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IRIN Africa | Southern Africa | SOUTH AFRICA-ZIMBABWE | SOUTH AFRICA-ZIMBABWE: Church aid to leave for Harare soon | Food Security | Breaking News
Sunday 18 December 2005
 
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SOUTH AFRICA-ZIMBABWE: Church aid to leave for Harare soon


[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]



©  IRIN

Aid for displaced Zimbabweans has been held up in South Africa since last week

JOHANNESBURG, 11 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Two trucks carrying 37 mt of food aid and another laden with blankets for Zimbabweans affected by the government's controversial cleanup campaign are expected to leave South Africa for Harare soon, according to a South African Council of Churches (SACC) spokesman.

"We have finally got the necessary documents saying that the maize in the truck has not been genetically modified - so we hope to get the necessary clearance certificate from the Zimbabwean authorities," said Rev Ron Steele on behalf of the SACC.

The trucks have been waiting in a depot in Johannesburg since last week after the Zimbabwean government demanded documents confirming that the maize was not genetically modified.

Christian Care, an NGO, will distribute the goods for the Zimbabwe Council of Churches. "The food aid is destined for the transit camps outside Harare," said Steele.

A report by UN Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka said about 700,000 people had been affected by the demolitions in and around urban centres, which "breached both national and international human rights law provisions guiding evictions" and had created "a humanitarian crisis".

Meanwhile, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has announced that it will rent housing for more than 100 evicted families with disabled children and provide them with transport.

UNICEF said it had joined the UN World Food Programme, the International Office of Migration (IOM), the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society and local NGOs in providing hundreds of thousands of people with blankets and plastic sheeting for protection from the cold, along with sanitation facilities, food and shelter. The organisations are also supplying chronically ill people with home-based treatment.

"We have been working around the clock for the better part of three months and are improving the situation for tens of thousands, but such is the gravity of the situation that we are asking the international community to support the people of Zimbabwe," noted UNICEF's Country Representative, Festo Kavishe.

[ENDS]


 Theme(s) Food Security
Other recent SOUTH AFRICA-ZIMBABWE reports:

Relations unaffected by spy scandal, says official,  13/Dec/05

A handful of Zimbabweans granted asylum,  1/Nov/05

Bailout talks to resume soon,  28/Sep/05

Business struggle after SA disconnects Harare for unpaid phone bill,  6/Sep/05

Children living in borderland limbo,  31/Aug/05

Other recent Food Security reports:

MIDDLE EAST: Appeal to Arab world to give more to world’s poorest, 16/Dec/05

SENEGAL: Frozen chicken imports threaten local farmers’ livelihoods, 16/Dec/05

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 308 covering 10-16 December 2005, 16/Dec/05

ETHIOPIA: Food security improving - FEWS Net, 15/Dec/05

ZAMBIA: Govt acts to speed up maize importation, 13/Dec/05

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