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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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Southern Africa: Flood Actions Update
Southern Africa: Flood Actions Update
Date distributed (ymd): 000302
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Southern Africa
Issue Areas: +economy/development+ +US policy focus+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains several recent documents with additional
information related to the floods in Southern Africa,
particularly Mozambique, and a variety of actions that can be
taken both for immediate relief and for longer-term
reconstruction from the disaster. It also repeats some sources
cited in an earlier posting on February 13
(
http://www.africafocus.org/docs00/flod0002.php>).
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
APIC Update
Last night (March 1, 2000) President Clinton announced that he
will substantially expand U.S. assistance to flood-ravaged
Mozambique and other countries in the region. He said $12.8
million was committed for relief operations from USAID and the
Department of the Defense and that there would be an
additional deployment of six C-130 support aircraft and six
heavy lift helicopters. (http://www.usia.gov) It was not yet
clear as of this posting how quickly the planes would arrive,
and what additional support, if any, the U.S. would commit for
public health and reconstruction efforts. Officials in the
U.S. and elsewhere seemed to be scrambling to react to
increased media attention and public pressure to respond.
However, Mozambican President Chissano yesterday commented
that the international response -- for which he expressed
thanks -- still fell far short of the needs.
Recommended for Updates:
http://www.africanews.org/south/mozambique
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/archive/mozambique.htm
http://www.tropical.co.mz/~wim/moclinks.html
(Mozambique on-line -- in Portuguese)
The Mozambique on-line site gives links to a bank account in
Mozambique for sending money to support Mozambican Red Cross
activities directly. If this is not possible for you in a
timely fashion -- it requires getting your bank to locate the
bank number and to make a wire transfer, there are many other
options suggested below -- choose the one you feel most
comfortable with.
Mozambican Red Cross
Banco Comercial de Mocambique
Account Number: 2025555151 (U.S. dollars)
Bank Contact Information:
Av. 25 de Setembro, 1800, Maputo
Caixa Postal 865
Tel. (258)-1-307490/4; 307481/9
Fax. (258)-1-307554; 307556; 307545
How to Help Mozambique Flood Victims
Message posted March 1, 2000
by David Wiley, Michigan State University African Studies
(wiley@msu.edu)
(This material was assembled by Elizabeth MacGonagle
<macgonag@msu.edu>, History/African Studies Center, Michigan
State University, and by David Wiley, MSU African Studies
Center)
THE SITUATION IN MOZAMBIQUE
The floods in Mozambique have set back immeasurably what Pres.
Clinton said last week is "one of the fastest growing
economies in Africa," as this nation crawls back from the
devastation of the Independence and Renamo wars of the 1960s,
70s, and 80s.
Since the beginning of February, floods and damage from the
recent Cyclone Eline have claimed at least 200 lives in
Mozambique and forced at least 800,000 people to flee their
homes for higher ground. The threat of starvation and
drowning for those who have not yet been reached follows in
the wake of the flooding.
The floods are considered to be the worst in at least 40
years. Damaged water mains and power lines have meant that
many people are without clean water or electricity. Cases of
cholera and malaria are expected to rise dramatically. The
government has stated that it needs $65 million to help it
begin to cope with and recover from the disaster.
Mozambique is helping itself. Government ministers are
heading work brigades in all the affected provinces. In the
cities and towns, the local councils are in charge of relief
work, housing and feeding the homeless and marking out new
residential areas for those living in unsafe places. The
health and public works sectors in particular, and brigades
from the water and electricity companies, have been working
day and night. Many national NGOs, such as the Mozambique Red
Cross, also went into emergency action. A Mozambican movement
of solidarity has been launched, and contributions in cash and
kind have been pouring in from institutions, public and
private companies, and individuals through their workplaces.
Most contributions are being channeled to the Red Cross. The
rains are expected to continue into March, with untold
consequences for Mozambique's people.
HOW TO HELP
People who would like to make monetary donations are
encouraged to contact one of the organizations working in the
region. Below you will find different options (international
and local/Mozambican) for joining a coordinated and effective
public response.
1) Contact information for Non-Profit Organizations Providing
Disaster Relief for Flooding in Southern Africa:
http://www.info.usaid.gov/about/safrica/ngopvo.html
This is a list of 22 private voluntary organizations that are
registered with USAID and/or listed by InterAction, a
coalition of voluntary humanitarian and development
organizations that work overseas. It includes well known
groups such as American Friends Service Committee, Concern
Worldwide US, United States Fund for UNICEF, and CARE USA.
2) The Mozambican government's website includes an appeal for
assistance and provides Mozambican bank account numbers for
donations to support the Mozambican Red Cross. However, for
those outside of Mozambique transferring money to these
accounts may be difficult. You can access the official
Mozambican page with the bank account numbers at:
http://www.mozambique.mz/cheias/index.htm
It may be easier to contact the International Federation of
the Red Cross/Red Crescent at:
http://www.ifrc.org/
or one of the organizations below.
For a direct link to Red Cross/Red Crescent news stories and situation reports on the crisis in Mozambique, visit:
http://www.ifrc.org/where/country/cn6.asp?countryid=120 (To make a donation, see the "help now" section).
3) To assist with immediate relief efforts through one
Mozambican NGO, Reconstruindo a Esperanca (Rebuilding Hope),
contact their non-profit fiscal agent in the US:
Artists for a New Southern Africa
9000 West Washington Boulevard, 2nd floor
Culver City, CA 90232
Tel: (310) 815-0457
(write checks to "Reconstruindo a Esperanca")
For the past six years Reconstruindo a Esperanca (Rebuilding
Hope) has been working in one area -- Josina Machel Island
--that has been devastated by the floods. Josina Machel, in
northern Maputo province, is a remote and poor area that was
the target of both FRELIMO and RENAMO raids during the war and
has a high concentration of former child soldiers.
Reconstruindo a Esperanca (RE) has worked with over 600 male
and female child soldiers, their families and communities.
Their goal has been these children's psycho-social
reintegration and they have worked closely with local
traditional healers and religious leaders. They started
several self-help initiatives and gained international
recognition for their work.
Like many organizations, RE quite suddenly lost its
international funding when their German supporters diverted
their priorities to Kosovo. RE remains on Josina Machel in
spite of the fact that their staff has been receiving reduced
or no wages since June. They are the first (and perhaps only)
organization to recognize and address the needs of female
child soldiers--the thousands of girls used as sexual slaves
on military bases. RE's Director, Boia Efraime, was selected
this year as one of Human Rights Watch's four worldwide Human
Rights Monitors. At the moment, they are the main source of
relief to Josina Machel.
4) Vetaid in the UK has an MOZAMBIQUE EMERGENCY FLOOD APPEAL
which is focusing on (a) checking on livestock which has been
left behind and saving as much as possible, (b) putting in
place a programme of restocking to replace the animals that
have died, and (c) removing dead animals to prevent disease.
http://www.vetaid.org/emergency/index.htm
5) Church World Service (World and National Council of
Churches) is in Mozambique, providing support and evaluating
technical needs. CWS is seeking $200,000 to support needs in
the area, and is providing $10,000 in Blanket Funds to our
partner, the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM), which will
be used to provide blankets for 2,000 people.
http://www.churchworldservice.org/
6) Lobbying the U.S. Government for increasing Mozambican
emergency and development
For phone and some email contact numbers for "Key
Congressional committees and administration officials related
to Africa, 1999-2000"
http://www.woaafrica.org/keycongress.htm
To send a message to your Senator and member of the House of
Representatives, try the automatic email system of Bread for
the World
Hunger Action, allowing you to author your own message.
Jubilee 2000 UK
http://www.jubilee2000uk.org
Jubilee 2000 welcomes Mozambican debt service freeze to UK and
calls on creditors to cancel 100%
February 29, 2000
With reports that the floods in Mozambique are likely to get
worse in the next few days, Clare Short announced yesterday
(28 February) that the British government has stopped
collecting her debt repayments. The announcement followed
growing concern from parliamentarians and the general public
about the immorality of collecting debt service payments
whilst floods devastate Mozambique.
Clare Short's announcement was confirmed by Gordon Brown
during a European Union meeting in Brussels. "We must think
what we can do to help Mozambique's economic development out
of its current problems," Brown, Britain's Chancellor of the
Exchequer, told reporters during a break in a meeting of EU
finance ministers. "We would like other countries to follow
our lead and provide 100 percent relief of the bilateral debts
of Mozambique." Brown also said the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and World Bank should also see what could be done
to help Mozambique.
Jubilee 2000 welcomed the announcements, but emphasised the
urgent need for action to be taken by the whole international
community to address Mozambique's debts. The UK is owed just
$150 million by Mozambique (out of a total debt of over
$5billion), and without further action by other creditors
including the IMF and World Bank, the debt burden in
Mozambique will remain a severe barrier to reconstruction and
long-term economic development.
Mozambique is currently paying $1.4 million every week to the
International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and western
governments. It is due to receive some debt cancellation in
April 2000. However, the extra relief will amount to
approximately $250 million (NPV), and will leave Mozambique
with annual average payments of $57 million, more than is
spent on primary health and education combined.
In a letter to the editor of the Times of London on the 28th
February, Ann Pettifor, Director of Jubilee 2000 coalition
called for the creditors to fulfil their obligations on debt
alongside the aid effort now being mobilised for Mozambique.
She noted that Mozambique qualified before the G7 summit in
Cologne for debt cancellation, having carried out years of
strict economic austerity measures under the IMF.
Pettifor said: "Receiving the G7's promised further debt
cancellation should have been a slick process. In the hands of
Western creditors it has turned into a cumbersome series of
excuses and delays. The president of the World Bank, James
Wolfensohn, said that the hold-up in debt relief for the
poorest countries was "delay for delay's sake". This situation
in Mozambique - half a million homeless, the threat of
epidemics caused by water-related diseases, the devastation of
thousands of acres of farmlands - can only get worse. It is
the creditors' turn to fulfil their obligations and at the
very least deliver on promises made last June. There is no
excuse for delay."
Jubilee 2000 backed the call of Graca Machel (former First
Lady of Mozambique) for the cancellation of all Mozambique's
foreign debt. "These floods are yet another reason for the
international community to consider additional measures, such
as the cancellation of the debt," she told Portugal's Antena
Um radio.
Ann Pettifor, Director of Jubilee 2000 Coalition, said: "The
British government has taken an important and welcome
unilateral step. However overall debt cancellation for
Mozambique is dependent upon the IMF's agreement.
Unless there are real improvements to the IMF debt reduction
package agreed last year, Mozambique will still be paying a
million dollars each week to lenders in the west - instead of
rebuilding the shattered lives of its people. The world's
leaders must do better."
Information from USAID site on US NGOs
(http://www.info.usaid.gov)
PLEASE NOTE: the list below in this archived posting is NOT
up-to-date or complete -- it has NOT been updated since it was posted
on March 2, 2000. For the up-to-date list of U.S. agencies as compiled by USAID see
http://www.info.usaid.gov/about/safrica/ngopvo.html
For another listing of US agencies, maintained by the NGO coalition
InterAction, see
(
http://www.interaction.org/southernafrica).
For more current information, with additional international and
Mozambican links, see
http://www.africapolicy.org/action/floods.htm
NGO's & PVO's Providing Disaster Relief for Flooding in
Southern Africa
The following is a list of non-profit organizations that are
providing assistance -- either directly or through affiliated
organizations -- to the victims of the flooding in southern
Africa.
Air Serv International
P.O. Box 3014
Redlands, CA 92373-0993
Tel: (909) 793-2627
agraham@airserv.org
http://www.airserv.org/
Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop's Fund
for World Relief
c/o Banker's Trust Company
P.O. Box 12043
Newark, New Jersey 07101
Tel: 1-800-334-7626 ext. 5129
http://www.pbfwr.org
American Friends Service Committee
(AFSC)
Southern Africa Emergency Fund
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Tel: 1-888-588-2372 ext 1
http://www.afsc.org
Food for the Hungry International
7729 East Greenway Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Tel: 1-800-2-HUNGER
http://www.fh.org
American Jewish World Service
Southern Africa Flood Relief
989 Avenue of the Americas
10th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Tel: 1-800-889-7146
http://www.ajws.org
Lutheran World Relief
P.O. Box 17061
Baltimore, MD 21298-9832
Tel: 1-800-LWR-LWR2 (597-5972)
http://www.lwr.org
Baptist World Aid
"Southern Africa Flood Relief"
6733 Curran Street
McLean, VA 22101-6005
Tel: (703) 790-8980
BWAid@bwanet.org
http://www.bwanet.org/bwaid/
MAP International
Emergency Relief Fund
2100 Glynco Parkway
Bruinswick, GA 31521-5000
Tel: 1-800-225-8550
http://www.map.org
Brother's Brother Foundation/
Southern Africa
African Floods
1501 Reedsdale Street, Suite 3005
Pittsburgh, PA 15233-2341
Tel: (412) 321-3160
http://www.brothersbrother.com
Salvation Army
World Service Office
Southern Africa Floods
P.O. Box 269
Alexandria, VA 22313
Tel: (703) 684-5528
CARE USA
151 Ellis Street, NE
Atlanta, GA 30303-2439
Tel: (404) 681-2552
http://www.care.org
Samaritan's Purse
Southern Africa Floods
P.O. Box 3000
Boone, NC 28607
Tel: (828) 262-1980
Church World Service
Earmark: Southern Africa Floods
PO Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
Tel: 1-800-297-1516
www.churchworldservice.org
Save the Children
P.O. Box 975-M
Westport, CT 06881
Tel: 1-800-SAVE-THE-CHILDREN
http://www.savethechildren.org
Concern Worldwide US Inc
104 East 40th Street, Room 903
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 557-8000
http://www.concernusa.org/
United States Fund for UNICEF
Mozambique Floods
333 East 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 922-2659
http://www.unicefusa.org
Direct Relief International
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
Tel: (805) 964-4767
mhayes@directrelief.org
http://www.directrelief.org
World Relief
P.O. Box WRC
Dept. 3
Wheaton, IL 60189
Tel: 1-800-535-5433
http://www.worldrelief.org
World Vision
Mozambique Disaster Fund
P.O. Box 70288
Tacoma, WA 98481-0288
Tel: 1-888-56CHILD (English)
1-888-511-6566 (Spanish)
http://www.worldvision.org
Some Additional Links
Action by Churches Together (ACT)
http://www.act-intl.org
ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies
meeting human need through coordinated emergency response.
The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in
Switzerland.
OXFAM UK
Donations:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/atwork/emerg/mozflood12.htm
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). APIC's primary
objective is to widen international policy debates around
African issues, by concentrating on providing accessible
policy-relevant information and analysis usable by a wide
range of groups and individuals.
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