£5m aid to feed and educate Zimbabwe

Britain has given an extra £5 million food and education aid to Zimbabwe and promised more if the country can show it is on the road to real democratic reform. There were "great signs of progress" Prime Minister Gordon Brown said after February's power-sharing deal between Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe. But after talks at 10 Downing Street with Mr Tsvangirai, Brown today warned that the UK would carry on watching for and criticising signs of repression.

Mr Tsvangirai has struggled to raise the large sums of cash aid he wants from foreign governments, which are still cautious about giving cash directly to Mr Mugabe and his allies. He says the country needs £4.9bn ($8bn) to revive the economy but pledges during Mr Tsvangirai's tour of Europe and the US have fallen far short of that sum. The extra cash brings the amount of UK aid earmarked for the transition in government to £60 million. But the money will be handed out by aid agencies, not the Harare administration, Mr Brown pointed out. "We are prepared to respond when the Zimbabwean government takes action which is in conformity with the long-term ambition," the Prime Minister said. "But we will continue to speak out for those who are intimidated and threatened and exploited and indeed against all censorship. We will continue to test the progress that is being made." That includes a new constitution within 18 months, followed by elections, and an "immediate stop" to land seizures. The food and education aid package will be made up of £4 million for "food security" and £1 million to buy text books for the newly-reopened schools, he said.

Mr Tsvangirai defended the power-sharing arrangement with President Mugabe and said he was taking Zimbabwe on an "irreversible" journey of reform. The former opposition leader was heckled and booed at a meeting of Zimbabwean exiles living in the UK when he urged them to return, amid anger that he appeared to be legitimising the Mugabe regime despite continued criticism by bodies such as Amnesty International of human rights abuses. Mr Tsvangirai was expected to ask Mr Brown to lift sanctions including a travel ban and assets freeze against Mr Mugabe and his officials.

In spite of the power-sharing government, the human rights situation in Zimbabwe is still "precarious." Security forces are still arresting opposition and civil rights activists, who are still largely controlled by Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, according to human rights organistaion, Amnesty.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children