Day: September 17, 2022

LUSAKA, Zambian Vice President Mutale Nalumango said that the country will not face any food crisis because it has sufficient maize stock.
In remarks delivered during a parliament session, the vice president said that public warning about a hidden food crisis should stop, as the maize reserves were sufficient for consumption until the next farming season.
Nalumango said that the Zambian government purchased 220,000 tons of maize, up from the targeted 170,000 tons, and that there was more in market supply and farmers were free to sell it to any buyers.
However, she admitted that there would be food shortage in some areas of poor harvests, noting that the government would step in to help.
“The situation is not as bad as it is being portrayed. We have done our vulnerability assessment and we know areas that did not produce enough maize. The Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit are ready to move in,” she said.
Early this week, the Zambia Public Procurement Authority canceled the fertilizer tender, raising concerns that the delay in fertilizer supply to farmers would affect the farming season and production of the coming season.

Source: Nam News Network

UNITED NATIONS, The UN General Assembly is back in person after the pandemic disruption but in a world as full of crises as ever, with the war in Ukraine set to pit the West against Russia.
Some 150 world leaders will descend on New York for a week of diplomacy, with all required to come in person to speak save one — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, granted an exception as he leads the fight against Russian invaders.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking ahead of the summit that formally begins Tuesday, said that the world’s divisions “are the widest they have been since at least the Cold War.”
“Our world is blighted by war, battered by climate chaos, scarred by hate and shamed by poverty, hunger and inequality,” Guterres said.
“As fractures deepen and trust evaporates, we need to come together around solutions.”
The General Assembly voted Friday to let Zelensky speak by video. Seven nations voted against including Russia, saying that the right should be extended to all leaders, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping, not planning to travel to New York.
Several US adversaries are expected, however, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, defying loud protests from their opponents in the United States.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday will co-chair a summit on food security with the African Union, European Union and Spain as high global prices — worsened by the invasion of major grain producer Ukraine — bring new hunger around the world.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said that he will seek “dialogue with our partners from the South to avoid planting this idea that it’s the West against the rest.”
And with Covid concerns lingering, the United Nations is still limiting the size of delegations and requiring the wearing of masks in the towering headquarters on the East River.
Prime Minister Liz Truss, who took office two days before the death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, will fly after the funeral to the United Nations on her first foreign trip since taking office.
The UN summit will also mark a fresh occasion to build momentum on global action on climate change, amid mounting signs that the planet is descending into dangerous levels of warming.
“We have run out of time to waste,” said Ambassador Walton Webson of Antigua and Barbuda, heading the Alliance of Small Island States.
“Our islands are being hit with more severe and more frequent climate impacts and recovery comes at the cost of our development,” he said.
Guterres said he will use the week to speak frankly with leaders amid guarded hopes for further progress on climate during the next climate summit, COP27, in Egypt in November.

Source: Nam News Network

Highlights

A total of 8,623 children (4,854 girls and 3,769 boys) were admitted for treatment of wasting between January and June against an annual target of 12,685 children.

A total of 1,660,504 people (1,254,302 females; 406,202 males) were reached with primary health care services at UNICEF supported facilities between the period January and August 2022 against an annual target of 3 million.

Between January and August, 230,839 people (109,449 males;120,693 females; 697 PLWD) out of an annual target of 1,250,000 were provided with safe, basic water supply services.

Between January and August 2022, 107,357 users have registered on the Learning Passport platform against an annual target of 367,525.

A total of 17,858 households received emergency social cash transfers in Beitbridge, Binga, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Lupane and Mufakose.

A total of 21,826 (61 per cent female) out of an annual target of 70,000 were reached with community based mental health and psychosocial support.

Situation in Numbers

2,200,000
children in need of humanitarian assistance
(HAC 2022)

4,300,000
people in need
(HAC 2022)

3,000,000
People to be reached
(HAC 2022)

1,100,000
Children to be reached
(HAC 2022)

Funding Overview and Partnerships

UNICEF is appealing for US$ 44.1 million to meet the increased humanitarian needs in the country in 2022 because of the multiple hazards of drought, Tropical Storm Ana, flash floods, COVID-19, diarrheal disease outbreaks, and the economic crisis impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 among other factors. The funding ask will enable UNICEF to provide critical humanitarian assistance to 3 million people including 1.1 million children in the affected areas. As of 30 June 2022, UNICEF Zimbabwe Country Office had received a total of US$ 10.6 million (19 per cent of the total 2022 funding requirement) from various donors that include ECHO, Japan, USAID BHA, USAID (CDC), FCDO, SIDA, and UNICEF Global Thematic.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

Zimbabwe is currently responding to a Measles outbreak, food insecurity, as well as the ongoing COVID-19. Measles cases had increased to 4495 cases and more than 483 deaths due to measles had been reported by 31 August. The age group with most complications is the 6-59 months, while the most affected age group is the 5-14 years with challenges of spread during school openings. The outbreak continues to grow progressively with more than 35 districts with IgM positive cases. Between January and July 2022, 201,963 (100,050 girls; 101,913 boys) received the first dose of Measles Rubella 1 against a cumulative annual target of 504,900 (40.0per cent). A total of 8449 (4,752 girls and 3,697 boys) children against a national target of 12,685 children aged 6 to 59 months were admitted for treatment of wasting nationally with a 73.9 per cent cure rate (70 per cent for girls and 78 per cent for boys). In WASH, 60,258 people (28,768 males; 31,169 females; 321 PLWD) were provided with enough safe water for drinking and domestic needs during the reporting period, cumulatively reaching a total of 230,839 people (109,449 males;120,693 females; 697 PLWD). In Education, a total of 426,626 learners (219,524 females 7 207,302 males) benefitted from 150,000 copies of the printed learning modules in Maths, English and Science. As of 31 August, 57,425 (69 per cent female) women, girls and boys out of the target of 100,000 had been supported to access gender-based violence risk mitigation, prevention, or responses interventions; while 18,486 households in the districts of Beitbridge, Binga, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Lupane and Mufakose had accessed emergency social cash transfers.

Source: UN Children’s Fund