Zim taps into £16,9m drought mitigation grant

ZIMBABWE has been listed as one of the beneficiaries of the Department of International Development (DFID)’s £16,9 million ($20,8 million) drought and disease mitigation grant.

Source: Zim taps into £16,9m drought mitigation grant – NewsDay Zimbabwe December 28, 2016

BY SILAS NKALA

In a statement on Monday, United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said Zimbabwe was among four southern African countries approaching the peak of the lean season, following the worst El-Nino-induced drought in decades.

Unicef said it received a £16,9 million grant for life-saving interventions to prevent the escalation of malnutrition and child illness or death in Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

“The timely funds from the UK government’s Department of International Development (DFID) come as increasing numbers of children are dropping out of school due to lack of water or pressing needs at home. In addition, disease outbreaks, such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea, are reported across the four countries,” the statement read.

“Health care workers will receive critical care training, and over 65 000 children will be treated for diarrhoea, pneumonia or measles. 194 000 people are targeted to gain access to safe drinking water. The grant will also help to reach 3,25 million people with key information on nutrition, water and hygiene best practices, as well as HIV and disease prevention.”

Unicef’s eastern and southern Africa regional director, Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala, said the grant would enable affected families to cope with the impact of the drought.

The humanitarian organisation has benefitted more than 13,6 million in the four affected countries where over 137 000 children are being forced out of school by the crisis; in Madagascar, the dropout rate in primary schools is up to 40% in most affected communities and in the four countries, more than 143 000 children were estimated to need treatment for severe acute malnutrition in 2016 and 1,3 million to need access to safe water.

“The DFID assistance will run until November 2017,” the statement read.

Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel said over 37 million people across Africa would be without adequate food at the beginning of next year.

“That is why Global Britain is leading the response to the escalating crisis by providing lifesaving food, water and shelter, and we urge others to step up to prevent people from going hungry and leaving their homes in search of food. Tackling the global challenges of our time such as drought and disease which fuel migration, insecurity and instability is the right thing to do and is firmly in Britain’s interest,” Patel said.