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Report of the First Mission to Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Zambia
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Introduction
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It is not an easy task to convey on paper the range of impressions, thoughts and emotions that an individual or a team experiences when coming face to face with the realities of what is likely the most serious humanitarian crisis facing the world today. The latest assessment results at the time of writing indicate that 14.4 million people in Southern Africa are at risk of starvation and will need food and other assistance until the next harvest around March 2003. The reality of these numbers often does not become real until one is face to face with people who are directly affected and often suffering from the impact of events which are beyond their control.
From 3-15 September, an inter-agency team comprised of representatives of WHO, UNICEF, FAO, WFP and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as the UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA), joined the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa, Mr. James Morris, on a mission to six severely affected countries in the region. Following the Terms of Reference for the Special Envoy, the mission visited the region to meet with UN Country Teams, implementing partners (NGOs), donors, senior government officials, and other elements of civil society to review the humanitarian situation and ongoing relief efforts. The mission paid particular attention to the impact of HIV/AIDS, how to mobilize international support and awareness, and provide recommendations on how to improve humanitarian operations and ensure coherence with longer-term development objectives of the region. Most importantly, however, the mission team was able to interact with affected people directly and connect the numbers and paper analyses to human beings. In many cases the team came face to face with the devastation of livelihoods and the tragedy of human suffering.
What the mission team found was shocking. There is a dramatic and complex crisis unfolding in Southern Africa. Erratic rainfall and drought can be identified as contributing factors to acute vulnerability, but in many cases the causes of the crisis can be linked to other sources. Serious problems of governance, weakened social sectors, poorly functioning or constrained private sectors, and poor macro-economic performance are seriously affecting key countries in the region. Worst of all, Southern Africa is being devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. HIV/AIDS is a fundamental, underlying cause of vulnerability in the region, and represents the single largest threat to its people and societies.
Given the seriousness of the crisis, urgent response is necessary to avoid a massive deterioration in the situation. It is absolutely crucial to accelerate the provision of seeds, fertilizers, and tools so that farmers can receive them before the planting season begins in October. Health and nutritional systems need to be reinforced immediately to cope with the growing demand, and food aid needs to be resourced and pre-positioned to the extent possible before the rainy season.
With crisis often comes opportunity, and this crisis is no exception. Many people are suffering, and they have genuine humanitarian needs that must be addressed now or death rates will likely worsen. In addition, more than in many other emergencies, there is a need to link closely humanitarian programming with longer-term efforts so as not to jeopardize existing development objectives. Emergency relief may in some cases provide an impetus to quicken the pace of development programming and to provide a greater focus on how limited international resources can be more effectively targeted to address the root causes of poverty.
Agencies, donors, and governments must realize that the current crisis challenges the humanitarian paradigm, and requires a different kind of response. The response necessary in Southern Africa today is neither strict emergency nor strict development in nature. The current and future implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is threatening an entire generation of working-age adults and leaving in its wake millions of orphans are staggering. The capacities of governments (and in some cases, the UN) across the region to deal with the impact of the current humanitarian crisis have been weakened by HIV/AIDS as well as the other factors listed above. As a general rule, Governments of the region need to work harder to address capacity issues. The international community, particularly the UN, needs to support Governments in this effort. The traditional pattern of humanitarian assistance, which at times may attempt to replace a weakened government sector in order to achieve its life-saving objectives, is simply not a viable option for Southern Africa at this time, as it would merely postpone an eventual collapse.
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