Summary: Non-signatory Zimbabwe has expressed interest in joining the convention, but has not taken any steps towards accession. In December 2015, Zimbabwe and Russia voted against a UN resolution on the convention. Zimbabwe has participated as an observer in most of the convention’s meetings. Zimbabwe produced, exported, and imported cluster munitions in the past and is believed to stockpile them, but it is not clear if it ever used cluster munitions.

Policy

The Republic of Zimbabwe has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Zimbabwe has expressed interest in joining the convention in the past and said it has conducted stakeholder consultations on the matter of accession, but it has not taken any steps towards accession.[1]

On 7 December 2015, Zimbabwe was one of just two countries to vote against a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[2] Zimbabwe has not explained why it voted against the non-binding resolution, which 139 states voted to adopt, including many non-signatories.

Zimbabwe participated in two regional meetings held during the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and expressed its support for a comprehensive ban without exceptions.[3] It was absent from the Dublin negotiations in May 2008 and Oslo signing conference in December 2008.

Zimbabwe was invited to, but did not attend the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015. It participated as an observer in the convention’s annual Meetings of States Parties in 2010–2013 and attended intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2012–2015. Zimbabwe has participated in regional workshops on the convention, most recently in Lusaka, Zambia in June 2015.[4]

Zimbabwe is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

It is unclear if Zimbabwe has ever used cluster munitions.[5]

Zimbabwe is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions since its independence, but it likely still stockpiles cluster munitions.

Jane’s Information Group has reported that the Alpha bomblet developed for the South African CB-470 cluster bomb was produced in Rhodesia and that “Zimbabwe may have quantities of the Alpha bomblet.”[6] In 2010, an official informed the CMC that Zimbabwe still possessed cluster munitions that remained from the former Rhodesia’s arsenal.[7]

Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paolo reported in 2012 on declassified Ministry of Defense documents showing that Brazil transferred 104 BLG-250K and four BLG-60K cluster bombs and various components for BLG-500K, BLG-250K, and BLG-60k cluster bombs to Zimbabwe between January 2001 and May 2002.[8]

Zimbabwe also possesses RM-70 122mm surface-to-surface rocket systems, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[9]

Contaminated by: antipersonnel mines (heavy), antivehicle mines, and explosive remnants of war (ERW).

Article 5 deadline: 1 January 2018

(Not on track to meet deadline)

As of July 2015, the Republic of Zimbabwe had confirmed mine contamination of almost 74km². Just more than 4.1km² of land was released in 2015; 3.74km² by clearance and technical survey, and an 0.4km² canceled by non-technical survey (NTS). This compared to 0.61km² reduced by clearance and technical survey in 2014. However, annual overall land release declined from 151.5km², due to the completion of a large amount of NTS in 2014 that canceled huge swathes of suspected hazardous area (SHA), along with a shift in focus towards clearance and technical survey activities.

Recommendations for action

• Zimbabwe should revise estimates of the size of remaining mine contamination on the basis of ongoing survey and set a realistic but ambitious target for completion of all mine clearance.
• Continued efforts should be made to ensure that all operators are using appropriate land-release methodologies and standards.
• Increased resources should be allocated to build national information management capacity within the Zimbabwe Mine Action Center (ZIMAC). Greater efforts should be made to improve the quality of the data in the national mine action database, to reconcile data with operators’ records, and to ensure more accurate national reporting.
• Zimbabwe should develop a resource mobilization plan and clarify how financial resources will be used to meet its extension request targets.
• With neighboring Mozambique having declared completion of mine clearance in September 2015, surplus clearance equipment could be used to assist clearance of the remaining mined areas on Zimbabwe’s side of the border as soon as possible.

Contamination

In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report for 2015, Zimbabwe reported more than 73km² of confirmed mined area remaining at the end of 2015. In October 2016, however, in a response to questions over inconsistencies in the figures provided in the Article 7 report, ZIMAC stated that the total contamination remaining at the end of 2015 was in fact 74,829,822m² (74.8km²).[1]

This was an increase from the 62km² reported for the end of 2014, which Zimbabwe stated was primarily the result of further survey and mapping of the Sango Border to Crooks Corner minefield.[2]

Mine contamination as of end 2015[3]

Zimbabwe’s contamination, the overwhelming majority of which is antipersonnel mines, originates from the laying of minefields in the late 1970s during the conflict of decolonization. At the time of its independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was left with six distinct major mined areas along its borders with Mozambique and Zambia, laid by the Rhodesian army.[6] Initially, antipersonnel mines were laid in very dense belts (reportedly 5,500 mines per kilometer of frontage) to form a “cordon sanitaire.” Over time, this cordon sanitaire was breached or subject to erosion. In response, in many sections, a second belt of “ploughshare” directional fragmentation mines protected by antipersonnel mines was laid “inland” of the cordon sanitaire.[7] Antivehicle mines were used extensively by insurgents but most were detonated by vehicles or have since been cleared.[8]

ZIMAC released updated figures for the remaining contamination of 73,924,128m², as of 1 July 2016.[9] As of October 2016, remaining contamination comprised of five minefields, referred to as: Musengezi to Rwenya, Sango Border Post to Crooks Corner, Rusitu to Muzite Mission, Leacon Hill to Sheba Forest, and Lusulu. The Burma Valley minefield was completed in February 2015 and a former SHA at Kariba was cleared of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in June 2013.[10]

HALO Trust and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), the two NGOs conducting mine action in Zimbabwe in 2015, have reported that the remaining minefields are located close to populated areas and have considerable humanitarian, social, and economic impacts on communities.[11] HALO reported that in areas where it operates in the northeast of Zimbabwe, mines continue to block access to residential land, inhibit cross-border trading, deny small-scale farmers access to agricultural land, and separate communities from primary water sources, adversely affecting sanitation and livestock production. The threat to livestock is particularly severe and results in a heavy socio-economic impact as livestock is a major investment commodity in rural Zimbabwe.[12]

Zimbabwe has reported that the clearance of mined areas generates opportunities for agriculture, business, and tourism, as well as for the construction of schools and clinics. It also allows the safe return of households that have been displaced and relocated to Mozambique as a result of the mine threat.[13] In February 2016, NPA completed clearance of a mined area in which a number of farms and a jam factory were located, and was continuing to work on clearance around a border post which will allow for increased access and movement of people and goods between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as enabling the maintenance of an important railroad and gas pipeline which is currently hindered by the presence of mines.[14]

In 2015, there were eight antipersonnel mine casualties. Four were boys, one was a civilian man, and three were deminers. The deaths of 35 cattle were also reported. (See Casualties and Victim Assistance profile for further details.)

Program Management

The National Mine Action Authority of Zimbabwe (NAMAAZ) is a policy and regulatory body on all issues relating to mine action in Zimbabwe. ZIMAC was established in 2000 within the Ministry of Defence as the focal point and coordination center of all mine action in the country. ZIMAC is mandated to report to NAMAAZ.[15]

In 2012, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Zimbabwe to train ZIMAC personnel and to provide metal detectors, protective equipment, and trauma kits.[16] ZIMAC subsequently developed a joint strategy with the government of Zimbabwe and the ICRC as a follow-up to the 2012 cooperation agreement, which was extended to the end of 2015. In 2015, the ICRC continued its support to ZIMAC with the provision of equipment and trainings and refresher courses for key staff.[17]

In its latest Article 5 deadline extension request, Zimbabwe again pledged to relocate ZIMAC outside of military installations once the Ministry of Defence has secured the necessary funds.[18] At the end of 2015, ZIMAC was still housed within military premises, reportedly owing to budgetary constraints.[19]

Operators

ZIMAC and, since 2013, HALO and NPA, conduct land release. Under its current extension request, Zimbabwe has stated that mined areas will be surveyed and cleared with support from HALO and NPA, as follows: HALO is tasked to survey and clear the Musengezi to Rwenya, Rushinga, and Mukumbura mined areas; NPA is assigned survey and clearance of the Rusitu to Muzite Mission, Leacon Hill to Sheba Forest, and Burma Valley mined areas; and the Zimbabwean Armed Forces’ National Mine Clearance Squadrons (NMCS) are responsible for survey and clearance of the Sango Border Post to Crooks Corner and Lusulu mined areas.[20]

At the start of 2015, HALO had 12 eight-strong manual demining sections, which it increased to 13 in April, with a total of 104 deminers.[21] Its operations focused on clearance in Mashonaland Central and technical survey tasks in Mashonaland East. NPA reached its maximum operating capacity at the end of the year with five eight-person teams, and an additional team was added in January 2016.[22] ZIMAC reported that the NMCS had a capacity of three troops of 117 deminers as of December 2015.[23]

ZIMAC is accrediting two additional international demining operators, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and APOPO for operations in 2017.[24]

Strategic planning

In 2016, ZIMAC reported that it was revising the national strategic mine action plan in accordance with its Article 5 extension request targets, which is expected to be submitted as part of a new request in March 2017.[25] NPA reported that, in 2015, ZIMAC identified priorities for survey and clearance together with operators and noted that cooperation, dialogue, and joint planning between ZIMAC and operators had significantly improved during the year.[26]

Standards

In June 2016, it was reported that the national mine action standards were under review, with support from the ICRC.[27] Revisions included reducing the size of fade-out clearance requirements from 10 meters to five on reinforced ploughshare minefields, which would reduce area clearance by one half.[28]

Information management

Information management began to improve as a result of capacity building for ZIMAC staff provided primarily by the ICRC in 2014.[29] In 2015, the provision and sharing of data also improved.[30]

However, Zimbabwe’s Article 7 transparency report for 2015 contained numerous inconsistencies and contradictory or wrongly calculated figures. The information management system for mine action (IMSMA) database also contained inflated or outdated baseline contamination estimates.[31] In October 2016, ZIMAC stated that it was working to correct the errors.[32]

In 2016, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and HALO were supporting use of the IMSMA database.[33] In April 2016, ZIMAC reported that “efforts are now at an advanced stage” on the creation of a functional IMSMA database, and that basic training of two staff officers in information management had been completed.[34]

Information management staff were trained in 2015 in the use of a digital recording and mapping system, the DEDUCT Observer application.[35] NPA stated it had been sending ZIMAC daily electronic updates on survey and clearance outputs through the DEDUCT system since November 2015.[36]

Deminer safety

Three deminers working for HALO have been injured. The accidents took place during the course of landmine clearance and were superficial, with the deminers able to return to work.[37]

Land Release

A total of just more than 4.1km² of antipersonnel mined area was released by HALO and NPA in 2015, including 3.74km² by clearance and technical survey, and an additional 0.4km² canceled by NTS.[38] This is a six-fold increase in the total mined area released by clearance and technical survey reported in 2014 (approximately 0.61km²). However, considerably less land was released overall compared to 2014, largely due to a significant amount of cancelation of 151km² by NTS in 2014.[39]

Survey in 2015

A total of more than 3.4km² of mine contamination was released by survey in 2015, the cancelation of 0.4km² through NTS and reduction of 3.0km² through technical survey, while confirming a further 0.15km² as mined.

In 2015, NPA reported increased use of technical survey in land release efforts by NPA and ZIMAC, and the introduction of combined NTS and technical survey activities.[40]

Mine survey in 2015[41]

Note: N/R = not reported.

Clearance in 2015

In 2015, a total of almost 0.71km² of mined area was cleared; destroying 7,528 antipersonnel mines and 17 items of unexploded ordnance (UXO).[42] This is an increase of 0.49km² from 2014.[43]

NPA had two tasks during the year: the Burma Valley minefield and the Border Streams area of the Leacon Hill to Sheba Forest minefield, both in Manicaland province. In March 2015, NPA completed clearance of the Burma Valley minefield, which was officially handed over to local communities in July.

Mine clearance in 2015[44]

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle.

Progress in 2016

In February 2016, NPA completed clearance of its Border Streams task, and, as of January, had started on three new tasks within the Sheba Forest to Leacon Hill minefield.[45] In January–September 2016, NPA reported destroying more than 3,400 antipersonnel mines while releasing nearly 516,000m² of contaminated land (56% through technical survey and 44% through manual clearance).[46]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

In June 2014, Zimbabwe was granted an Article 5 mine clearance deadline extension of three years until 1 January 2018. Since its initial Article 5 deadline expired on 1 March 2009, it has submitted three subsequent extension requests, the last of which expired on 1 January 2015. The current extension until 1 January 2018 is to enable further survey and clearance, but Zimbabwe is not committing itself to complete its clearance obligations within the requested period, nor will it manage to do so.

Zimbabwe has reported that three primary factors have prevented it from completing its Article 5 obligations since becoming a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty: inadequate funding for demining from the government; insufficient demining equipment; and the impact of sanctions “imposed by some potential donors.” However, Zimbabwe reported that many of these conditions have no longer affected it since 2014 in light of the support it is currently receiving from international organizations.[47] In its latest extension request, Zimbabwe enumerated possible risks and assumptions that could impede it from achieving future extension request milestones, including heavy rain, difficult terrain, metal contamination in ploughshare minefields, administrative delays, and a lack of funding.[48]

Under the current three-year extension, Zimbabwe
has undertaken “to clarify the remaining challenge, understand what progress will be possible once partners operate at full capacity and once additional support has been identified, produce a detailed plan, and submit a subsequent request for fulfilment of its Article 5 obligations.”[49] The purpose of the extension period is also to complete survey of all remaining areas and to clear approximately 4km² of mined area.[50] Zimbabwe intends to meet the following annual milestones: clearance of 1.23km² in 2015;[51] development of a national strategic plan on the basis of survey results in 2015; clearance of 1.28km² in 2016; and clearance of 1.51km² in 2017; and the submission of a new clearance plan in 2017.[52]

In its 2013 extension request, Zimbabwe forecasted that activities planned over the course of its three-year extension request will cost a total of almost US$13 million, with $2.875 million to be provided by the government of Zimbabwe and more than $10 million to be sought from international donors through partner organizations.[53] In granting the extension request, States Parties urged Zimbabwe to develop a resource-mobilization strategy at the earliest possible moment.[54]

As of late 2015, HALO was optimistic that Zimbabwe was on track to meet its 1 January 2018 extension request targets for further survey and clearance in light of the significant amount of area canceled through NTS since the start of 2014.[55] Zimbabwe exceeded its extension request clearance target of 1.23km² in 2015, and in June 2016, HALO confirmed that Zimbabwe would meet its 2016 target of 1.28km².[56] Neither HALO nor NPA, though, expressed confidence as to when Zimbabwe, based on present operational capacity and productivity rates, could fully complete antipersonnel mine clearance unless significantly more funding is made available to all operators.

While a new national mine action strategic plan will be finalized in March 2017, in July 2016, NPA indicated its belief that the 2025 target date for completion of clearance could be feasible, but highly dependent on funding and the number of teams that could be deployed.[57] HALO would need to expand its 2015 capacity of 150 staff “by a factor of five or six in order to get the job done in ten years.” It added, however, that using mechanical assets could improve productivity in areas with high metal contamination and/or deeply buried mines.[58]

ZIMAC reported that the added capacity from MAG and APOPO, whose operations were anticipated to start in January 2017, would increase productivity and reduce the time needed to complete clearance.[59]

The Monitor gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review supported and published by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which conducted mine action research in 2016 and shared it with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

In 2015, four donors contributed US$3.2 million toward clearance operations in the Republic of Zimbabwe, $1 million more than in 2014.[1] All funds were allocated to clearance and risk education activities.

International contributions: 2015[2]

Between 2011–2015, the government of Zimbabwe contributed more than $3 million to its mine action program, or one-quarter of its total mine action budget.[3]

Since 2012, when Zimbabwe received international assistance for mine action for the first time, international contributions have totaled more than $9 million.

In December 2013, Zimbabwe submitted its fourth Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, in which it estimated a total of $12,965,125 would be needed to clear some 4km² between 2015 and January 2018, of which $2.9 million would be provided by Zimbabwe. The remaining $10 million would need to be sought from other sources, which implies that Zimbabwe’s capacity to address its mine contamination largely depends on adequate and steady international funding.[4]

Summary of contributions: 2011–2015[5]

Action points based on findings

• Expand casualty data collection to all areas affected by landmines and all organizations working in mine action.
• Update disability policies and align legislation with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
• Ensure sustainability of prosthetic and orthotic services.
• Provide economic inclusion opportunities for survivors and persons with disabilities.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Zimbabwe is responsible for a significant number of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors who are in need. Zimbabwe has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties Overview

For 2015, the Monitor identified eight mine/ERW casualties. Four were boys, one was a civilian man, and the remaining three were deminers. All casualties were caused by antipersonnel landmines and of the five civilian casualties, all occurred because of tampering with the mines. The three deminer casualties occurred during landmine clearance and the injuries were such that the deminers were able to return to work. The Zimbabwe Mine Action Center (ZIMAC) also reported the deaths of 35 cattle in 2015.[1] All of the casualties were from the HALO Trust’s area of operations. Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) reported no casualties[2] and casualty data is only obtained through ZIMAC’s partners, not through the government or national army demining brigades.

Since 1980, 1,610 casualties have been reported by ZIMAC.[3]

Cluster munition casualties

There have been at least three cluster munition casualties in Zimbabwe, dating from the period of the liberation war in the 1970s. In an incident documented by a former Rhodesian soldier in his memoirs, two children were killed and a third injured when they found an unexploded cluster submunition (bomblet) and threw it against a large rock.[4] 

Victim Assistance

Victim assistance since 1999

The majority of documented landmine casualties have been animal casualties. In a 1998 study of the impact of landmines in Zimbabwe, Martin Rupiya estimated the number of landmine victims at 470 with 70 killed and 400 injured.[5] Rupiya described the lack of sufficient emergency medical assistance and rehabilitation care for survivors in the Mukumbura region. The local clinics lacked the surgical wards to address traumatic amputations and had no rehabilitation or prosthetic facilities. Surgical and rehabilitation needs could be met at the referral hospital in Mount Darwin or the national hospitals in Harare.[6]

Prosthetic services in 1998 were available from a government-approved facility in Bulawayo. At the time, prosthetic legs cost Z$8,000 (circa US$430) and prosthetic arms cost Z$15,000 (circa US$800). Survivors were expected to cover 15% of the cost of the limbs, which made them prohibitive for many.[7]

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) was pioneered in Zimbabwe and for many years, and was hailed as a model for other countries. With the support of the ICRC, Zimbabwe established rehabilitation villages and provided rehabilitation services to beneficiaries. With the economic collapse in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s, these services were mostly discontinued, except in limited areas where Jairos Jiri, a national NGO, continued to provide CBR with support from external donors.[8]

The Local Rehabilitation Workshop (LOREWO) was founded in 1999 to meet the needs of persons with disabilities for wheelchairs. Based near the Mpilo referral hospital in Bulawayo, LOREWO transitioned from international management to national management in 2001 and has produced chairs and mobility devices with support from the governments of Norway and the United States. In 2015, support from the Norwegian government concluded but other stakeholders have stepped in to support LOREWO to deliver wheelchairs and other mobility devices.[9]

Disability issues are coordinated by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, while emergency assistance is led by the Victim Friendly Unit. Responsibility for surveying survivors needs and other assistance to mine/ERW survivors is centralized through ZIMAC.[10]

The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) provided support to the Parirenyatwa group of hospitals until 2013, when the SFD ended support to the Parirenyatwa groups as part of the planned ICRC SFD phase out, finding that they had reached a satisfactory level of autonomy.[11] ICRC SFD assistance to the Bulawayo Rehabilitation Center had been phased out by the end of 2012, as planned.[12]

Assessing victim assistance needs

The HALO Trust, in the course of its survey of suspected hazardous areas in its working area, identified 138 landmine survivors, including 20 people who had been injured between 2013 and 2015.[13]

The government planned to develop a database of mine/ERW survivors through coordination between the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare maintains a database of all persons with disabilities and ZIMAC communicates all reported landmine casualties to the Ministry for Inclusion.[14]

Victim assistance coordination

Zimbabwe reported on victim assistance efforts at the Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties in December 2015.[15] It also reported on the status of victim assistance in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report for 2015.[16]

Participation and inclusion in victim assistance

In the absence of a coordinating mechanism for victim assistance or a formal plan for victim assistance activities, survivors are unable to participate in the formulation of victim assistance strategies. There is a strong disability community in Zimbabwe, including disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) and service providers who could contribute to a coordinating mechanism. Some of the organizations expressed concern that they were not consulted in the development of the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s survey of needs for persons with disabilities in 2013.[17] Survivors and persons with disabilities are employed by the Local Rehabilitation Workshop (LOREWO) and Jairos Jiri in the manufacture of wheelchairs and assistive devices.[18]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities

Emergency and continuing medical care

Emergency medical and surgical services are available at the national referral hospitals. Survivors and others in need of services can apply for Medical Treatment Orders, which are used as vouchers for services; hospitals redeem the vouchers for payment from the Department of Social Services.[19] In case of an incident, HALO sends its staff to the Karanda Mission Hospital, a private facility about two-hours’ drive from the minefields.[20] NPA uses the Mutare Provincial Hospital, one of the national referral hospitals, for this purpose.[21]

Physical rehabilitation, including prosthetics

Since the termination of support by the ICRC SFD, Zimbabwe’s national rehabilitation centers have been unable to procure the supplies necessary for the manufacture of assistive devices.[22] The centers still provide rehabilitation services;[23] Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust offers physical rehabilitation for children with disabilities;[24] and LOREWO has introduced rehabilitation and occupational therapy services for persons with cerebral palsy.[25]

Three facilities, two commercial firms and a national NGO, produce prosthetic and orthotic devices. The Jairos Jiri Prosthetic Workshop, on the outskirts of Harare, sells wheelchairs and manufactures customized orthotic and prosthetic devices.[26] Ottobock operates the commercial firm out of Harare and Cassim’s Prosthetics, the other commercial prosthetic company in Zimbabwe, is in Bulawayo. Cassim’s Prosthetics produces arm and leg prosthetics and also maintains a remote capacity, providing prosthetic devices to customers throughout the country.[27] In 2015, the National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) and HALO identified several survivors in need of prosthetics and contracted with Cassim’s Prosthetics to measure, build, fit, and deliver prosthetic limbs. The program began in 2014.HALO also identified some survivors who were assessed to receive cataract surgery.[28]

In addition to Jairos Jiri, LOREWO imported and manufactured wheelchairs. Motivation UK provided wheelchairs for LOREWO to distribute for little or no cost; manufactured chairs are sold at cost.[29]

Mercy Corps had run a large program focused on facilitating support for children with disabilities, but the project came to an end in early 2015.[30]

Economic inclusion

With only 15% of the population engaged in formal employment, few opportunities for meaningful work exist for Zimbabweans. LOREWO and the Jairos Jiri operate as sheltered workshops for persons with disabilities. The Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust operates an access to livelihoods program for persons with disabilities; they receive vocational training and are then encouraged to form manufacturing groups to produce products that are likely to produce a profit in the marketplace.[31]

Psychological support and social inclusion

Few, if any, psychological services are available for survivors and persons with disabilities in Zimbabwe.[32] Disabled Women’s Support Organization (DWSO) provided peer counseling through hospital visits to persons who had recently suffered disabling injuries. Support for these activities has discontinued, though the capacity remains.[33]

Educational opportunities for persons with disabilities were constrained after the government suspended subsidies for children with disabilities under the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), which provided US$600 per student per year.[34] School Development Grants are used to create resource units and special education classes within mainstream schools, but still an estimated 75% of children with disabilities have no access to education.[35]

The Office of the President and a number of DPOs hosted the annual disability exposition in Bulawayo in July 2015. The expo is designed to counter traditional beliefs and prejudices against disabilities and demonstrate that disability does not mean inability.[36]

In November–December 2015, Harare hosted the 18^th ICASA (International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa), an opportunity to highlight the impact of the AIDS epidemic on persons with disabilities. Some advocates reported how prejudice and ignorance about the sexual activity of persons with disabilities had hindered diagnoses of HIV and AIDS. Advocates also discussed how persons with physical disabilities were unable to access HIV/AIDS services.[37]

Laws and policies

Zimbabwe has several national policies related to victim assistance and disability, including the Disabled Persons Act, the War Victims Compensation Act, the Social Welfare Assistance Act, and the State Service (Disability Benefits) Act. The Disabled Persons Act was hailed as a major milestone when it was passed in 1992, but was superseded in international policy by the CRPD. Zimbabwe’s 2013 constitution recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities and requires government implementation, however it contains the caveat that government action is contingent upon available resources.[38] Zimbabwe ratified the CRPD on 23 September 2013, but has yet to adopt domestic laws and revise existing legislation in accordance with the convention.[39]

Several policy changes and programs were pending final government approval. The government of Zimbabwe and the Africa Disability Alliance have drafted a memorandum of understanding to develop a national disability mainstreaming plan but it has not been approved by the cabinet. A draft national disability policy, which was drafted with the support of the disability community in Zimbabwe, has yet to be indorsed by the cabinet. Multiple meetings were held between the disability community and the Ministry of Social Welfare to advance disability policy.[40]