Fed: Australia pledges $5m cholera aid to Zimbabwe

AAP General News (Australia)
02-15-2009
Fed: Australia pledges $5m cholera aid to Zimbabwe

SYDNEY, Feb 15 AAP - Australia will provide an extra $5 million immediately to help
Zimbabwe fight a cholera outbreak that has left nearly 3,500 people dead.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith made the pledge during a phone call on Friday to congratulate
Morgan Tsvangirai on becoming Zimbabwe's new prime minister.

Mr Tsvangirai took the prime ministerial oath on Wednesday as part of a power-sharing
agreement with longtime president Robert Mugabe.

Mr Smith said the UN had reported 73,000 cases of cholera and almost 3,500 deaths in Zimbabwe.

"I told Prime Minister Tsvangirai that the government and the people of Australia stood
with him as he confronted the enormous challenges faced by the people of Zimbabwe," Mr
Smith said on Sunday.

"The cholera epidemic is the worst in modern day Zimbabwe and the worst in Africa for
several years."

The funding will go to the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef), with $3 million
to be used for its emergency water and sanitation program and $2 million to boost its
medicines support program.

Mr Smith said the federal government was considering other ways to aid Zimbabwe.

"The government is carefully and urgently examining what assistance it can give, particularly
in the health, education, food security and agriculture areas," he said.

"Australia will also consult with other major aid donors to determine how best we can
assist the people of Zimbabwe."

AAP kd/goc/rs

KEYWORD: ZIMBABWE AUST

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