U.S. Ambassador tours urban feeding program in Mutare
Mutare- Feb. 24 2009: U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee visited the USAID/ Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)- funded Joint Initiative Humanitarian Assistance Program in Mutare’s Sakubva township in Manicaland.
The program assists vulnerable populations in urban and peri-urban areas with livelihoods programs with the goal of restoring their dignity, and reduces suffering. The response is holistic, bringing together NGO expertise in education, livelihoods, HIV and AIDS, food security, and child protection.
USAID through the Office of Disaster Assistance provided Mercy Corps with US$2,5 million from May 2008 to April 2011. Nearly 10,000 individuals are expected to benefit from the funding over the 36- month period.
The program started in the late 2005, when seven NGOs and a consortium of donors gathered to discuss increasing poverty and vulnerability in the urban and peri-urban areas of Zimbabwe. The situation had been exacerbated by the government’s Operation Murambatsvina (“Drive Out the Fifth”), a “clean-up” campaign in which the government destroyed “illegal” homes and market stands.
A UN report estimated that 700,000 people lost their homes or livelihoods as a result of Operation Murambatsvina, and that more than 2.4 million people – almost 20% of the population – were indirectly affected.