Appeal from Christian Care Zimbabwe

For many years Zimbabwe prospered as the “breadbasket” of the Southern African region, net crop exporter and the world’s third largest tobacco producer. Today Zimbabwe’s economy is facing serious hyperinflation. The crisis is aggravated by an increasingly HIV/AIDS infected and affected population, and the overall rapid decline of social services. The UN has identified the crisis as a “triple threat” of food insecurity, poor governance and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This situation has been further aggravated with the Government-led “Restore Order” and “Drive Out the Trash” (“Murambatsvina”) Operations (from May to July 2005), which supposedly aimed at stopping illegal trading in urban and sub-urban areas across the country. As a result of these operations informal market sites, small businesses and allegedly illegal houses were demolished and large groups of people evicted. An estimated 4.1 million people are in need of emergency food assistance in this year. The resulting food shortages, rising staple food prices and diminished income-earning opportunities have led to an upward revision of the number of people at risk of food insecurity.

The ACT members in Zimbabwe, Christian Care (CCARE) and the Lutheran Development Services (LDS) will continue to support humanitarian interventions in Zimbabwe in order to mitigate the impact of an enduring crisis on the most vulnerable population groups. This appeal will be implemented for 12 months starting in November 2007. click here for more details.....