The Zimbabwe government and aid agencies on Friday launched a revised humanitarian appeal for an additional US$60 million to support efforts by the country to ease the impact of a crippling drought, economic challenges and the deadly Cyclone Idai.
The launch was convened by the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Zimbabwe, Bishow Parajuli, and brought together senior government representatives, members of the diplomatic corps, heads of UN agencies and non-government organisations.
Parajuli said the revised appeal aims to respond to the rising humanitarian needs of needy Zimbabwe due to a dry spell, challenging economic situation and the recent Cyclone Idai disaster in the eastern part of the country.
“Cyclone Idai has left an additional 270,000 people extremely vulnerable, bringing the total number of people targeted for humanitarian assistance by the UN and humanitarian partners to 2.47 million people with USD 294 million resources required,” Parajuli said.
The appeal followed another request for US$234 million in February to address the emergency needs of 2.2 million people as a result of economic challenges and drought.
The country has received below normal rainfall during the 2018/19 farming season that ended in March and millions of people are expected to be food insecure this year.
The plight of the poor has been made worse by a crippling economic crisis that has seen thousands of families struggling to make ends meet.
The situation has been worsened by the deadly Cyclone Idai that killed more than 400 people and destroyed homes and infrastructure in Chimanimani and Chipinge near Zimbabwe’s border with Mozambique.
JN/APA