Written evidence submitted by Christian
Aid
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Christian Aid welcomes this opportunity
to provide evidence to the International Development Committee
on DFID's programme in Zimbabwe. Christian Aid has a long history
of working through partners in Zimbabwe to tackle the symptoms
of poverty and the structures that keep people poor. We have supported
partners in-country for over 40 years and maintained an office
in Harare since 1996. This work focused mainly on emergency relief
in the first half of the last decade. Over the last five years,
our work in Zimbabwe has developed into a programme promoting
good governance, HIV prevention and treatment, and addressing
secure livelihoods through improved agricultural practice and
land management. We have focused this submission on issues where
we and our partners have expertise and have provided specific
ideas and recommendations for action for DFID's programme in Zimbabwe.
2. SUPPORTING
ZIMBABWE'S
RECOVERY
2.1 In general, DFID's role in Zimbabwe
has progressed from being a relief donor to a recovery donor.
This move is extremely welcome. Although the humanitarian situation
in Zimbabwe has improved over the past year, serious structural
problems remain, which leaves the population vulnerable. It is
therefore critical to improve essential services such as education,
healthcare, water and sanitation and to focus on long term sustainable
development. In Harare, DFID has consistently been one of the
most forward-thinking donors; often setting the agenda for counterpart
donors, UN agencies and NGOs. Two examples of this was DFID's
endeavour and drive to support humanitarian work in urban areas
through the Joint Initiative and DFID's consistent support to
Internally Displaced Persons (called Mobile Vulnerable Population
in-country) especially through the International Organization
for Migration. Christian Aid believes both of these programmes
have been valuable, appropriate and influential, and should therefore
continue.
3. PROTRACTED
RELIEF PROGRAMME
3.1 Perhaps the best example of DFID's strategic
humanitarian support which has positively influenced other donors
is the flagship Protracted Relief Programme (PRP), which focuses
on livelihoods, food security and social protection. It is arguably
the pre-eminent large-scale institutional donor-funded humanitarian
programme in Zimbabwe. It is driven by the needs of vulnerable
communities, and is relevant, sustainable and cost-effective through
NGO implementation. DFID's strategy to move away from dependency-inducing
food aid through NGOs has been vindicated, as supported vulnerable
communities have been able to consider their own household social
protection—and in some cases development—despite the
crisis conditions. Christian Aid recognises that saving lives
through World Food Programme support has also been important due
to the regrettable decline in Zimbabwe's ability to feed itself.
3.2 DFID's consistent support to conservation
agriculture, including to the Food and Agricultural Organisation,
Christian Aid and River of Life Church and Training Centre has
been particularly beneficial to vulnerable communities. River
of Life promotes and trains communities, churches and NGOs in
conservation agriculture. Initially met by a degree of opposition
from agricultural academics in-country, conservation agriculture
has been proven to lift households out of subsistence poverty
and its methods the most suitable cropping practice.
3.3 Christian Aid recognises DFID's consistent
support to this area despite initial reluctance by other key stakeholders.
A family of six needs roughly 1.2 metric tonnes (MT) of grain
per annum to be subsistence. The national average in Zimbabwe
is 0.2MT of grain per hectare per annum. Households need to be
able to obtain better harvests to break out of poverty and into
profit. Communal farmers trained by DFID implementing partners,
including Christian Aid, who practice conservation agriculture
are achieving two, three, five and some even more MT per hectare.
DFID will do well to ensure this particular success of the PRP
is widely communicated and actively promoted in its programmes
elsewhere in Africa. Support provided to River of Life in this
regard would be welcome.
3.4 The decision to outsource the management
of the PRP to a managing agent needs to be supported by more accessible
evidence of cost-effectiveness and efficiency. The managing agent
GRM and its Technical, Learning and Coordination (TLC) team is
performing well, and Christian Aid has been impressed with the
professionalism and ability of TLC to both monitor and support
implementing NGOs. The managing agent closely monitors NGOs implementing
the PRP, and rightly so. It would be beneficial to NGOs and UK
taxpayers to see similar checks and balances applied to significantly
large grants by DFID to United Nations agencies in Zimbabwe.
4. WORKING WITH
THE UNITED
NATIONS
4.1 For short term emergency support DFID
has appeared to channel a large proportion of financial aid through
the UN agencies. This has occasionally been at the expense of
NGOs due to the UN administration fee when contracting implementing
NGOs and the seemingly bureaucratic nature of grant disbursement
for relief activities, which can take many months. This has the
potential to render DFID's response to rapid onset emergencies,
such as health epidemics, less effective. For example, during
the 2008/09 cholera crisis in Zimbabwe, large donors including
DFID responded by providing financial aid to UNICEF for a coordinated
response. The inability of UNICEF to respond quickly led to complaints
by many NGOs of delays in both onward fund dispersal and non-food
item procurement. There is a need therefore for DFID to ensure
UN agencies are more accountable when channelling funds through
them. Closer monitoring of the way in which funds are managed,
including the speed at which emergency aid is distributed, is
critical.
5. SUPPORTING
THE INCLUSIVE
GOVERNMENT
5.1 Although DFID's website states that
"no funds will go to or through the Government of Zimbabwe",
we are of the opinion that some funds were provided to core Ministries
requiring civil servant salary support. Following the signing
of the Global Political Agreement in September 2008, DFID may
have supported Government Ministries with salary support, even
before the Inclusive Government was sworn in in February 2009.
Progressive as this decision was, it was arguably too fast in
the circumstances when allegations of corruption and fraud were
quick to surface. Alleged salary support payments for Ministry
of Health personnel in December 2008 were particularly questionable,
given the high probability of corruption within Ministries badly
affected by rampant inflation. Christian Aid believes that DFID
should not channel funds through the Government of Zimbabwe until
it has demonstrated an ability and willingness to tackle corruption
and strengthen accountability, as well as fulfil the Hague Principles.
Until then, DFID should continue to channel funds through NGOs
and the UN.
6. SUPPORTING
CIVIL SOCIETY
AND CHURCHES
6.1 We appreciate the significant support
provided by DFID to civil society in Zimbabwe. We encourage DFID
to continue to provide this support through NGOs and stress that
this support should not be brought to an abrupt end should a Zimbabwean
government be elected that meets the Hague Principles and inevitable
bilateral support resumed by the UK Government. A vibrant civil
society is critical to the recovery of Zimbabwe.
6.2 People living in extreme poverty are
vulnerable to manipulation in their approach and actions. In 2008,
during the period of politically motivated violence following
the elections in March, many ordinary people became caught up
and incited as perpetrators of violence against their fellow community
members. Christian Aid supports Zimbabwean church groups working
to reconcile people in communities who remain deeply scarred;
bringing together perpetrators and victims of the violence and
encouraging them to choose alternative, constructive and peaceful
means to have their voices and opinions heard, in anticipation
of another round of elections by 2013.
6.3 We also support local partners to identify
and train local people in their entitlements and responsibilities.
Local communities have an important role to play in taking collective
action to improve their own lives and situation in the meantime
by working collectively and using the skills they already possess.
For corruption and resource mismanagement to lessen, and for good
leadership to grow in Zimbabwe, it is essential that the population
understand and know how to demand their rights and are able to
bring change to their own lives, however small. DFID should continue
to support this vitally important work.
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