§ 15. Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the activities of her Department relating to Zimbabwe. [111530]
§ Clare ShortMy Department has provided over £51 million in humanitarian assistance since the crisis began in September 2001. We are helping the World Food Programme, which is currently feeding 4.5 million people, and our NGO programmes provide supplementary food to 1.5 million more—largely children. DFID has also built technical capacity in local NGOs and the UN agencies, and funded vulnerability assessments. We have also distributed seed and fertilizers to 188,000 households in communal areas, affecting the food prospects of one million people in 2003.
We have helped prevent avoidable deaths and disease through essential drug supply and therapeutic feeding inputs through the WHO and UNICEF. We are also tackling HIV/AIDS through a £26 million programme of prevention and mitigation activities over five years to 2005.