UN appeals for aid after poor donor response threatens refugees in Zambia

With poor donor response forcing a drastic cut in food rations for refugees in Zambia, United Nations agencies have appealed for immediate help to prevent the situation from deteriorating and threatening a repatriation operation to Angola.

Zambia hosts more than 191,000 refugees, mostly from neighbouring Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said there had been poor donor response to the $3.2 million appeal launched in September to cover food needs until the end of the year.

As a result the Rome-based agency had to halve the rations of pulses in October and of cereals in November. Food distribution in general will be halved unless funds are forthcoming, spokesperson Christiane Berthiaume said.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned that the shortage could compromise the repatriation programme to Angola, which is getting back on its feet after three decades of civil war. “The refugees have been away from their homes for decades. They can’t go back and rebuild their lives if they are malnourished; they won’t have the energy for agricultural activities,” spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis said.

“Donors have supported us through the darkest moments of the Angolan war. Now we have the solution in sight, and it’s working. We need help now,” she added.

The warning is ironic in that the necessary food is there if only the donations arrive. Last week WFP announced plans to dramatically increase the amount of food aid purchased in Zambia as long as there is another substantial surplus in 2005.

WFP Country Director David Stevenson said Zambia had become an essential source of food but “our plans depend not only on the size of the harvest but also on the cash donations we receive.”