United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund allocates USD11 million to bolster aid programmes in Zimbabwe

(Johannesburg: 9 February 2009) -The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, has allocated some US$11 million to boost the humanitarian response in Zimbabwe.

Humanitarian actors in Zimbabwe received the largest portion of funds allocated during the Central Emergency Response Fund's (CERF) most recent underfunded round. The US$11 million in CERF funds will now be apportioned by the United Nations Resident Coordinator to priority life-saving programmes, as identified by United Nations humanitarian agencies, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and their NGO partners. This is the second CERF allocation for Zimbabwe in 2009. On 30 January, CERF allocated some US$7.8 million to help the Zimbabwean authorities and United Nations agencies to implement a number of urgently-needed programmes to combat cholera. UN agencies and their humanitarian partners requested a total of US$567 million to support those in need in Zimbabwe in 2009, but to date; only 12 percent of the appeal is funded.

The overall humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe remains acute. An estimated six million Zimbabweans depend on food aid during the first quarter of 2009. Action is urgently required to save household agricultural production in 2009, and mitigate the impacts of the lost season in 2008, when seeds and fertilizers were not secured by most farming households. The infrastructure for delivering basic social services is seriously affected, resulting in unprecedented levels of disease incidence and prevalence throughout the country. The education sector is equally affected. High vulnerability levels, coupled with one of the world's highest HIV infection rates of 15.6%, deepen the population's vulnerability. World record hyperinflation and a collapsing banking system pose major challenges to humanitarian operations, with most agencies affected by the lack of cash and inability to access foreign currency.

The funds for Zimbabwe are part of some US$75 million in allocations made by the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator through a biannual process to support underfunded programmes in emergency situations around the world. Agencies working in Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Ethiopia and Somalia will receive allocations of US$10 million per country. Humanitarian agencies in Yemen will receive US$5 million, as will humanitarian partners in Colombia and Haiti. Meanwhile, programmes in Burundi and Niger will receive US$4 million and Myanmar US$3 million. Humanitarian actors in Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, and Eritrea will each receive US$2 million.

CERF was established in 2006 to help agencies respond rapidly to new or deteriorating humanitarian situations. Since its establishment, more than 100 Member States and private sector donors have contributed US$1.5 billion dollars to CERF, which is administered by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The Fund, which was envisaged as being "by all, for all" has disbursed over $1.1 billion to help millions of victims of natural disasters and conflict in some 70 countries since 2006.

For further information, please call:

Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1917 892 1679, bunker@un.org;

Nicholas Reader +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117,reader@un.org,

Elisabeth Byrs OCHAGeneva,+41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org

OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int. For more information about CERF, please see http://cerf.un.org