§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has raised the issue of the closure of United Nations relief and recovery units in Zimbabwe with the UN; and if he will make a statement. [138406]
§ Hilary BennI have been asked to reply.
The UN Relief and Recovery Unit (RRU) itself has not been closed. This unit, which was set up jointly by donors and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in January 2002, continues to co-ordinate information sharing and to review policy issues, covering all humanitarian operations in Zimbabwe. The RRU publishes regular situation reports on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.
However, the Government of Zimbabwe has not yet approved UNDP to operate three regional offices (Relief Information Validation units) that RRU had been using to facilitate fieldwork until the Government closed them in the summer. All RRU operations are presently implemented from the Headquarters in Harare, which is feasible but more difficult to manage. At meetings with DFID and other donors, the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator in Zimbabwe has agreed to continue to press the Zimbabwe Government to allow the regional offices to operate.