US To Send More Funds to Zimbabwe
The United States government has announced that they are planning to increase funding to Zimbabwe, despite the US maintaining sanctions against Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe and his wife, Grace.
The funds the US will be supplying to Zimbabwe are intended to be used in the health sector of the country.
Zimbabwe has been ravaged by several outbreaks of deadly diseases over the last few years, and continues to be plagued by HIV and AIDS.
The news of more funding was announced by the US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Harry Thomas Jr.
Thomas made the announcement at the closing ceremony of the Harare International Festival of The Arts.
“We are very heartened that our Congress just passed the budget within the last few days and our President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) funding is remaining constant. In fact it will likely grow to almost $150m next year,” Thomas said.
It was a surprising move by the US congress, as many believed funding to countries that are sanctioned in part by the US, would have their funding cut under the new Trump administration.
The Trump administration said that they will however maintain sanctions against Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace for alleged “rights violations and electoral fraud in previous polls”.
Thomas said that with the funding from the US and the PEPFAR programme, they will be able to continue their work in assisting HIV and AIDS patients and families in Zimbabwe.
“This means we are able to continue saving lives through PEPFAR as well as feed about 2.4 million people a day in Zimbabwe through other assistance programmes,” he said.
