Zimbabwe continues to experience negative economic growth rates averaged at –7 per cent per annum, compared with a southern African regional average of +5 per cent. Unemployment is currently estimated at over 80 per cent of the adult working population. The inflation rate has gone up to a record high of 6,500 per cent and income and earnings fall short of the run away inflation, making it difficult for people to afford basic needs such as food and medicine.
Over 144,000 deaths per year in Zimbabwe are attributed to HIV/AIDS. Slum residents in Zimbabwe's urban centres also face the constant risk of forced evictions. 'Upgrading' of slum areas by Government has often meant the destruction of people’s homes and their compulsory relocation back to rural areas or to temporary shelter in holdings camps far from their jobs, schools and services. Over the past two years there has been a dramatic increase in the occurrence of these forced evictions. This approach is unsustainable and reinforces poverty, vulnerability and inequality. Assisting local communities to establish security of tenure and sustainable alternatives to forced eviction is a crucial starting point for tackling urban poverty in Zimbabwe.
Homeless International's partner organisation in Zimbabwe is called Dialogue on Shelter for the Homeless in Zimbabwe Trust. Dialogue on Shelter is an NGO providing support to the Zimbabwe Homeless People's Federation (ZIHOPFE). This Federation is a network of community savings schemes made up of households living in poor urban communities across Zimbabwe. The Federation began in 1998 and has been able to grow rapidly because existing members, eager to tell others about the benefits of membership, have participated in community-to-community exchanges around the country. As a result, there are now 45,000 poor households working together to improve their housing and living conditions despite the extremely difficult economic and political conditions. 80 per cent of these members are women.
Dialogue on Shelter supports ZIHOPFE in terms of facilitating the training needed to build upon community mobilisation at the local level. In practice, this can mean assisting the Federation members in mapping out their settlements, accessing appropriate technical support for construction or facilitating negotiations with government. Despite pressure from political parties, the organisation has remained expressly apolitical, allowing it to continue operating despite the ongoing instability.
Please click on the links to the left of the screen to learn more about the work of Dialogue on Shelter and the Federation of the urban poor in Zimbabwe.
