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Zimbabwe in top 10 crisis ridden countries – MSF

By Moses Muchemwa
for ZimEye.org

Published: December 22, 2008

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By Moses Muchemwa
Bulawayo (ZimEye)-Severe food shortages and the total economic collapse has placed Zimbabwe among the top 10 humanitarian crisis ridden countries in the world this year, according to an annual list released by the international humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres, Doctors Without Borders.

MSF cited the collapse of the health system, economy, agriculture and education under long-time President Robert Mugabe as major reasons for the country to top the list of humanitarian crisis countries.

Zimbabwe is going through a difficult period where diseases such as cholera, anthrax and HIV/AIDS are killing thousands of people.

Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world, with independent financial institutions pegging the figures at 500 quintillions. The high inflation rate has left many people unable to afford even the bus fare needed to visit a clinic in a country where two million people are infected with HIV/Aids and life expectancy has plummeted to just 34 years.

Humanitarian efforts in Zimbabwe are frustrated by the politicisation of aid distribution by military and political forces, making charitable organisations the targets of attacks, the report said.

“With the release of this list, we hope to focus much needed attention on the millions of people who are trapped in conflict and war, affected by medical crises, whose immediate and essential health needs are neglected, and whose plight often goes unnoticed,” Dr Christophe Fournier, the group’s International Council President, said in a statement.

“In some of these places, it is extremely difficult for aid groups to access populations requiring help. Where we are able to provide assistance, we have a special responsibility to bear witness and speak out about intolerable suffering and draw attention to basic humanitarian needs.”

MSF is a humanitarian organisation providing emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in 70 countries around the world.

Other countries among the 10 humanitarian crises of 2008 include Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Sudan and Pakistan where violence and malnutrition has claimed thousands of people.
(ZimEye, Zimbabwe)
(Moses Muchemwa is a journalist and partner with the ZimEye. He can be contacted at mmuchemwa@zimeye.com)


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