United States Diplomatic Mission to South Africa

Campaign of Terror Unleashed in Zimbabwe

Fact sheet highlights post-election violence in Zimbabwe

In the aftermath of the March 29, 2008 elections, President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party has unleashed a wave of political violence designed to cow opposition members and supporters into submission and deter them from participating or voting their conscience in a possible runoff election. Soldiers, police, war veterans and youth militia loyal to the ruling party have been deployed in rural areas throughout Zimbabwe to systematically intimidate voters through killings, beatings, looting of property, burning of homes and public humiliation. Women, children and the elderly have not been spared. Civil society groups, particularly those involved in election monitoring, and humanitarian organizations charged with providing desperately needed food assistance also have been targeted.

Fact Sheet

 

Burma Aid Is About Saving Lives, Not Politics, Rice Says

Assessment teams must act before relief supplies can be provided

Washington -- The death and destruction in Burma is not a matter of politics, it's a matter of saving lives, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"And it should be a matter that the government of Burma wants to see its people receive the help that is available to them," she says.

The United States and other nations, the United Nations, international relief agencies and nongovernmental organizations are prepared to bring considerable resources to the victims of Burma's Cyclone Nargis and its aftermath,  Henrietta Fore, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said May 8 at a Washington briefing.

"We are poised and ready to make a significant contribution, but we need a very large coordinated international assistance effort," she said.  "It is a time when we need that directed by international relief coordinators who have experience in the field.  There are many international tragedies and this one needs to be contained at this time."

To date, the Burmese regime has not permitted the United States or most agencies access to the country to conduct much needed assessments and to begin bringing supplies, aid and help to the areas hit hardest by Cyclone Nargis.

Full story

 

U.N. Food Aid Agency Urges Countries to Lift Food Export Bans

Coherent global response to crisis needed, WFP's Sheeran says

Washington -- The head of the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) has called on countries that ban exports of food commodities to lift those restrictions so more food can be available for humanitarian aid.

Approximately 40 countries have imposed bans as world commodity prices have increased several times in the past year. As a result, WFP is having trouble securing enough food for aid, WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran told a meeting at the International Institute of Economics in Washington May 6.

She called the crisis a silent tsunami that threatens to plunge more than 100 million people around the world into hunger.

Sheeran said purchasing problems affect WFP's ability to get food to areas where it is needed, such as Sudan.  Export bans have forced WFP to go further from areas in need to seek food stocks, which adds to the time and logistical challenges of getting food to starving Sudanese and other populations, she said at the International Institute of Economics in Washington May 6.

WFP is facing the challenge of the "fusing of the fuel and food markets," she said.  Food producers are breaking supply contracts with the WFP, accepting broken contract penalties, then selling their crops instead to biofuel producers at higher prices, Sheeran said.

Full story

 

Ask America: Web Chats & Webcasts

Upcoming

May 16, 12:00 GMT: Afghan View of American Academia and Society
Dr. Sibghatullah, a Humphrey fellow from Afghanistan, will discuss his educational experiences in the United States, as well as his general impression of life in America and the status of education in Afghanistan

Transcripts of past events

May 6, U.S. Elections Your Questions
Elections experts Michelle Austein and George Burkes discuss the people, processes and issues that shape the U.S. presidential race.

May 5, U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a Time of Political Change , with Bonnie S. Glaser, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

 

eJournalUSA: The Olympic Experience

The Olympic Games remind us of certain universal human values. Every Olympian has a story that echoes the shared human struggle for excellence and our devotion to pursue purpose in life. In this issue of eJournal USA, we celebrate the Olympics through the individual experiences and insights of athletes who share their memories of the Olympic Experience.