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AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION
OTTAWA
MEDIA RELEASE
AUSTRALIAN ASSISTANCE TO ZIMBABWE
22 September 2009
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith MP has announced the Australian Government will provide an additional $8 million in aid to Zimbabwe. In the twelve months since Zimbabwe's Global Political Agreement was signed to create an inclusive government Australia has provided more than $20 million in funding assistance.
The additional aid includes $5 million in food aid through the UN World Food Programme, $1 million in agricultural recovery support in partnership with The Netherlands, and $2 million in education aid through UNICEF. The support for agriculture and education is “humanitarian plus” assistance – support that goes beyond humanitarian relief to longer term support for recovery.
Australia has put implementation and monitoring systems in place to minimise the risk of the funds being misdirected or misused. Current financial and travel sanctions that target the actions of specific individuals rather than the broader community are also being kept in place.
Since 2002, Australia has applied a ban on Minister-to-Minister contact with Zimbabwean Ministers. In recognition of the efforts made by sectors of the inclusive government over its first year, Mr Smith announced that the Australian Government will now consider opportunities for Ministerial engagement with select Ministers of the Zimbabwean Government who are judged to be making a genuine contribution to Zimbabwe’s social and economic recovery.