The Zimbabwean government has agreed to allow aid groups to offer humanitarian assistance to people who have been displaced in its controversial urban clean-up drive.
Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo announced that the government would allow donors to provide assistance, mainly in the capital, Harare, and Zimbabwe’s second city, Bulawayo.
However, Chombo stressed that the NGOs would have to adhere to certain regulations. “Anyone with genuine intent and concern is allowed to assist, but there are rules to be followed. Already we are working together with organisations, such as the Red Cross, who have done a good job in converting Caledonia Farm into a transit camp.”
Two farms — Caledonia on the outskirts of Harare and Hellensvale near Bulawayo — have been converted into holding camps for those whose homes have been destroyed.
NGOs confirmed reaching an agreement with the government to provide food, blankets, medicines and sanitation facilities in the camps.
James Elder, of the United Nations children’s fund, Unicef, said the agency was particularly concerned about the plight of children who have been unable to attend school. “There is a lot of work we are doing throughout the country that includes disbursing blankets, putting up sanitary facilities, [providing] sleeping tents and [addressing the needs] of children.”
Unicef has appealed for more than $2,7-million to expand health care, deliver non-food items, provide HIV/Aids prevention and care, and place social workers in key areas as it steps up support to evicted children.
“Many children are now without shelter during winter, others have been separated from their parents and caregivers, schooling has been disrupted, access to water is difficult, and respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases are a real threat,” said Dr Festo Kavishe, Unicef’s representative in Zimbabwe.
According to the police, families would only be accommodated in the holding camps for a month while they either searched for proper accommodation in the townships or returned to their rural homes.