Zimbabwe

1. Zimbabwe By Gabrielle Wiltse & Brianna Gouw

2. Where Is Zimbabwe & why is it making news? • Located in the south eastern region of Africa, surrounded by Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa. • An upcoming election is causing instability within the coalition government, which is shared by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. • Past elections have been rigged so that Mugabe could continue holding power. • Massive counts of violations towards human rights and an extremely low quality of life. • Due to poor funding of social services the life span of an average Zimbabwean is in the mid forties. • Sanctions have been imposed on Zimbabwe by countries such as the U.S. and Britain. • Issues related with human rights violations and the blood diamonds smuggled from Marange Diamond Fields in eastern Zimbabwe. • Zimbabwe is one of the most industrialized countries within Africa, causing it to have a large negative impact on the environment and agriculture.

4. What are the issues regarding these events? • Rigged elections have caused corruption and turmoil within the governmental structure, economy and citizens of Zimbabwe (Inflation & Riots) • It is debatable as to whether or not the upcoming 2011 election should occur because of the political unrest that is already happening and may erupt further. • Thousands of citizens have been forced to live in slums after the economy crashed and the Zimbabwean dollar became useless. • The quality of healthcare, education and other social services has decreased immensely due to lack of funding, dropping the quality of life to a very low standard. • Mugabe is unwilling to remove the military or himself from the government, creating tension between the nations which have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe. • Poor environmental conditions have created difficulty for agricultural production to flourish, thus reducing Zimbabwe’s food supply. • Zimbabwe villages are being threatened with military violence in attempt to force them to endorse unconstitutional policies.

6. Who are the Players Involved? • Robert Mugabe • ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front) • Morgan Tsvangirai • Jacob Zuma/South Africa • South African Development Community (SADC) • United States, Britain, European Union (Sanctions)

7. Time frame • British colonized Zimbabwe in 1953 (Formerly known as Southern Rhodesia) • Mugabe liberalized black Zimbabwean’s and gained independence from Britain in 1980 and became prime minister. • Mugabe turned Zimbabwe into the jewel of Africa, providing great social programs and a stable economy. • A decade into his rule, Mugabe took away farm land from white farmers and redistributed it amongst black civilians. This caused the quality and quantity of agricultural production to take a dive. • Once Zimbabwe’s agriculture suffered the rest of the economy followed. • Mugabe changed his title to President in 1987 • February 13th, 2009 Zimbabwe’s government became a coalition with Mugabe as President and Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister as an attempt to make the country more democratic.

8. Past Contributions? • British oppression created resentment amongst the black Zimbabweans • Black citizens were willing to fight back for their freedom from the British, resulting in Mugabe becoming Prime Minister. • Land redistribution of farms caused crash of agriculture and the rest of the economy. • Sanctions have been placed on Zimbabwe by the U.S. and Britain because Mugabe does not believe in the same governmental ideas, resulting in tensions and further economic difficulties. • Economic crash has lead to poverty and a failure in social programs. • Coalition continues to contribute to the political instability

9. Impact on our world? • In 2008 Canada imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, this includes the following: • A ban on the export of arms and related material – meaning any type of weapons, ammunition, military vehicle or military or paramilitary equipment and their spare parts – to Zimbabwe or to any person in Zimbabwe, a prohibition on the transport of arms and related material to Zimbabwe aboard a Canadian vessel or aircraft, a prohibition on the provision of technical assistance – including instruction, training, consulting services, technical advice and the transferring or communicating of know-how or technical data – or financial assistance or services relating to arms and related material, including the provision, transfer or communication of technical data, to Zimbabwe or any person in Zimbabwe, and a requirement on persons, in Canada and Canadians outside Canada, to freeze the assets of over 180 particular individuals. This list of individuals includes: past or present senior officials of the Government of Zimbabwe, their families, entities that are owned or controlled by past or present senior officials or their families, and persons engaged in activities that undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.

10. Impact on our world cont… • No aircraft registered in Zimbabwe is allowed to land in or fly over Canada, travel, work, and study restrictions are to be placed upon senior Zimbabwean officials, including government, military, and police officials, and their families, the ambassador to Zimbabwe was summoned to convey messages to her home government, and the prohibition against exporting military goods to Zimbabwe was re-confirmed. • Downfall of Zimbabwe’s economy and attempt of industrialization has had a negative impact on the world’s trading relationships and fragile environmental state.

11. Role, Responsibilities & Strategies? • Responsibility to monitor consumption within the diamond market. • Can have a role in supplying funds to those in need of basic necessities (World Vision). • Creating or supporting movements to supply foreign aid to Zim. • Buy foreign goods through organizations such as Ten Thousand Villages or volunteer. • Limit our consumption of electronics containing coltan, such as cell phones.

12. Bibliography • http://allafrica.com/stories/201012290085.html • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10945366 • http://www.amnesty.ca/blog2.php?blog=human_rights_zimbabwe • http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/zimbabwe-en.pdf • http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/Zimbabwes-crisis-continues-20100415 • http://allafrica.com/stories/201012201529.html • http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=6557&dir=2010/November/Thursday18 • http://nehandaradio.com/2010/10/26/complexities-of-the-ongoing-zimbabwe-crisis/ • http://www.nathanielturner.com/transafricaonmugabe.htm • http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62G26620100317?ca=rdt • http://www.newzimbabwe.com/blog/index.php/2010/04/mlmathuthu/the-real-villains-in-zimbabwe-crisis/ • http://www.financialgazette.co.zw/top-stories/6187-crisis-in-health-delivery-system-as---.html • http://www.trust.org/alertnet/crisis-centre/crisis/zimbabwe-crisis • http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/5375.html • http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-12-07-tsvangirai-says-no-election-without-referendum • http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-09-17-zim-the-partys-over • http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-07-02-constitutional-football-kicks-off • http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-10-05-khama-demonstrate-good-faith-in-zim-remove-sanctions • http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-02-09-mdc-wants-fresh-election-for-zimbabwe • http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-06-26-mugabe-says-zim-may-revive-its-own-currency • http://www.cato.org/zimbabwe • http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/abuse-human-rights-zimbabwe-continues-under-unity-government-20100210