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 forty 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.