The One Day Workshop on the drought situation brought together stakeholders to discuss the current drought situation in Zimbabwe, assess the magnitude of the crisis and agree on the humanitarian assistance needed and putting in place a sustainable strategy for dealing with the crisis.
Opening remarks were given by Mr J. Gokova, who stood in for the Chairman of the Poverty Reduction Forum (PRF) while the coordinator of PRF Mrs. J. Kaulem, gave an overview of the workshop. Four position paper presentations followed soon after the workshop overview. Participants were then divided into three discussion groups, which went on to discuss the important issues that emerged from the presentations and the discussion during plenary sessions. The recommendations from each of these groups were further presented by the respective groups' repporteurs for discuss and adoption by the plenary session.
Opening and Welcome Remarks
- (Mr. J. Gokova, Acting Chairman of PRF)
Mr. Gokova gave the opening remarks on behalf of Dr. D. P. Chimanikire who was out of the country on University business. Mr. Gokova extended a warm welcome to all the participants before he invited them to introduce themselves. Soon after the introductions, he outlined the objectives of the workshop and expressed confidence that the participants gathered at the workshop would come up with recommendations that would contribute to the development of a sustainable strategy for dealing with the humanitarian crisis evolving in Zimbabwe. He wished all the participants a fruitful working day. Before he declared the workshop open, he thanked the organisers of the workshop for successfully putting together the workshop and special mention was reserved for UNICEF, without whose generous financial support the hosting of the workshop would not have been possible.
Workshop Overview
– (Mrs. J Kaulem, Coordinator of PRF)
Mrs. J Kaulem once again welcomed the participants to the one day workshop. She told her audience that Zimbabwe was in the middle of an evolving humanitarian crisis whose main causes are:
- Policy choices and economic conditions
- Natural phenomena - drought, cyclone eline, etc
She observed that although the humanitarian crisis is evident there has not been an assessment of the magnitude of the food crisis the nation is in. Nonetheless there are emerging non-food dimensions to the food crisis which have left thousands of people very vulnerable. These are:
- HIV/AIDS
- Child Protection
- Nutrition
- Water and Sanitation, and
- Health Delivery System
Mrs. Kaulem informed the participants that the purpose of the workshop was therefore to share experiences, share strategies to mitigate the problem and to come up with an Action Plan which can be monitored and evaluated. Mrs Kaulem thanked UNICEF and the PRF secretariat for making the workshop possible and wished the participants well in their deliberations.
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