This Emergency Appeal seeks 832,900 Swiss francs to support the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) to reach 10,830 people with a focus on interventions on the sectors of water, health hygiene promotion, food security, nutrition, and livelihoods (carried out through cash distributions). This appeal reflects the current situation and will be updated and adjusted based on the evolving nature of the crisis, new developments and assessments (as they are carried out).
The disaster and the Red Cross and Red Crescent response to date
January 2015: A slow onset of the rainy season was followed by severe flooding that destroyed crops. This situation was followed, and exacerbated, by a long dry spell, resulting in a crop yield below the 5 year average.
July 2015: Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) report estimated 16% of Zimbabwe’s rural population are food insecure and 1,490,024 people will be in need of food assistance at the peak of the hunger period. Coping mechanisms are severely strained, and social safety-net interventions by the Government and partners are limited
September 2015: Based on the situation briefly described above, assessments to date, and a request from the ZRCS, Emergency Appeal launched for CHF 832,900 for 10,830 people, and CHF 83,000 allocated as DREF start-up funding