Zimbabwe: What’s At Stake

Reports out of Zimbabwe paint the typical picture of a country in crisis: food shortages, political violence, an exodus of refugees, skyrocketing inflation- essentially, a country on the brink of collapse. The most frustrating part of this image is that Zimbabwe did not always look like this- in the early 1990s, it was considered one of Africa’s most promising countries. For starters, it had one of the strongest, most diverse economies in the region. It was not only a major mining center and tobacco exporter, but also a strong agricultural producer with potential to become a regional breadbasket. Social indicators were also improving. Zimbabwe boasted one of the region’s most well-educated populations, with an adult literacy rate around 90%. The government invested heavily in education in the 1980s and with the introduction of free primary school fees, Zimbabwe was able to achieve universal primary education by1990.

By the early 2000s, this potential was squandered, demonstrating that poor leadership can wipe away development progress in a matter of years. A combination of disastrous economic policies, one-party rule and the emergence of challenges like HIV/AIDS has left millions of Zimbabweans destitute. On the economic front, inflation is over one million percent. 80% of Zimbabweans have no formal job, and many have reverted to the subsistence economy. Drought and a disastrous land redistribution policy have led to a dramatic decline in agricultural production and some 5 hectares of idle land. The United Nations (UN) now estimates that 4.1m people will face serious food shortages in Zimbabwe in 2008.

Health indicators have also fallen sharply. Zimbabwe faces the world’s fourth highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, and life expectancy has dropped from 61 years during the early 1990s to 34 years at the end of 2005. Shortages in personnel, equipment and supplies have ravaged the health system and led to sharp rises in infant and child mortality. Gross economic mismanagement and dictatorship have also meant that Zimbabweans have not been able to benefit from the scale-up in donor assistance for health like other Africans have. According to UNICEF, Zimbabwe receives the lowest donor support in southern Africa for people living with HIV, at only $4 per person per year; for comparison, in neighboring Zambia the figure is $184 per person per year.

What this all demonstrates is the potential that a fair, democratic election could hold for Zimbabwe’s future. While one election will not fix all of Zimbabwe’s problems, it will open a window of opportunity for the country to get back on track and recover what’s been lost. Countries like Rwanda and Mozambique have demonstrated the remarkable recoveries that are possible after the most destructive civil conflicts. Keys to success in these stories were not only a government dedicated to development, but strong support from the international community. That is why it is vital that the international community is not only strong in demanding free and fair elections, but is poised and ready to offer support once Zimbabwe has a chance at recovery.

-Nora Coghlan

An important voice joins the choir

After years of silence on the crisis in Zimbabwe, last night former South African leader Nelson Mandela condemned the political violence that is gripping the country and criticized the government of Robert Mugabe.

Edith and I wanted to provide some more information and background about what this means.

Because of his stature both at home and abroad, these words by Mandela carry significant weight. Until now, the former president had kept quiet on the issue to avoid undermining current South African President Thabo Mbeki. However, in the past year Mbeki’s failed strategy of “quiet diplomacy” with Zimbabwe has come under increasing international criticism.

Zimbabwe’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, rejected the criticism early this morning, saying that Mandela’s comments were unacceptable and unfortunate for a man of his stature.

Mandela’s comments join a choir of African voices that many deem too little and too late to have a real impact on Mugabe. In the lead-up to the runoff elections scheduled for tomorrow, pressure has been growing on Zimbabwe’s neighbors to take more forceful action in persuading Mugabe to cancel the election and agree to talk with the opposition. An emergency meeting held yesterday by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was a missed opportunity for key African leaders to take the strong positions needed to influence action. After a five-hour meeting in Swaziland, leaders from Tanzania, Angola and Swaziland called for a poll delay and said that a run off would be illegitimate. This is the strongest position taken by the SADC yet, but they finished their statement by concluding that the people of Zimbabwe could handle their own problems. Mbeki, who was notably absent from the summit, spoke to the meeting host Mswati (Swaziland’s president) at length on the phone, although it is unclear what position he took.

Next week is the African leaders will meet for the annual African Union summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Depending on what happens Friday, this could offer a new opportunity for African leaders to condemn the situation and a chance for the AU to exert its legal power to suspend Zimbabwe’s membership and demand new elections.

-Nora Coghlan and Edith Jibunoh

Mandela on Zimbabwe: “A Tragic Failure of Leadership”

Last night at a state dinner in London, Nelson Mandela broke his silence and briefly criticized the leadership in Zimbabwe.

From Reuters:

Nelson Mandela uttered just four words criticising Zimbabwe’s leadership, but they were enough to resonate around the world….

In a speech at a dinner late on Wednesday, Mandela highlighted several global crises including poverty, the Middle East, Iraq and Darfur before referring to a “tragic failure of leadership” in Zimbabwe.

While brief, the phrase hit the headlines, with reports saying Mandela had “broken his silence”. He officially retired from politics nine years ago.

You can watch the speech here:

(Mandela is in London to celebrate his 90th birthday and to attend a celebrity-filled concert tomorrow designed to raise awareness and funds for his AIDS/HIV charity. The charity is called “46664″ - which was his prison number when he spent decades behind bars for opposing apartheid in South Africa.)

The Girl Effect

Check out this cool video on the Girl Effect.

The “Girl Effect” is the powerful social and economic change brought about when girls have the opportunity to participate in their society. Decades of research shows that when women have access to more resources, they put their money towards making sure their children have better nutrition, education and health care.

The first step is investing in girls and it is one of the surest routes to ending poverty in the developing world. Check it out at http://www.girleffect.org/#/video/

-Erin Erlenborn

Jubilee Act Passes Committee

The Jubilee Act passed the Senate Foreign Relations committee yesterday. Next it would have to be considered and passed by the full Senate before it could go to the President and be signed into law.

Europe’s Report Card

Last week, ONE launched the DATA Report in France. I posted a few blogs entries covering the overall findings, the launch itself and a more detailed look at the United States’ performance.

But, we launched the report in France for a few reasons. First, the 4 EU G8 (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) make up more than 75% of the promised increases in aid from the G8. France takes over the presidency of the EU on July 1 and alone makes up 23% of the promised increases. And, though France has been a strong supporter of the Global Fund, they have only delivered 6.7% of their promised increases so far. In short, France made a huge promise, but delivery has been weak. This story is true across the EU G8.

France cut aid to Africa in 2007. Wrong direction. France has committed to increase aid to Africa by $4.986 billion by 2010. Of that promised increase, they have only delivered $334 million. In order to get back on a linear track towards their 2010 target, France would have to increase aid to Africa by over $1.5 billion dollars next year. Though a sizeable amount, this number is so big because France has been so slow in increasing aid so far. France is really important for Africa, both historically and now. As France becomes the President of the EU and decides its internal budget, President Sarkozy and the French people need to demonstrate that they are going to meet their commitment Africa.

Germany was last year’s host of the G8 and promised to get on track to meet their commitments after a very slow start. Chancellor Merkel and Germany increased aid to Africa by $311 million last year. Though not enough to get back on track, it was a big step in the right direction. Next year, we expect Germany to increase aid by $634 million – again moving closer to being on track. Germany hosted a strong Global Fund replenishment conference in Berlin late last year and has made strong progress, but there is still a long way to go towards accomplishing Germany’s promised increases of $3.969 billion by 2010.

Italy is a tricky story. Italy’s aid to Africa has actually decreased below the level it was at in 2004. But, Italy posted the largest increase in 2007: $417 million. As Prime Minister Berlusconi returns to office this year, it is our hope that he will push Italy to make this large increase the start of sustained progress rather than just a one year anomaly.

All of these commitments were started in 2005 at the Gleneagles Summit hosted by the United Kingdom. Though Tony Blair was then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has always been a strong supporter of Africa and global development generally. We were surprised to see that UK aid to Africa this year only increased by $48 million. Despite this small increase, the UK has accomplished more of its promised increases than any other country – 26%, and looking at the UK’s three year budget, called the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), ONE is fairly sure that the UK will meet their commitment to increase aid to Africa by $3.908 billion over 2004 levels. Our colleagues and fellow advocates in the UK will hold the government accountable to these commitments until they are met.

Following through on the G8 promises to Africa will be a test of the EU G8’s ability to keep to their word as we continue this transition to a globalized business and political world. It is essential both for Africa’s development and for the G8’s ability to act as global leaders that they keep these commitments.

The next two blog posts on the DATA Report will be about Japan, this year’s G8 host, and Canada.

-Josh Lozman

The Latest from Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has been capturing international headlines this week after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew only days before the July 27th run-off election. In an open letter delivered to the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission on Monday, Tsvangirai stated that “What has been going on … after the elections held on the 29th March 2008 is a clear testimony that the elections scheduled for the 27th June 2008 cannot be held efficiently, freely, fairly, transparently and in accordance with the law.” He cited numerous acts of intimidation, violence and vote-rigging undertaken by incumbent President Robert Mugabe’s forces in the past month.

Pressure is now mounting on Mugabe to cancel the election. Tsvangirai has called for the African Union to lead a peaceful transition in Zimbabwe with support from the UN and the Southern African Development Community. At an emergency meeting in Swaziland today, SADC called for the election to be postponed because of violence and yesterday, UN Security Council unanimously adopted a statement condemning the violence and saying that free and fair elections would be impossible to hold on 27 June. While the non-binding statement was significantly watered down from a draft version circulated by Western countries on the council, it represents the first time Zimbabwe has been criticized at the UN by South Africa, Russia and China.

Editorials in both The New York Times and the The Washington Postare demanding more decisive action by Zimbabwe’s African neighbors, particularly South Africa, as well as the UN Security Council.

Edith Jibunoh, ONE policy staffer stationed in Abuja Nigeria, wrote to share more about the background of the elections. You can read it all after the jump.

Stay tuned here for more updates and a closer look at how the crisis is impacting regular Zimbabweans.

-Nora Coghlan
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BedNet Delivery on the Zambezi River

I recently returned from Tete Province, Mozambique, where I helped to distribute bed nets and malaria medications to remote communities on the Zambezi River. I joined the adventurous and ambitious Roll Back Malaria Zambezi Expedition, a two-month voyage tracing Dr. David Livingstone’s trip down the river 150 years ago. The Zambezi Expedition aims to track successes and challenges of controlling malaria in six countries in malaria-endemic southern Africa: Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. I joined toward the end of the Expedition, during which crew members and medical teams have traveled more than 1,550 miles to deliver bed nets and medications to remote areas along the river, many of which are accessible only by boat.

We visited one village near the old colonial Boroma Mission, a few miles upstream from the city of Tete. Though we arrived only the evening before to tell the villagers that we would be coming to deliver bed nets, we found the entire village gathered, health cards in hand, early the next morning when we crossed the river from our campsite. They greeted us with impromptu singing and dancing, incorporating the sting of a mosquito’s bite and malaria’s fever and chills in their movements. One of the village women kept the crowd in gales of laughter as she mimed the mosquito’s treacherous path through the night to the sleeping victim. When we hung a bed net from a nearby tree to demonstrate how to use it, she crawled under it and pretended to sleep soundly and safely to illustrate the point.

The Zambezi Expedition’s goal is to show that coordinated action can force back the spread of malaria and help save millions of lives. As this visit showed, Africans along the Zambezi’s banks are eager to join in the fight against malaria—they have the energy, the drive and the dedication—all they need are the tools. The Expedition has drawn to a close, but the lessons of how international support and local implementation can and must go hand in hand are clear.

To learn more about the Roll Back Malaria Zambezi Expedition, go to
www.zambezi-expedition.org

-Emily Bergantino, Malaria No More

Aid Dollars Making an Impact, but at Risk

Sometimes it is hard to see how US policy impacts the world. I just got back from a trip to Kenya that helped me to realize just how important US policy can be to the world’s poor. In Ukwala, Kenya, a rural village in Western Kenya, I worked with a clinic that is set to receive a $1.4 million grant from USAID that comes from PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).
 
I got home and had an email in my inbox about the PEPFAR funding being in jeopardy and my heart broke. I just met people that will be benefiting tremendously from this legislation. Among them was one of the most inspiring people I have met: Collins is disabled from the waist down. He gets around by a hand-pedaled bike. He doesn’t have HIV/AIDS, but 1 out of 10 people in his area do. He is a member of an AIDS Support Group, because he wants the message of prevention to reach the disabled population, a group that is normally ignored. He is one of the smartest people I have met.

Because of a possible decision by some powerful Congresspeople in DC, millions of lives are at risk. We can’t let that happen. We can join Collins and stand up for our brothers in sisters living with AIDS. Keep updated on PEPFAR funding by checking this blog. You can also learn more on the ONE and DATA sites and take action here.

-Stephen Donahoe, Outreach International

New PEPFAR Update

Based on a comment made by Reid a couple hours ago, we hope to see an agreement in the next 24 hours. (Once some key senators are able to craft this agreement, the Senate should be able to move passed the current obstructions and onto the next step in the reauthorization process.) We expect to know more tomorrow, and will let you know when we do.

Reid’s comments from a 2pm press conference today:

“The global AIDS bill, the PEPFAR — I spoke to Senator Biden before lunch today. He asked me if I could wait for another 24 hours before I brought a unanimous consent request to pass this. He said almost all the problems are worked out.

I hope that’s the case. It’s something we need to do. It is important.

The president said he wants it. Now we’ve got to get folks on the other side of the aisle, the Republicans, to join with the president on this.”