By Anna Tibaijuka, UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement issues in Zimbabwe
“A recent United Nations fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe to assess Operation Murambatsvina has provided a road-map out of the crisis. The following is an edited extract from the report:
About 700 000 people in cities across the country have either lost their homes or their livelihoods or both. The government of Zimbabwe should immediately halt any further demolitions of homes and informal businesses and create conditions for sustainable relief and reconstruction for those affected.
There is an urgent need for the government of Zimbabwe to facilitate humanitarian operations within a pro-poor, gender–sensitive policy framework that provides security of tenure, affordable housing, water and sanitation, and the pursuit of small scale income–generating activities in a regulated and enabling environment.” [Read more]