if I have [money], where will I get the food I need?" asked
Theresa Malunga, 74, who survives on remittances from her son overseas.
"I wish my son knew what the situation here is like and would send me
food parcels instead."
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74604
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Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
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Center for International web: www.cidi.org
Disaster Information listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
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Southern Africa www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/safrica