deterioration of nutrition among children; and the establishment of a nutrition surveillance system in areas where people have resettled. In addition, WFP’s ongoing targeted feeding programmes, started prior to the evictions are reaching about 1 million vulnerable persons such as school children, orphans, AIDS sufferers and pregnant women, mainly through schools and hospitals. However, the Operation has automatically increased the number without secure food access by up to half a million. Pending the availability of additional resources from donors, WFP is hoping to augment its feeding programme to reach up to 3 million people from October 2005. However, there are few signs that these resources will be forthcoming, particularly as the Government of Zimbabwe has thus far refused to appeal for international food assistance. IOM, through a network of local NGOs and churches, has so far distributed non-food items such as blankets, soap and cooking utensils to about 15,000 families affected by the evictions. It also plans to start distributing tents. Its regular, ongoing programmes to assist about 180,000 mobile and vulnerable persons have not been severely affected, although a group of 145 ex-farm worker households which had recently started receiving assistance from IOM were evicted from their homes in Kasam in the Makoni district of Manicaland.95 IOM’s own appeal for funds to cover the immediate response amounts to USD 3.7 million, and so far, USD 2 to 2.5 million in additional resources has been raised. However, the original needs assessment and timeframe of 12 months will have to be revised, owing to the increasing number of families affected. On 30 June 2005, the United Nations Country Team finalized an interim response plan for three months pending a more detailed needs assessment. This plan calls for an immediate mobilization of USD 11.9 million. However, the polarized political climate and the continuation of Operation Restore Order are undermining resource mobilization efforts, particularly for longer-term development programmes. Although many donors have indicated their willingness to channel material assistance through NGOs, they are reluctant to commit funding out of concern of indirectly supporting policies and actions to which they are opposed. 5.3 Lack of an Overall Framework Guiding Humanitarian Response The humanitarian response from the UN and its partners in Zimbabwe suffers from the lack of an overall agreement with the Government on the nature and scope of humanitarian assistance. Earlier in the year, the UNCT finalized a joint “Humanitarian and Developmental-Relief Plan for 2005” that identified the main challenges and their programmatic implications. This document has been presented to the Government on various occasions, but no substantive feedback has been received so far. In the absence of the above, assistance continues to be provided in a largely ad-hoc manner, with the risks this entails. There is an urgent need to reach an understanding with the Government on the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, the status of people displaced by the Operation, and the policies and standards that will govern humanitarian response, including the SPHERE standards and the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.96 The lack of an overall UN-Government plan is particularly apparent at Caledonia Farm, where the UN and its partners are currently responding to day-to-day government requests for food, 95 Confidential source. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: “Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement”, 1997. 96 52