SANF 08 No 82
Member states in southern Africa have agreed to launch an urgent international campaign to mobilise financial and material resources for Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This follows food shortages and the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe and a humanitarian disaster in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The decision was taken at a meeting of the SADC Troika of Ministers of Health and Water Affairs, made up of the DRC, South Africa and Zambia.
The chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, said in a statement after the meeting that the Troika had agreed that the situation in both countries requires an immediate response from SADC member states.
He said this is consistent with the SADC Treaty which calls for a determination “to ensure, through common action, the progress and well-being of the people of southern Africa.”
“The SADC Troika has decided in accordance with Article 9 (6) (a) of the Treaty, to launch an urgent international campaign to mobilise financial and material resources for the people of Zimbabwe in order to help them overcome the challenges facing their country,” Motlanthe said.
The SADC chairperson said all countries in the 15-member bloc were expected to contribute to the campaign with their available resources.
He stressed that the campaign was about aid and would not deal with Zimbabwe’s political impasse.
“This is not political work, this relief work is not to be politicised, it’s going to be done on a humanitarian basis.
“So the mandate of this structure is really to ensure that the relief is distributed fairly to all deserving Zimbabweans, it is not to deal with the political challenges, those will be handled by the inclusive government once it is in place, they will have the authority to deal with all challenges on the political front,” said the chairperson.
The Zimbabwe government with the assistance of the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently completed a US$19 million Cholera Outbreak Co-ordinated Preparedness and Operation Plan to enable the country to mount a predictable and co-ordinated response to the epidemic.
A team of experts from WHO headquarters who are in Zimbabwe said the cholera cases are on a steady decline.
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Luis Sambo has arrived in Zimbabwe on a routine visit and will assess the cholera outbreak as well as the regional implications.
On 3 December 2008, the Zimbabwe government declared the cholera outbreak a national emergency and appealed for assistance from the region and the international community. Namibia and Tanzania have since responded by sending medical supplies.
It was after this regional appeal that the SADC Troika accepted recommendations of a delegation dispatched to Zimbabwe by the SADC Executive Secretary, Tomaz Salomão in early December, putting in place a regionally coordinated mechanism called the Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Framework (ZHDAF).
The ZHDAF will be responsible for, among other things, identifying beneficiaries and eliminating duplication of initiatives while monitoring the delivery of the humanitarian programme.
“A SADC-wide monitoring mechanism comprising representatives from member states, agricultural bodies, religious groups and heads of states of SADC diplomatic missions based in Harare will also be established to evaluate and assess the work of ZHDAF,” said Motlanthe.
Regarding the humanitarian situation in the DRC, the SADC chairperson said the SADC Extraordinary Heads of State and Government Summit, held in South Africa last month, had endorsed the Great Lakes Region’s statement calling for the establishment of humanitarian corridors throughout the region to ensure immediate access to the DRC.
He said the SADC Troika had resolved to actively appeal for increased international humanitarian assistance to the DRC to complement the current efforts of the individual countries and international humanitarian organisations.
Regarding the political developments in Zimbabwe, Motlanthe welcomed the publication, on 13 December, of Constitution Amendment Number 19 which paves way for the establishment of an inclusive government in terms of the Global Political Agreement signed on 15 September 2008.
He said that SADC urges the Zimbabwean political parties to expedite the formation of an all-inclusive government and thereby enable the country to deal with the challenges facing its people.
