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Swaziland
is prone to a range of natural and manmade disasters that have
occurred sporadically since the 1980s. The most notable disasters
in recent years have been a cholera outbreak in 1982, Cyclone
Domonia in 1984, the 1992-96 drought, a foot-and mouth outbreak
and torrential rains in 2000. The rate of HIV/AIDS infection has
reached an alarming level and has only recently begun to receive
adequate attention from the government. The compound effects of
HIV/AIDS, poverty and governance during the most recent regional
drought event in 2002/2003 have caused yet another severe food
crisis. With HIV/AIDS infections having reached alarming levels,
the disease is now looked upon as a disaster in its own right.
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majority of Swaziland’s rural population are at high risk
and are extremely vulnerable to most of the disasters listed above.
Food insecurity, high population growth rate, and declining employment
opportunities will further increase vulnerability. Pressure will
also increase on the use of available land and natural resources
because of negative effects on the environment. Until 1992, Swaziland
had dealt with individual disasters on an ad-hoc basis. A National
Disaster Task Force (NDTF) was then set up in response to the
severe drought that affected the entire Southern African region
during this period. It was staffed by a small secretariat under
the coordination of the Ministry of Home Affairs. There was no
institutional mechanism in place to administer the relief programme
operation. As a result, the government had to rely heavily on
NGOs to distribute relief materials to the affected communities.
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