BuaNews (Tshwane)
15 January 2008
Maputo — The United Nations is stepping up relief operations in central Mozambique as a sharp rise in floodwaters along the Zambezi River in the past 48 hours uprooted yet more people.
Tens of thousands of people have already been displaced due to the floods.
"The number of people displaced is fast reaching a critical mass," the representative of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Leila Pakkala said.
"Urgent action is crucial to prevent outbreaks of diseases, which are of great concern at the onset of a crisis, especially among children."
An estimated 50 000 people have already been evacuated to resettlement centres across four provinces.
The floods have hit some of the poorest and most isolated communities in the country, where access to social services is limited.
Concerned by the impending humanitarian situation, UNICEF sent a second emergency team to Mutarara, one of the worst-hit areas. A first response team was deployed to Caia last week to support local disaster management authorities in the initial relief effort.
The UN Country Team has also established a presence in Caia to help the local government respond to the emergency.
UNICEF teams are working with local authorities and humanitarian partners on the ground to respond to the health and nutritional needs of women and children, seeking to ensure that cholera prevention steps are taken and support services are available.
Insecticide-treated mosquito nets are also being distributed with support from UNICEF to prevent cases of malaria in the flooded areas.
The malaria season is coming to a peak, and standing water increases breeding conditions for mosquitoes carrying the disease, the main cause of child deaths in the country.
Safe supplies of drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities are being provided to avoid the spread of water-borne diseases and improve sanitary conditions for displaced communities.
In collaboration with education authorities, UNICEF and the Save the Children Alliance are distributing tents and school kits to ensure that children who have been evacuated to resettlement centres with their families can get back into school when the school year begins in late January.
So far, 47 schools have been damaged by the flooding.
Localised flooding is common in Mozambique during the southern African rainy season from November to March. - BuaNews-NNN
Feature: Irish-SA partnership going strong
Bi-lateral relations between South Africa and Ireland have been strengthened further after a three day visit by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, writes Sholain Govender.
Following talks between a South African delegation consisting of President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka amongst others, and Mr Ahern's delegation, both parties agreed that they would be taking their relationship to the next level.
Topics discussed included economic and political issues within the context of strengthening the North-South dialogue and consolidating the African agenda.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday that bilateral relations between the two nations were cordial and on a sound basis, with Ireland and South Africa sharing similar values and agreeing on many international issues.
"The two countries have furthermore enjoyed frequent bilateral contacts at ministerial and officials level since 1994," the statement said.
Mr Ahern confirmed this in his assessment of the high-level meeting: "We had a very good meeting with President Mbeki and the Deputy President and we look forward to working with them in the future."
"From an Irish perspective, we have built up very good relations and South Africa - Ireland relations are flourishing and growing. We have set ourselves a work programme for 2008 that we will aim to achieve."
The visit was also used as a platform to promote economic opportunities between the two countries and to identify further co-operation projects within the Accelerated and Growth Initiative - South Africa (AsgiSA) and the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) framework.
AsgiSA aims to achieve 6 percent annual economic growth by 2010 and halve poverty and unemployment by 2014 while JIPSA is aimed at securing and developing the skills required to realise AsgiSA's aims.
Mr Ahern said they had discussed a range of areas where they could involve state, private sector and academic organisations to their mutual benefit.
"We have had an opportunity in Ireland, because of European social policy 20 years back, of evolving a number of models," he said.
"We want to begin the implementation phase of co-operation. We feel it may be useful to present the data of these programmes in so far as they might be useful. Programmes are not always compatible," he added.
The forthcoming South Africa-Ireland Partnership Forum to be hosted by Ireland, the status of the Northern Ireland Peace Process and conflict resolution also featured on the agenda of the talks held.
Mr Ahern added that they were very grateful for South African assistance and support in the peace process in Ireland. Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said government hoped they had made a small contribution in terms of the Irish peace process and that they had also learnt a lot from the experience.
Currently tourism in South Africa has already grown due to Irish support with the Northern country's tourism arrivals placing Ireland in the 8th position of tourism source for South Africa.
Trade between the two countries has also grown substantially and Ireland is currently South Africa's 41st biggest export market.
Furniture is South Africa's biggest export to Ireland standing at 27 percent followed by fertilizers and minerals, 26 percent, coal, coke and briquettes at 16 percent, while fruit and vegetables account for about 11 percent of goods exported.
Imports to South Africa from Ireland are currently dominated by office machinery and automatic data processing machines.
During his visit Mr Ahern announced that the Irish government's development agency, Irish Aid, will be handing over Euro 5 million - R50 million - to house building charity, the Niall Mellon Township Trust, to build more homes in South Africa.
The trust which was created by Irish philanthropist Niall Mellon to build homes for impoverished South Africans, would provide a better quality of life for poor South Africans.
Since its inception in 2002, the charity has built more than 5 000 houses and now provides employment for almost 2 000 South Africans.
Ireland is now in sixth position in the world in terms of its aid per capita, and added that the Irish government is committed to soon reaching the industrialised nations' target of providing 0.7 percent of GDP to development assistance, and to "stay there [at that level of aid]".
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 BuaNews. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
