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dam-l Mozambique update/LS
Forwarded from
Ray Almeida
Bread for the World
1100 Wayne Ave., Suite 1000
Siver Spring, MD 20910
(tel) 301-608-2400 ext. 232
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MOZAMBIQUE UPDATE 3/7/2000
This update includes excerpts from UN and other press sources and an ACTION
ALERT.
Zambezi dams not adding to floods
Rains expected to hinder relief efforts
Aid flows from various countries, relief agencies
UN withholding aid to pressure people to relocate?
Security Council praises donors, calls for more assistance
Some question delays in aid delivery
Landmines: floods erase demining efforts
Countries should focus on preventionóa commentary
Mozambique and debt relief, look very closely
ACTION: so you say you want to do something.
NO ZAMBEZI RIVER THREAT
The Cahora Bassa dam company said 6 March that there was still substantial
storage capacity in the reservoir. Kariba Dam is currently dumping an extra
4500 cubic meters of water a second, or nearly 400 million cubic metres a
day. But the company says it has enough space for an additional 25,000
million cubic metres in the downstream Cahora Bassa, and thus can handle
the extra water with ease. This means that there is currently no threat of
Zambezi River flooding from Cahora Bassa or Kariba. (7 March article from
Metical.)
Rains Expected To Hinder Relief Efforts
More heavy rains expected in Mozambique this week could hinder relief efforts
for flood victims, authorities said today. But water levels are not
expected to rise
"dramatically" (Deutsche Presse-Agentur/ReliefWeb, 7 Mar).
UN officials have warned that developing storms, especially in Mozambique's
hardest-hit southern region, could deliver more than 2 inches of rain today and
Wednesday. That level, said UN special envoy Ross Mountain, "could seriously
affect rivers. The only good news is that this time round, we are better
resourced to
deal with another flooding disaster" (CNN Interactive, 7 Mar).
Aid Flows In From Various Countries, Relief Agencies
The amount of humanitarian aid pledged to Mozambique has reached $20
million, the country's National Disasters Management Institute reported.
However,
that number is less than a third of the country's initial request
(Panafrican News
Agency, 7 Mar).
The UN World Food Program is currently preparing a food distribution
project for some 650,000 people for six months. According to WFP
spokesperson Brenda Barton, the agency has already delivered 9,000 metric
tons of food to an estimated 250,000 people (IRIN, 6 Mar). So far, the WFP
has raised $3.4 million from donor countries for its operations in affected
areas of southern Africa (Johannesburg Business Day, 6 Mar).
In response to a request from Mozambique's government, the UN Environment
Program (UNEP) and the UN Center for Human Settlements (Habitat) have
dispatched a fact-finding mission to the country. The mission will provide
input to the UN disaster coordination team in Mozambique, with particular
emphasis on the flooding's impact on the environment and human settlements.
The joint team will also make recommendations on long-term preventive
measures for the area (UNEP/Habitat release, 7 Mar).
On Friday, the World Bank announced it is stepping up assistance to
Mozambique in response to the floods. The bank plans to accelerate access
to current funding programs, and it has already approved $2.5 million for
emergency road construction. A bank team is scheduled to go to Mozambique
this week to identify emergency needs. In addition, the World Bank is also
moving to accelerate debt relief to Mozambique through the Highly Indebted
Poor Countries initiative (World Bank release, 3 Mar).
US Ambassador to Mozambique Brian Curran said the United States is prepared
to cancel the country's debts to the United States, although he "played
down the gesture," saying the amount is only about $5 million (Panafrican
News Agency).
UN Withholding Aid To Pressure People To Move?
The UN's strategy of withholding aid from flood-stricken towns in order to
pressure residents to move to refugee camps "has left thousands of people
desperate" for food and clean water, the London Guardian reports. "If
there is more flooding, [people who stay in low-lying areas] will have to
be rescued again and that will take resources away from getting food and
water to people who need it," said Mountain. But the newspaper says that
policy is exposing thousands of people to severe hardships and risks of
disease (Chris McGreal, 7 Mar).
Security Council Praises Donors, Calls For More Assistance
The UN Security Council yesterday commended regional and international
relief efforts in Mozambique, and urged all governments to do as much as
possible to help the country recover. In a statement issued by council
President Anwarul Chowdhury, members expressed regret that flooding has
slowed Mozambique's "impressive progress" in recent years (UN Newservice, 6
Mar).
Chowdhury's statement also expressed the council's "deepest sympathy for
the tragic loss of lives and extensive material damage" suffered by
Mozambique (Reuters/MSNBC 3/6).
Some Question Delays In Aid Delivery
While the delivery of humanitarian aid to Mozambique is increasing, some
observers are questioning the delay in the world's response to the crisis.
"When the West wants to intervene militarily anywhere in the world, they
get there in record time," said an editorial in Noticias, Mozambique's main
newspaper. Former Mozambican First Lady Graca Machel expressed similar
sentiments. "It seems the world has no conscience when it comes to human
life," she said (Associated Press/New York Times, 7 Mar). "A lot of people
are getting killed" by inaction, added WFP spokesperson David Schaad
(Andrew Selsky, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 7 Mar).
On top of basic humanitarian problems, Mozambique is also dealing with the
problem of looting. In the country's southern Gaza province, authorities
have cracked down on the looting of food aid. According to the provincial
governor, there have been cases of looting in some districts, "but the
situation is now stable" (Singapore Straits Times, 7 Mar).
LANDMINES: Floods Erase Mozambique's Demining Efforts; More
Mozambique's efforts to find and clear landmines since the end of its
16-year civil war have largely been ruined by devastating floods that have
moved the deadly devices. The Mozambican Campaign Against Landmines said
the entire process will have to start over.
"Now nobody can tell for sure that even the areas previously declared as
free of landmines are still," said the organization's chair, Alberto
Manhique (Panafrican News Agency, 6 Mar).
"We did not know for sure where the landmines were located before the
floods started," added Jakob Kaarsbo of the UN demining team in Mozambique.
"Now we know even less after the mines were displaced by floods" (IRIN, 6
Mar). Mine clearance efforts in Mozambique had reduced the number of
landmine accidents from 40 per week to two (Panafrican News Agency).
Countries Should Focus On Prevention -- Commentary
In a commentary in the Johannesburg Mail & Guardian, Martin Woollacott
argues that while there should have been a faster international response to
the Mozambique crisis, "that is not the main lesson to be drawn from this
and other disasters."
There is an "immense disparity," Woollacott writes, between money spent on
rehabilitation and money available for preventive measures. The World
Bank's new
ProVention Consortium, which links aid and insurance to prevention efforts, is a
way to reinforce good habits.
"A fraction of the funds Western countries have been forced to expend in
the Balkans might have made a large difference" in the impact of natural
disasters, Woollacott writes, "particularly if it had been spent before
rather than after disasters. Mozambique should make us think hard about
such arguments" (Johannesburg Mail & Guardian, 3 Mar).
Mozambique and Debt Relief:
look very carefully at what is being proposed.
The devastating floods in Mozambique have prompted people to find as many
ways as possible to come to that countryís aid. One important issue that
affects the countryís ability to respond to the devastation and begin the
rebuilding process is debt. As it turns out, debt relief that would assist
Mozambique is before the U.S. Congress right now. Congress has the
opportunity to support Mozambiqueís recovery through a bill already on the
congressional calendar. Supplemental appropriations for the current budget
(2000) are scheduled for votes over the next several weeks and could
provide Mozambique with the debt relief it is already set to receive.
The Clinton Administrationís supplemental request included $210 million for
debt relief. Unfortunately neither the House nor Senate leadershipís
version of the supplemental includes any money for debt relief.
The House Appropriations committee is scheduled to take up a supplemental
appropriations bill this Thursday, March 9. The full House is scheduled to
vote on the supplemental the following Thursday, March 16. The Senate
Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up the supplemental bill the
week of March 20.
Points to make in your letter or telephone call:
The U.S. $210 million contribution will help nearly a dozen countries
including Mozambique that will be eligible for debt relief this spring.
A delay in funding for the regional development banks will mean a delay in
the recovery effort of Mozambique.
Background:
Mozambique is expected to qualify for enhanced debt relief under the
Cologne debt plan sometime in the next month. Under the old (1996) HIPC
debt plan Mozambiqueís debt service payments were over 100 million per year
($2 million per week). Under the terms of the international debt agreement
reached in Cologne last June, Mozambiqueís debt service would be reduced to
about $62 million per year (less than $1.1 million per week), less than 10
percent of their revenues.
Mozambique owes about $6 billion dollars to all creditors, multilateral and
bilateral. Of this, the United States is owed $48 million, less than 1
percent of the total. Moreover, under the new international debt plan, the
United States pledged to forgive 100 percent of the bilateral debt owed to
it by 33 of the worldís poorest countries, including Mozambique. Treasury
Secretary Larry Summers reaffirmed that commitment in a news conference
today (Tuesday, March 7).
More than 62 percent of Mozambiqueís debt is owed to other bilateral
(country) creditors, approximately $3.7 billion dollars. Most of
Mozambiqueís debt is owed to Russia, Italy and France.
About one-third of Mozambiqueís debt is owed to multilateral creditors,
including the World Bank ($1.2 billion or 20 percent), the African
Development Bank and other multilateral banks ($466 million or 8 percent),
and the IMF (190 million dollars or 3.2 percent of the total).
SO YOU SAY THAT YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING
1. Connect with one of the emergency assistance agencies working on the
ground in Mozambique and make a cash contribution HYPERLINK
http://ww.africapolicy.org http://www.africapolicy.org
2. Call your member of Congress today (202-225-3121) and ask him/her to
support a supplemental appropriation of $210 million for debt relief to
help the regional development banks do their part in the international debt
plan.
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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