UK Avails £49 Million Towards Drought Relief In Zimbabwe
The United Kingdom’s International Development Secretary, Alok Sharma, on August 9 revealed that her government had availed £49 million towards food aid for Zimbabwe.
This follows an appeal for assistance by the government of Zimbabwe to the international community following a severe drought during the 2018/19 farming season. Part of the statement by the UK government reads:
- No DFID money is given directly to the Government of Zimbabwe.
- Reducing poverty, hunger and providing clean water and sanitation is at the heart of what UK aid does, but our investment is also about tackling disease and conflict – ultimately creating a safer, healthier and more prosperous world.
- The £49 million announced today will fund a new humanitarian and resilience programme that will start on October 2019 and run until September 2022 in Zimbabwe. This includes £25.5 million of new funding for DFID Zimbabwe from reallocations within DFID’s budget and £23.5 million funding from DFID Zimbabwe’s existing budget that will now be focused on humanitarian support.
- DFID’s total UK aid support to Zimbabwe for 2019/20 is £113.5 million.
- Today’s announcement of UK aid support will help:
- Up to 440,000 Zimbabweans who face potential starvation in rural and urban areas get access to food and water via the World Food Programme (WFP) through small cash transfers.
- Support 300,000 vulnerable people to prepare for potential cholera or typhoid outbreak by providing disease surveillance, essential medicine to treat water-borne diseases and training for local health workers to rapidly respond to outbreaks.
- Strengthen disaster planning in Zimbabwe and help get financing in place before disaster strikes so they can better manage the economic impact of emergencies and build their resilience.
- Discover ways to build the resilience of vulnerable people to economic and climatic shocks. This involves increasing support to a WFP pilot to provide 100,000 vulnerable people in urban communities with assistance so they get the food they need through access to mobile money.
More: UK Government
