President Robert Mugabe and First Lady Amai Grace in Zimbabwe which held a peaceful run-off election in 2008 amid continuing threats from the US, UK and other imperialist countries and their allies in the region.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Sunday Mail Reporter
THE Government has clashed with some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) over the management of a US$478 million humanitarian aid package to be extended to Zimbabwe through a United Nations (UN) agency.
This development threatens to derail efforts to assist people in need.
It has emerged that NGOs are clamouring for greater control of the aid package to be released through the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) after Zimbabwe’s Consolidated Appeal (CAP) for 2010.
During the launch of the CAP mid-year review process in Harare last week, the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (Nango) demanded to be allocated a larger chunk of the US$478 million fund, set to be raised for humanitarian efforts in the country.
The NGOs want to be allocated more than the 26 percent they received last year, but the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Regional Integration and International Co-operation, Mr Tedious Chifamba, last week said the demand smacked of greed.
He accused the NGOs of attempting to run a parallel programme and took a swipe at them for not being accountable for the funds that they had already received under CAP.
“It is very worrying that the NGOs seem to want to run a process that is parallel to what is being run by UN agencies and the Government.
“CAP should be run under a spirit of partnership so that we deliver the aid in a transparent manner to those in need, but that spirit is lacking amongst the NGOs.
“It is unfortunate that the NGOs are refusing to be accountable for what they have already received,” he said.
Mr Chifamba said the resources generated from CAP should go to the intended beneficiaries.
“The resources should go directly to the intended beneficiaries and they should not be used to purchase vehicles and cover administrative costs. That is why it is important for the Government and local authorities to be involved,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary said some NGOs were refusing to comply with the Aid Co-ordination Structure set up by the Government to ensure efficiency during the extension of aid.
“Recently, the Government of Zimbabwe and partners adopted an Aid Co-ordination Structure after widespread consultations. The Aid Co-ordination Structure is meant to improve information-sharing so as to enhance aid effectiveness as well as mutual accountability,” he said.
Mr Chifamba said the information-sharing exercise “should not be misconstrued as Government trying to police the activities of co-operating partners”.
Nango’s membership and capacity building manager Mr Moses Ndhokoyo said some NGOs were considering pulling out of the CAP programme owing to a number of concerns that included limited access to the funds.
He said: “There is a huge discrepancy in terms of access to CAP funds between NGOs and UN agencies. It is against these observations that there has been a mixture of reactions on whether to continue with CAP in its current form or not.”
Last month Regional Integration and International Cooperation Minister Priscilla Misihairabwi- Mushonga said NGOs should abide by the rules and regulations that the Government set for donor funding, adding that it was the Government’s prerogative to determine where aid went.
The US$478 million CAP is earmarked to assist humanitarian efforts in food aid, health, agriculture, education, water and sanitation, amongst other sectors.
According to the summary of requirements for clusters, food requires a revised budget of US$138 million, while the agriculture and health sectors require more than US$108 million and US$63 million respectively.
Communities that face food shortages owing to prolonged dry spells that were experienced during last year’s summer cropping season are expected to get assistance through the CAP initiative.
The funds are also earmarked to assist in the rehabilitation of rural and urban water supply infrastructure to prevent typhoid and cholera outbreaks.
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