Maravi

USAID gives Zim govt US $2.2m aid

USAID gives Zim govt US $2.2m aid
Written by George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 2:36:28 PM

WESTERN donors have started opening up their treasuries to assist Zimbabwe, with the United States being the latest after offering a US $2.2 million aid package.

US Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee yesterday said the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had released an additional US $2.2 million to support Zimbabwe's failing health systems. Ambassador McGee announced that USAID had released the additional package of emergency initiatives for malaria, measles, and other essential drugs.

"The United States of America will continue to support life-saving assistance programmes for the Zimbabwean people," Ambassador McGee stated. "The cholera crisis is just one terrible result of a much larger, systemic failure of the health system that needs to be addressed."

The USAID gave US$ 1.7 million for the expansion of Zimbabwe's medical supply logistics system, ensuring that drugs and commodities are properly coordinated, managed, and reach the intended beneficiaries. _

An additional US $200,000 for malaria prevention will enable the Ministry of Health's national mosquito spraying programme to complete its mission this season, he stated.

The USAID also gave US$ 300,000 for the national measles vaccination campaign. According to the US embassy in Harare, the recent contribution brings the total United States humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe's food and health crisis to over US $260 million since October 2007.

The statement further claimed that the US was the leading food donor, providing nearly 70 per cent of all international food aid distributed in Zimbabwe through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the UN World Food Program this year.

In addition, the US will contribute over US $30 million this year for HIV/AIDS programmes, in addition to paying for 33 per cent of the Global Fund's multilateral programmes.

Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith also announced in a recent statement, ending a long-standing ban on non-humanitarian aid to the southern African country.

He stated that the Australian government wanted to help Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai relieve the suffering of Zimbabweans.

Smith stated that Australia would provide $6.5m for the Zimbabwean government to restore basic water, sanitation and health services.

Yesterday, details emerged of how South Africa's treasury was considering a financial assistance package to Zimbabwe.

However, it was unclear how much South Africa's contribution to the package would be, but Zimbabwe has previously estimated that it needs at least US $2 billion in the short-term.

During the third session of the Zimbabwe-South Africa Joint Permanent Commission meeting in Victoria Falls yesterday, South African foreign affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said Harare's financial rescue proposal was being considered.

She said the proposal was now with her country's treasury to see what was possible on SA's part.

"But, it is also wider than just SA. There are areas where the rest of the Southern African Development Community can chip in," said Dlamini-Zuma.

Labels: DONORS, USAID, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 2:36 PM