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€5 million kitty for vulnerable families on cards

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Save the Children, with the support of the European Union, is launching a €5 million programme to provide for essential food needs for the vulnerable in view of the erratic rainfall patterns, recurrent droughts and a deteriorating economic climate in Zimbabwe.

By Staff Reporter

Save the Children, with the support of the European Union, is launching a €5 million programme to provide for essential food needs for the vulnerable in view of the erratic rainfall patterns, recurrent droughts and a deteriorating economic climate in Zimbabwe.

More than 63 500 individuals will benefit from the project which will operate in four districts of Beitbridge, Matobo, Mbire and Mwenezi.

According to the EU and Save the Children, assistance for these communities will be provided during the difficult months in-between harvests, characterised by low food reserves following the drought and food price hikes brought about by the limited supply and the economic crisis.

Head of the EU humanitarian aid regional office for East and Southern Africa, Peter Burgess, said the assistance would help alleviate hunger among the most vulnerable households in Zimbabwe.

“They include families with infants, pregnant women, disabled people, chronically ill people, the elderly and families headed by children. We will also be helping to screen children for malnutrition and refer them to health centres for appropriate treatment,” he said.

Save the Children will be working with two other international humanitarian organisations, CARE and World Vision, on this project, which will be running for eight months.

“The assistance, which will be distributed to the communities in need through mobile cash transfers, will enable households to get the food they need most,” a joint statement by EU and Save the Children read.

“The European Union continues to finance a number of emergency response actions across Southern African countries affected by erratic weather patterns.” Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children, with a presence in more than 120 countries.