UK announces £5m aid for Zimbabwe
Posted on June 22, 2009 | Category: Politics; Business, Sport
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced an extra £5m ($8m) of transitional aid to Zimbabwe.
He was speaking after meeting Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mr Brown said the aid would go through aid agencies, not the government in which Mr Tsvangirai shares power with President Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabwe says it needs $8bn (£4.9bn) to revive the economy but pledges during Mr Tsvangirai’s tour of Europe and the US have fallen far short of that sum.
Many donors are still wary of sending money which could be misused by Mr Mugabe and his allies.
Some £4m ($6.5m) of the new money is to be channelled into food aid and agriculture, with the rest towards buying text books for Zimbabwean schools.
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ZIMBABWE AID PLEDGES
Australia: $6.4m (£4.7m)
World Bank: $22m (£14.4m)
African nations: $650m (£400m)
US: $73m (£44m)
Germany: $35m (£21m)
UK: $98m (£60m)
Zimbabwe needs: $8bn (£4.9bn)
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Mr Brown said it would bring British transitional aid for Zimbabwe this year to a total of £60m ($98m).
At their joint news conference in London, Mr Tsvangirai defended his decision to share power with President Mugabe in February.
Mr Tsvangirai said “irreversible change was now taking place in Zimbabwe towards a transition to democracy and elections”.
He had been expected to ask Mr Brown to lift sanctions against Mr Mugabe and his officials. These include a travel ban and assets freeze.
Mr Brown said it was the first time a British and a Zimbabwean prime minister had stood together in Downing Street for 25 years.
Morgan Tsvangirai said Zimbabweans were positive about overcoming meltdown
“I pay tribute today to your courage, your determination, your strength of character and your fortitude in this tragedy,” he said.
The British premier added: “There are great signs of progress, a budget and economic plan are in place, schools are reopening, children are once again filling the classrooms.
“As a result of the progress, we will increase our support to help Zimbabwe move from mere survival towards a genuine recovery.”
However, correspondents say that the money is a drop in the ocean compared to Zimbabwe’s needs.
BBC ban lifted?
Up to half the population – some four million people – are believed to need food aid after years of economic meltdown.
Mr Tsvangirai also told the news conference that he hoped the ban on the BBC operating in Zimbabwe would be rescinded soon.
He said media reforms were being implemented and that the BBC should “look forward to coming to operate in Zimbabwe openly, and not secretly”.
Last week, Amnesty International said that the human rights situation in Zimbabwe remained “precarious” despite the power-sharing government.
Opposition and civil rights activists continue to be arrested by the security forces, who are still largely controlled by Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.
On Saturday, Zimbabwe’s prime minister was booed by Zimbabwean exiles in London when he urged them to return to the country.
Many were bitter that, following years of outspoken opposition to the Zimbabwe government, he had decided to join it and offer public support to Mr Mugabe.
Mr Tsvangirai is due to round off his visit to Europe and the US – his first official tour since becoming prime minister – with a stop in Paris on Wednesday before returning home.
news.bbc.co.uk
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One Response to “UK announces £5m aid for Zimbabwe”
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June 22nd, 2009 at 9:38 am
gordon Brown, stop giving our taxes away to other countries, especially Zimbabwe they wanted independence, so let them sort thenselves out. also China does not deserve our money either. in the last few weeks they have been beating their dogs to death. I do not wan’t my money to go to either country.