(Press Release)

January 5, 2009

On December 26, 2008, the Government of Japan decided to provide emergency grant aid of one million, five hundred thousand dollars (USD 1,500,000) to Zimbabwe through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as humanitarian assistance for the fight against the cholera outbreak that is raging in Zimbabwe. The grant will be used to procure water purification chemicals and to carry out health education.

This was in response to UNICEF’s appeal, “Immediate Needs of Children and Women Affected by the Cholera Outbreak and Collapse of the Health and Education Systems” of December 8, 2008. It is expected that approximately 600,000 vulnerable children, women and men will benefit from the grant over the next six months. It is hoped that the grant will contribute effectively towards the improvement of the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

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