§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the need for her Department to assist with humanitarian relief in Zimbabwe. [105985]
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§ Clare ShortContinuing misgovernment, together with late rains, means that the crisis in food production in Zimbabwe will persist for the third consecutive year. Current DFID and UN feeding programmes for Zimbabwe extend until June 2003. A specific programme will be developed once detailed assessments and the plans of the Zimbabwe Government are published. In the meantime our contingency planning has been done and we expect to maintain some support for humanitarian needs for a further year, working with the UN and non-governmental agencies.