political context

Zimbabwe became independent in 1980 following a bitter war of liberation against the illegal Smith regime. The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU - now ZANU-PF) won the elections and formed the government but also co-opted members of the other main party, ZAPU, into government for a short time. Early opportunities for reconciliation and nation building were undermined by the government's violent response to unrest in Matabeleland during the early and mid 1980s.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the model of governance was one that sought to address people's social and economic well being through state intervention. But it neglected to strengthen political and civil rights and ran into severe fiscal restraints. 

On taking power ZANU brought about a rapid expansion in health, education and social service provision which improved living conditions and literacy rates for many. But because of Zimbabwe's colonial history, access to resources and services were very unequal after independence.

By 1990, the economy was running into problems and unemployment was rising steadily. Zimbabwe negotiated for support from the World Bank and, in 1991, introduced an economic structural adjustment programme. It received large loans but was required to cut public expenditure in return.
 
In August 1998, the government sent troops into the Democratic Republic of Congo in support of rebel leader Laurent Kabila. This placed a huge drain on the economy but was very lucrative for senior members of Zimbabwe's military and political leadership.

The high prevalence rates of HIV and AIDS continued to undermine the social and economic fabric of Zimbabwean society during the 1990s (the estimated number of adults and children now living with HIV and AIDS is 2.3 million out of a population of 12.5 million people). Discontent among sections of Zimbabwean society also started to grow during this period. By the late 1990s the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions had become strong enough to stage a series of national strikes as living standards of its members began to decline. The National Constitutional Assembly, a body consisting of representatives from civil society, lobbied for fundamental changes to the constitution.

In response, the government mounted its own constitutional review process. The recommendations it made were put to a referendum in February 2000, which it lost. During parliamentary elections of June 2000 ZANU (PF) won by a narrow margin but Zimbabwe civil society and international observers saw this as being down to widespread use of violence and intimidation.

ZANU (PF) also won the presidential elections in March 2002 but bodies representing civil society in Zimbabwe, such as the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, once again blamed violence, intimidation and a flawed electoral process. International observers were restricted but the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum stated that the elections had not met their standards of being free and fair.

After its defeat in the referendum the government put in place a strategy to ensure its continuation in power, whatever the cost. In addition to militarising the state and repressing the opposition, it began a fast-track land reform programme in March 2000. This involved identifying the majority of white-owned commercial farms for resettlement. The government argued that this would address past historical injustices. But commercial farmers, civil society and political commentators argued that land had been politicised and that the process resulted in an economic disaster for Zimbabwe, which has proven to be the case. There is also particular concern about the fate of farm workers and their families, estimated to be approximately two million people. Some of the those initially resettled under the fast track land scheme have now been thrown off the resettled farms as the elite grab their land.

Since achieving independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has suffered its worst economic crisis. Official inflation reached 364.5 per cent in June 2003, although it has since declined. Industrial production is 60 per cent below capacity and formal unemployment is over 70 per cent. Food, fuel, and foreign exchange are in short supply. Inflation, high commodity pricing and the imminent collapse of the banking sector are deeply worrying.

In July 2005, the World Food Programme forecast that, by the summer of 2006, food aid will be needed by 2.9 million people - an estimated 36 per cent of Zimbabwe's rural population. Prospects for the forthcoming harvest in March/April 2006 are bleak.

The HIV and AIDS infection rate is 34 per cent. The pandemic interacts with food shortages to further undermine health, education and family structures. Around 2000 people per week were dying from HIV and AIDS in 2002 and the figure is now more than 3,500. Life expectancy has dropped to 35 years from 65 in 1990.

Because of the economic, social and political context in Zimbabwe an increasing number of people are leaving the country, including many experienced and skilled personnel.

The parliamentary elections of March 2005, although less violent in the immediate pre-election period, were once again neither free nor fair.

A year on from Operation Murambatsvina ('Clear out the Rubbish'), the damaging effects of this government campaign aimed at the urban poor in Zimbabwe are still visible. Initiated in Harare in May 2005 and then extended to other cities and towns, the government dispersed the urban poor and burnt thousands of informal settlements to the ground - affecting up to a million people.

Some were forcibly sent to rural areas where they had no relations or support systems. They were not welcome, as rural people under control of party headmen had little food to share. Many saw this operation as an attempt to destroy the opposition's urban power base. It was widely condemned, including by a visiting UN special rapporteur, as a major violation of human rights. Few houses have been built to replace that were still being destroyed in August 2006, and those built have been allocated to government supporters.