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Zimbabwe
Area: 390,757 sq. km (150,872 sq. mi)
Population: 12,121,311 (2007). Note: at least 3m Zimbabweans are now estimated to live outside the country
Capital City: Harare (population of Greater Harare: 1.1 million)
People: Shona, Ndebele, Others (10%)
Languages: English (official language), Shona and Ndebele
Religion(s): Christian (various); indigenous; small
Hindu/Muslim/Jewish communities
Currency: Zimbabwe dollar - exchange rate Z\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$487 = 1 pound sterling (December 2006)
Head of State: President Robert Mugabe (since 1987)
Foreign Minister: Simbarashe Mumbengegwi (since April 2005)
Membership of international groupings/organisations: United Nations (UN), International Monetary Fund (IMF - Zimbabwe's voting rights are currently suspended); World Bank, African Union (AU), Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Non Aligned Movement (NAM). Zimbabwe decided to withdraw from the Commonwealth on 7 December 2003 following its suspension from the Councils of the Commonwealth.
GEOGRAPHY
Zimbabwe is twice the size of the United Kingdom. The country is completely land-locked, occupying the high plateau between the Zambezi River to the north and the Limpopo to the south, with a mountainous region in the east. Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa and Botswana border Zimbabwe (clockwise from the north).
HISTORY
Until the 19th century the area was ruled by a succession of Shona kingdoms, including the builders of the famous Great Zimbabwe complex (from which the country takes its name). By the 1820s internal and external pressures had led to the collapse of the Shona polities, laying the country open to occupation. Nguni conquerors from South Africa occupied what is now Matabeleland, and in 1890 Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company (BSAC) founded Salisbury (now Harare) and took control of the rest of the country by 1893. The BSAC's defeat of the 1896 Shona and Ndebele rebellion (the 'First Chimurenga') secured the country for widespread European settlement. In 1923, after a referendum which rejected union with South Africa, the country became a self-governing colony. In an attempt to pre-empt black majority rule the white-controlled Rhodesian parliament made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, leading to a 15 year guerrilla war ('the Second Chimurenga'). After the Lancaster House agreement in 1979 the country returned briefly to direct British rule, and elections were held in 1980.
The Shona-dominated Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) won a majority (57 out of 80) of seats available to blacks (20 seats had been reserved for a separate white election) in the new parliament, and its leader, Robert Mugabe, became Prime Minister. ZANU used its majority gradually to amend the constitution, introducing, for example, an executive presidency to which Mugabe was elected in 1987. In the same year, following several years of conflict in Matabeleland ('the gukurahundi'), ZANU and its Ndebele-dominated rivals, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) signed a Unity Accord which merged the two parties into the Zimbabwe African National Union-Popular Front. ZANU-PF exercised a virtual monopoly on national politics until the emergence of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 1999.
POLITICS
The MDC, which describes itself as a 'social democratic party', did well in the 2000 parliamentary elections, winning 57 seats out of the 120 elected. (There are an additional 30 nominated seats.) It did particularly well in urban constituencies. The declared result of the most recent presidential election in 2002 gave victory to Mugabe, and ZANU-PF claim to have recovered much ground in the March 2005 parliamentary elections, declaring that they won 78 seats against the MDC's 41 (one seat went to an independent). Along with the 30 seats nominated by the government (10 provincial governors, 8 chiefs and 12 nominated MPs), ZANU-PF secured the two-thirds majority necessary to change the constitution. A bi-cameral parliament was reintroduced, and Senate elections were held in November 2005.
Disagreements over whether to contest Senate elections precipitated a split in the MDC. The so-called "anti-Senate" faction is lead by Morgan Tsvangirai, while the other elected Arthur Mutambara - a former student leader from the diaspora - as its leader.
The period immediately before the 2005 elections was relatively peaceful (in contrast to 2000, and the presidential elections in 2002, which were marked by violence and intimidation). But widespread abuses , including draconian limitations placed on the media, civil society and the opposition, continued. Regional monitors declared the elections free and fair. European, North American and other international (including Commonwealth) monitors were not invited. There were accusations of vote-rigging, the use of food to buy votes and widespread intimidation.
The next presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2008. Repression of the MDC and the wider political opposition intensified in early 2007, ostensibly in response to the threat of public disorder.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Zimbabwe's human rights record since 1999 has been vigorously criticised by the international community including the European Union, the Commonwealth, the United Nations, and the Africa Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights, as well as by the United States and other countries. The security forces are used to suppress political opposition, independent media is stifled, and legislation limiting freedom of political association, education and discussion has been introduced. ZANU-PF organised youth and war veteran groups have been used to intimidate the opposition. ZANU-PF officials have been accused by the MDC and civil society organisations of withholding food from localities which support the opposition. In May 2005, the government embarked on a crackdown against informal sector trade and housing ("Operation Murambatsvina"). This resulted in 700,000 people being made homeless (according to UN estimates). "Operation Garikai" ("Live Well"), launched the following July and intended to re-house the displaced has been crippled through lack of resources and very few have been provided with adequate housing as a consequence.
Human Rights Annual Report 2006ECONOMY
GDP: 3.146bn USD (2006 estimate)
GDP growth: -4.4% (2006 estimate)
Inflation: 976.4% (Zimbabwe government figure for 2006)
Major Industries: Agriculture, manufacturing, mining.
Major trading partners: South Africa, China.
In spite of having well-developed infrastructure and financial systems, Zimbabwe's economy has declined rapidly since the late 1990s. Real GDP declined by almost 30% between 1997 and 2003. All sectors of the economy have been affected, especially agriculture. Between 2000 and 2004, the national cattle herd shrank by 90%, and the production of flue-cured tobacco declined from 237m kg to 70 m kg. Inflation reached a peak of nearly 1200% in 2006, and unemployment is reportedly more than 80%. Periodic crisis measures - such as currency devaluation in July 2006 - have failed to reverse the decline.
Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, but has been severely disrupted by land resettlement. This has led to a collapse in investor confidence and the flight of capital. Lack of foreign exchange has led to critical shortages in fuel and other imported commodities, including power.
The IMF suspended payments to Zimbabwe in 2000, following the government's decision to abandon IMF public spending guidelines (including payment to 'war veterans', the cost of which amounted to 3% of GDP). In 2000 the country went into arrears at the World Bank, and at the IMF the following year, effectively cutting off co-operation with either institution.
In December 2003, a procedure for Zimbabwe's expulsion from the IMF was initiated, but this was avoided when in February 2006, Zimbabwe settled its arrears to the General Resources Account (resources lent at standard Fund terms including the Stand By Arrangements of the late 1990s).
Zimbabwe's voting rights with the IMF have not been re-established, however, as Zimbabwe also has exchange restrictions and multiple currency practices. These are inconsistent with the obligations of Article VIII of the IMF relating to areas including restrictions on international transactions.
DEVELOPMENT
The decline of Zimbabwe's once flourishing economy means that the number of people living in poverty – currently estimated at more than 70% - is increasing. On the Human Devlopment Index Zimbabwe ranks 145 of 177 countries. The frequency of acute malnutrition declined in 2004, partly as a result of large-scale food-aid, although the situation in some areas continues to worsen.
The level of HIV infection is one of the highest in the world, with about 18%-20% of 15-54 year olds infected (Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey 2005/06, Sept 2006; UNAIDS report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, May 2006), and AIDS-related illnesses account for about three quarters of hospital admissions. As a result, life expectancy has fallen to 37 years for men and 34 for women, from an historical high of 55 years.
The UK's aid to Zimbabwe is aimed at contributing to alleviating AIDS and to supporting 1.5 million of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the population. DFID expects to contribute more than £38m to programmes in Zimbabwe in 2005/6, all channelled through UN agencies and civil society organisations.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Zimbabwe generally has good relations with its neighbours. SADC members have not publicly confronted Zimbabwe on humanitarian, human rights and related political issues. As the then chairman of SADC's Organ for Peace and Security, Mugabe put together a coalition of Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe to intervene in DR Congo in 1997, although this was not formally endorsed by SADC. During the intervention Zimbabwean troops came into direct conflict with their Rwandan and Ugandan counterparts. The last Zimbabwean troops withdrew in 2003. In early 2007 South Africa’s president Mbeki was charged by SADC with mediating in Zimbabwean politics, in preparation for the 2008 elections.
Outside of SADC, relations with the rest of Africa are primarily handled in the context of the AU. Zimbabwe's straitened economic circumstances, and relative international isolation, have inhibited its participation in continental and international political programmes such as peacekeeping.
Defence relations with donors began to sour in 1997, when an arms embargo was imposed by the EU in response to Zimbabwe's intervention in DR Congo. Political relations declined rapidly after 2000 because of ZANU-PF's political and economic programmes, particularly the seizure of land, the introduction of repressive legislation and increasing violence against its political opponents. The EU introduced targeted measures against individual members of the regime in 2002. These measures have been renewed annually and the number of regime figures on this list increases regularly. The EU does not have any economic sanctions against Zimbabwe. (see "EU Common Position" below).
In 2004, Mugabe announced a 'Look East' policy, primarily intended to revive Zimbabwe's economy in the absence of investment from elsewhere. Close relations with China and Iran in particular are being cultivated under this policy, China is now Zimbabwe's second biggest export market (by value) after South Africa, but Chinese investors are reluctant to risk capital in the country.
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