Zimbabwe's water, sanitation, andhealth crisis has received a $10 million boost from the government of Australiato help restore basic services as officials fight off an appalling choleraemergency. Half of the money will bedirected at sanitation projects coordinated by the UN Childrens Fund(UNICEF). The other $5 million will helppay salaries of local health workers, many of whom have been sidelined by thecountry's enormous financial strains.
Reactingto Australia's water assistance, acting State Department spokesman Robert Woodsaid Wednesday that Washington is reviewing its aid policy. "We've said basically that we want to see howthis unity government performs before we can make any type of decision onproviding assistance. Humanitarian aidwe will continue to provide, but that was clearly a decision taken by theAustralian government," he noted.
The US has curtailed almost all excepthumanitarian aid to the former Harare government for several years to show itsdisapproval of the policies directed by President Robert Mugabe. But the US Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) did contribute $6.2 million last December for Zimbabwewater, sanitation, and health programs.
RedCross (IFRC) Senior Water and Sanitation Officer Robert Fraser says the Australian contribution is awelcome addition to the international effort to resolve Zimbabwe's choleraemergency.
"Wecertainly welcome all efforts of the international community to assistvulnerable communities in Zimbabwe, and we ourselves have long-term sanitationprograms, particularly supported by the European Union. And we are looking forward to expanding thoseactivities that we have in Zimbabwe. Andso anybody else who can support those longer term programs will reduce thenumber of people in Zimbabwe that are vulnerable to diarrheal diseases," hesaid.
Almost88-thousand Zimbabweans have fallen victim to cholera since the crisis began inAugust of last year, and almost four thousand have died from the outbreak,which is attributed mainly to the collapse of sanitation services, corruptionof the urban water supply, and shortcomings in local and urban garbage collectionsystems. Some foreign governments,including Australia's, had previously shied away from sending finances beyondhumanitarian help for fear that the funds would be misused by the Mugabegovernment. Fraser says he cannotconfirm that the new unity government in place since February 11, with MorganTsvangirai as Prime Minister, has redesigned spending practices, but he pointsout that international aid agencies have had a long, constructive workingrelationship with government, water and health professionals in Zimbabwe.
"Ourlonger term programs in Zimbabwe have not suffered from any sort of negativeinputs from the government at all. Andwe are very pleased that especially at the grassroots level, we've had a lot ofsupport and very easy interaction with the Zimbabwe government, and therefore,I think perhaps that some of the press reports are unfair. It is possible to work very well in Zimbabwewith government," he said.
Fraserdescribes the Red Cross role in Zimbabwe's sanitation and water rehabilitationas a collaborative effort, working closely with other international agenciesunder a United Nations umbrella.
"Ofcourse, UNICEF leads the WASH Cluster, Water and Sanitation and HygieneCluster, of which we are a member. So wecan only improve the conditions in Zimbabwe and many other countries by workingtogether with the United Nations under that umbrella so that the differentactors can coordinate and support each other in trying to meet MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) and improving conditions for many people," notesFraser.
Hesays that Red Cross workers in Zimbabwe are working closely with theirvolunteers and humanitarian partners in emergency response teams to respondmore effectively to sudden cholera outbreaks around the country.
"InZimbabwe at present, we have seven emergency response units . Four of those response units are dealing withwater sanitation and hygiene promotion and three of those units are providingclinical support, working closely with the Ministry of Health and otherorganizations working there. And we havea variety of those emergency response units on call 24 hours a day, 365 days ayear. And we deploy to major disastersaround the world fairly regularly. Theseare teams of trained technicians and engineers. Doctors, who also arrive with equipment, and so on, ready to deal withalmost any natural, and manmade disaster worldwide," he observed.