Humanitarian agency World Vision has resumed some emergency relief operations following a clarification of the NGO suspension order.

World Vision's partial operation will serve 116,587 people - many of them children under the Emergency Schools Feeding Programme, as well as patients on HIV/AIDS treatment and people registered in orphanages and elderly homes.

The Zimbabwe government suspended the work of all humanitarian organisations in May 2008 after accusing them of engaging in political activities during a hotly contested general election.

Diplomatic efforts to broker dialogue between the government and rival political parties have intensified, resulting in the signing of a memorandum of understanding that will provide a framework for unlocking the political and economic logjam.

The memorandum also spells out that humanitarian agencies be allowed to assist the needy, including victims of political violence.

'The food currently being distributed falls far below the needs of vulnerable households. There is an urgent need for food aid in both rural and urban communities,' said Daniel Muchena, World Vision Zimbabwe's humanitarian and emergency affairs director.

Muchena said that the insufficient harvest and hyperinflation continue to eat away at household resources, thus making basic commodities unaffordable.

Zimbabwe's inflation is currently estimated to be above 2.2 million per cent. The unemployment rate is as high as 80 per cent. An estimated 3 million Zimbabweans have fled the hardships in the country to seek refuge in South Africa and other neighbouring countries.

Current projections by the Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Food Programme indicate that 2 million people will experience food insecurity between July and September 2008, while 5.1 million will be in urgent need of food at the height of the dry season between January and March 2009.

World Vision is the largest humanitarian organisation operating in Zimbabwe.