Press Release

British Red Cross releases £300k for Zimbabwe appeal

Wednesday, August 6 2008

The British Red Cross has released an initial £300,000 from its Disaster Fund to support a £13.6m International Red Cross appeal for food security in Zimbabwe which was launched today.

More than 2m people are in immediate need of food aid, with that figure expected to rise to over 5m – 45 per cent of the country's entire population - by the beginning of next year, according to UN estimates.

The preliminary Red Cross appeal will assist 260,100 orphans, vulnerable children, people living with HIV and their dependants. These people, who will be reached through an existing network of home-based care services run by the Zimbabwean Red Cross, are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity and its effects.

"Millions of people across the country are already in need of emergency food assistance and that figure is forecast to more than double; the situation is extremely serious,” said Pete Garratt, relief operations manager for the British Red Cross.

"Crops have failed, production is down and inflation in Zimbabwe is the highest of any country in the world, these factors create a situation where it is very, very hard for people to get enough food.

"For a number of reasons, those living with or affected by HIV are particularly vulnerable; whether its children who have lost their parents, older people whose own children have succumbed to the disease, or people who have the virus themselves and need food for their drugs to be effective. Food insecurity coupled with the effects of HIV is a devastating combination."

The Red Cross will import 35,000 metric tones of food into Zimbabwe to provide immediate aid, but will also provide seeds, equipment and training to help families and communities improve their ability to cope with food security threats in the long term.

"Red Cross Red Crescent operations in Zimbabwe are being coordinated with other humanitarian organizations in the country, including UN agencies," explained Françoise Le Goff, head of the International Federation of the Red Cross’ Southern African zone

"This preliminary emergency appeal is based on initial assessments of the situation. As more detailed assessments come to hand, and as the needs of vulnerable communities become clearer, the appeal may be revised and possibly increased."

The full preliminary emergency appeal is available at www.ifrc.org.

To donate to the British Red Cross Disaster Fund visit: www.redcross.org.uk/disasterfund