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 355
15 - 21 December 2007


CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Rainwater harvesting eases shortage
MALAWI: Malnutrition still a threat
ZIMBABWE: Country braces for another round of flooding
GLOBAL: Out of the woods, for now
ZAMBIA: Thinking of legal protection for women
MOZAMBIQUE/ZIMBABWE: Flood death toll rises


ZIMBABWE: Rainwater harvesting eases shortage

Residents of Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, are harvesting welcome 
rainwater from their roofs after consistently low rainfall in the past 
few years forced the city council to decommission all but one of its six 
reservoirs and impose rigorous water rationing.

Poor access to water has far-reaching implications for general health 
and hygiene, but is even more crucial in HIV/AIDS prevention and care. 
Experts suggest there would be great potential for rainwater harvesting 
from roofs to alleviate Bulawayo's chronic water problems, and was a 
practice that council institutions should view seriously.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75918


MALAWI: Malnutrition still a threat

Despite two years of bumper harvests, malnutrition, partly a consequence 
of Malawi's famine in 2005, still lingers. Experts warn that key 
indicators for malnutrition remain alarmingly high.

Malawi has turned the page on the 2005 drought that left about five 
million people in need of food aid. Household food security has improved 
but not all the underlying causes of malnutrition have been tackled.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75920


ZIMBABWE: Country braces for another round of flooding

The Zimbabwe government's emergency assistance arm, the Civil Protection 
Unit (CPU), is moving hundreds of people to higher ground and advising 
others to do likewise in the wake of flooding that has claimed three 
lives and resulted in a fourth person being listed as missing.

More rain has been forecast across Zimbabwe after a two-week deluge 
flooded low-lying areas in the Muzarabani district of Mashonaland 
Central Province, in the north of the country.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75939


GLOBAL: Out of the woods, for now

Every night was a long one in the Indonesian island of Bali as countries 
debated a framework for the Bali Roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas 
emissions after 2012, when the first commitment phase of the Kyoto 
Protocol ends.

The Bali Roadmap sets out an agenda for two years of talks, with a 
deadline in 2009, on a new agreement to cut emissions and prevent 
dangerous climate change. Pilot projects measuring emissions reduction 
from forestry projects were also agreed, as a first step towards future 
forest management and reclamation projects.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75940


ZAMBIA: Thinking of legal protection for women

The high level of gender-based violence in Zambia is preventing many 
women from accessing HIV/AIDS services, according to a new report by 
global watchdog Human Rights Watch.

According to the report, Hidden In The Mealie Meal: Gender-Based Abuses 
and Women's HIV Treatment in Zambia, the New-York based lobby group 
found that many women were taking life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) 
medication without informing their husbands, and were forced to resort 
to extreme measures to hide their medication.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75942


MOZAMBIQUE/ZIMBABWE: Flood death toll rises

Floodwaters in central Mozambique have displaced at least 100 families 
and the death toll in neighbouring Zimbabwe has risen to at least nine 
as heavy rains lashed the neighbouring southern African countries, 
according to media reports.

In central Mozambique flood waters had swept away about 188 hectares of 
crops while in neighbouring Zimbabwe, the state run newspaper, the 
Herald, said the government had declared a state of emergency in 
Mashonaland Central's Muzarabani District, while extensive flood damage 
was reported in Masvingo Province's Chiredzi and Chivi districts.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75968


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