Oxfam Zimbabwe, local Non-governmental organisations that aspires to make a sustained and significant positive impact on poverty and injustice has called on stakeholders to scale up resources and programs to pave way for a quality humanitarian response to Zimbabweans.
Speaking during the launch of the Euro 3,5 Million project, a fund which was provided through the Joint Initiative drought response programme, a consortia of seven non-governmental organizations implementing a Zimbabwe Joint Drought Response Initiative supported by the Dutch Relief Alliance (DRA) funded by the Dutch Relief Fund (DRF) through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands, Oxfam Country Director Machinda Marongwe said the current poverty and hunger status in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa must be addressed immediately .
“The current humanitarian needs in Southern Africa are huge. A projected 33 million people will face food insecurity at the peak of this crisis, with 18 million already requiring immediate humanitarian assistance. Undoubtedly People will need assistance well into 2017.
“Governments and UN agencies are overwhelmed and currently do not have enough to deliver a response at scale meaning that millions of people risk hunger, limited access to clean and safe water, health and education services. This is true of three countries in which we work- Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
“I therefore call for an urgent scale up in resources and programs to allow us to deliver a quality humanitarian response to Zimbabweans in need and also across the Southern African region,” he said
He said Oxfam in Zimbabwe together with its Partners have undertook a Euro 3.5 Million Joint Drought Response Project which is set to be implemented in several districts of the country.
The program which is expected to reach out to more than 250,000 vulnerable people affected by drought in the targeted provinces and will complement the government’s efforts to address food and nutrition insecurity issues caused by the El Nino crisis.
“In response to the El Niño crisis and based on the 2016 ZIMVAC rapid assessment findings, the DRF supported project in Zimbabwe aims to provide timely humanitarian aid to affected communities,” he said.
The Oxfam boss said the project seeks to make life better for communities on the front lines of the drought and reduce the number of people impacted by this crisis.
The response project is looking at early recovery activities and interventions which include food security, Agriculture and WASH
The Geographical focus of the response in Zimbabwe include three priority areas with Matabeleland North, Midlands, and Masvingo Provinces being the first priority areas. Mashonaland West, and Matabeleland South Provinces are on the second priority ares while other provinces like Mashonaland East and Central, Manicaland are the last resort.
The prioritisation criteria was based on the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment carried out by the Food and Nutrition Council of Zimbabwe.
