Humanitarian Agencies In Zimbabwe Seek To Comply, Resume Aid
A spokesman for the United Nations World Food Program said the agency has resumed operations in the country and will abide by regulatio
Most non-governmental organizations in Zimbabwe with humanitarian missions say they have relaunched operations two weeks after Harare lifted a ban on such activity that it imposed in June and are striving to meet new and by some accounts onerous new government requirements for re-registration and reporting. But Ngirande said an NGO committee isconsidering taking the government to court over the newregulations. He added that some areas of the country remain inaccessible as war veterans and youth militia remain in local control and are harassing aid workers. The U.S. branch of Oxfam was to resume operations this week,reports said. A spokesman for the United Nations World Food Programsaid the agency has resumed activity in the country and will abide by any regulations setby the government. Spokesman Richard Lee of the World Food Program's Southern African regional office said his organization’s 14 implementing partners in Zimbabwe will increasetheir reach from the 2.7 million people assisted in the first three months of2008 to some 3.2 million in the first three months of next year. U.N. food agencies have estimated that as many as some 5.1 million Zimbabweans could require food aid by early 2009. Meanwhile, Zimbabwean chiefs have accusing some politicians of diverting food intended for hungry villagers tothe lucrative parallel market. Speaking at a conference for traditional leaders in Bulawayo,the chiefs said party brass and some districtadministrators were hijacking food and farming implements being distributed bythe Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to needy villagers. But some of the chiefs have themselves been accusedof diverting food, while others have been accused of taking a hand in organizingrecent political violence.