Ten-Year Review: Non-signatory Zimbabwe has shown interest in the convention and said in September 2019 that it was actively considering joining. Zimbabwe has participated in several meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2019. It abstained from voting on a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2019.

Zimbabwe has exported and imported cluster munitions in the past, but it is not clear if it has ever used them. Prior to 1980, the defense industries of the country–then known as Rhodesia–developed and produced cluster bombs. Zimbabwe is believed to possess cluster munitions, but there is no information regarding the types and quantities stockpiled.

Policy

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

In September 2019, Zimbabwe participated in a meeting of the convention for the first time since 2013 and told States Parties that it is “reengaging with the international community.” Zimbabwe said that “internal processes are underway” for its “possible” accession to the convention and said it had not joined largely because of reduced “logistical and technical capacity mainly due to political, economic and social challenges.”[1] Previously, Zimbabwe showed limited interest in the convention.[2]

In February 2020, the president of the convention’s Second Review Conference, Ambassador Félix Baumann of Switzerland, visited Harare to meet with senior officials and encourage Zimbabwe to accede to the convention.[3]

Zimbabwe participated in two regional meetings during the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, where it expressed support for a comprehensive ban without exceptions.[4] However, Zimbabwe was absent from the Dublin negotiations in May 2008 and the Oslo signing conference in December 2008.

Zimbabwe has participated as an observer in several meetings of the convention, most recently the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2019.[5]

Zimbabwe abstained from voting on the key UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 74/62 in December 2019, which urged states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to join “as soon as possible.”[6] Previously, in 2015–2018, Zimbabwe voted against the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention.

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.[7]

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.”[8] State Parties to the convention have provided additional information on their stocks of Alpha bomblets, including Chile and Peru.

Zimbabwe is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions since it gained full independence from the United Kingdom in 1980, but it likely possesses a stockpile. In 2010, an official informed the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) that Zimbabwe still possessed cluster munitions that were in the former-Rhodesia’s arsenal.[9]

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, according to a Brazilian media article reviewing declassified Ministry of Defense documents.[10]

Zimbabwe may have transferred Chilean-manufactured cluster munitions to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in or after July 2013 according to a copy of an official shipping document.[11] The DRC signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 18 March 2009, but has not ratified. As a signatory, the DRC has committed not to take any action that runs contrary to the object and purpose of the convention such as importing or otherwise receiving cluster munitions.

Zimbabwe also possesses RM-70 and BM-21 122mm surface-to-surface rocket systems, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[12]

Jump to a specific section of the chapter:

Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country summary

The Republic of Zimbabwe is contaminated by antipersonnel mines laid in the 1970s during its war for independence.

In the past Zimbabwe’s demining program was constrained by economic sanctions, a shortage of equipment, and a lack of international assistance.[1] Between 2008 and 2017, Zimbabwe submitted a total of five extension requests to its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline.

As of 31 December 2019, the remaining contamination was 42.69km², all of which are confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) located along the borders of Mozambique and in one inland minefield in Matebeleland North province.[2] This represents approximately 14% of the original contamination of 310.65km² registered after the independence in 1980.[3] Zimbabwe’s fifth deadline extension, until 31 December 2025, set a deadline for the completion of all clearance for the first time. Zimbabwe is likely to meet its Article 5 obligations.

Risk education and survey and clearance is coordinated by the Zimbabwe Mine Action Centre (ZIMAC). Risk education is conducted by ZIMAC and international operators as part of their mine clearance activities. In 2019, a pilot project in four schools integrated risk education into a literacy program. High risk groups include communities living close to the minefields and those conducting border trade between Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Treaty status

Treaty status overview

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty and in accordance with the eight-year extension granted in 2017, Zimbabwe is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 31 December 2015. It is considered on target to meet this deadline.

Management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination overview[4]

Strategies and policies

In August 2019, ZIMAC was relocated from a military cantonment area, enabling access to all mine action stakeholders.[5]

Zimbabwe has a National Mine Action Strategic Plan 2018–2025.[6] In March 2019, Zimbabwe also submitted an updated work plan for the implementation of Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[7]

The government approved a Communication and Resource Mobilization Strategic Plan, which was formulated with the assistance of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in 2019. The strategic plan was scheduled to be officially launched by the Minister of Defense and War Veterans Affairs in May 2020, but this was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] ZIMAC and the GICHD planned to review and assess progress of the National Strategic Plan in 2020, depending on the status of the pandemic.[9]

In July 2019, a Joint African Union/United Nations Assessment Team visited Zimbabwe to assess the extent of the mine situation in the country and the assistance required for Zimbabwe to meet its Article 5 obligation.[10] UNMAS engaged with ZIMAC as a follow-up to the joint team’s visit.[11]

Legislation and standards

Zimbabwe was in the process of updating its National Mine Action Standards in accordance with the latest International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).[12]

Information management

ZIMAC received support in 2019 from the GICHD to improve the efficiency of its IMAS.[13]

National and global goals

Zimbabwe has been making efforts to include mine action within the broader national development priorities and to consider the contribution of mine action to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).[14]

Gender and diversity

ZIMAC is working to mainstream gender considerations in its activities, particularly victim assistance and mine risk education.[15]

Risk education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination overview[16]

Coordination

Risk education is coordinated by ZIMAC and included as a discussion topic within the general mine action working group, which is held monthly.[17] ZIMAC regularly attends risk education sessions as a quality assurance and quality control function.[18]

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[19]

Laws and policies

Zimbabwe reported that mine/ERW survivors are covered by the Disabled Persons Act (DPA) (1992, Chapter 17:01).[20] In 2019, Zimbabwe created the Department of Disability Affairs.[21] That same year, nationwide consultative meetings were carried out with the objective to amend the DPA in accordance with international standards and present a draft revised national disability bill and policy to key stakeholders and seek input for their finalization. The meetings began in December 2019 and were concluded by March 2020.[22]

Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities and requires the government to provide mechanisms for the realization of those rights.[23] Government action is contingent upon available resources, which have been limited.[24]

Zimbabwe ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 23 September 2013 and committed to domesticate the CRPD and the formulation of an enabling policy framework for persons with disabilities at the July 2018 Global Disability Summit hosted by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID) with the government of Kenya and the International Disability Alliance (IDA).[25]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview (as of December 2019) [26]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

The remaining contamination as of 31 December 2019 was 42.69km², all of which are confirmed hazardous areas (CHA) and located along the borders with Mozambique in five provinces and with one inland minefield in Matebeleland North Province.[27] The remaining contamination represents approximately 14% of the original contamination of 310.65km²registered after the independence in 1980.[28] All of the mined areas in Zimbabwe are known and fenced.[29]

ERW contamination

Zimbabwe also has ERW contamination. The ERW contamination is dealt with by military engineers present in all of the country’s ten provinces.[30]

Casualties

Casualties overview[31]

Casualties in 2019: details

The Monitor recorded two ERW casualties from a grenade explosion in 2019.[32] ZIMAC indicated that no new mine casualties were reported in 2019.[33]

Three landmine casualties were reported in 2018. In one incident, two boys received fragmentation injuries after playing with a landmine detonator.[34] A man was killed by a mine when crossing a known minefield.[35] Some additional data on losses of livestock to landmines was reported.[36]

There is no consistent or nationwide data collection and reporting of mine/ERW casualties.

In 2018, Zimbabwe indicated that 165 victims have been registered, however, in 2019 it reported 260 casualties with no new casualties during that year. From these 260 casualties, 204 are men, 49 women, and seven are boys.[37] In 2007, Zimbabwe stated that the number of survivors was estimated at 1,300.[38]

ZIMAC and the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare are working on plans to capture data about mine victims during the country’s National Census in 2022. Implementation will depend on funding available.[39]

Cluster munition casualties

There have been at least three cluster munition casualties in Zimbabwe, dating to the period of the 1970s liberation war. 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 Alpha bomblet and threw it against a large rock.[40]

Addressing the impact

Mine action

Operators and service providers

Clearance operators[41]

Clearance

Land release overview[42]

Note: UXO=unexploded ordnance.

Land release: landmines

In 2019 the National Mine Clearance Unit (NMCU), the HALO Trust, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) released a total of 11.83km² which exceeded the annual projection of 8.15km².[43] A total of 2.76km² of land was cleared of antipersonnel mines.[44]

All operators conduct demining work according to system which prioritizes clearance in heavily populated areas, followed by areas of economic importance or where infrastructure development is required.[45]

ZIMAC reported that during the remaining extension period, some factors may pose challenges and affect the projected land release targets and the ultimate goal of completion by 2025. This included heavy rains and flooding on the low-lying border minefields; shrapnel from detonated ploughshare mines slowing the pace of manual demining; diversion or reduction of anticipated demining funds; and the economic downturn which may affect the government support to the sector. ZIMAC also noted that unexpected events, such as a 2019 cyclone and the COVID-19 pandemic may also affect output.[46]

Residual risk

ZIMAC plans that the NMCU, as military engineers, will continue to deal with any residual risk once the treaty’s obligations are met.[47]

Risk education

Operators and service providers

Risk education operators[48]

Beneficiary numbers

Beneficiaries of risk education in 2019

Implementation

Target groups

Risk education in Zimbabwe is implemented in rural areas, targeting communities living adjacent to the mine contaminated areas.[49] It focuses on contamination by antipersonnel mines and antivehicle mines, with a lesser focus on contamination by other ERW.[50]

A national database provides information on civilian accidents, although it is not routinely updated.

Animal accident data is also used by operators to understand where people might be at-risk when herding animals.[51] ZIMAC reports that sex and disability disaggregated casualty data is used to better understand the impact of contamination on different sectors of the population. Men are reported to be the most exposed to mine/ERW risk.[52]

Other identified vulnerable groups include children who have to walk to and from school; women and girls collecting firewood; and men and boys tending cattle.[53] Young men are targeted because of the misconception that landmines contain red mercury and can be sold for a profit, thus encouraging intentional risk behavior.[54]

MAG also reported conducting safety briefings for humanitarian aid workers and for cross border traders who move between Mozambique and Zimbabwe.[55]

Delivery methods

In October 2019, the NMCU held its annual mine risk education music gala in their areas of operation.[56]

International operators have partnered with ZIMAC to conduct risk education sessions. ZIMAC and operators have also trained community and school volunteers to deliver risk education in impacted districts.[57]

Both MAG and the HALO Trust partnered with local government institutions to integrate risk education messaging into the Happy Reader literacy programs in schools. This was piloted in four schools in 2019.[58] The HALO Trust partnered with local police stations to provide advice about the potential danger of antivehicle and antipersonnel mines to ox carts.[59]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance providers and activities

Providers and activities[60]

Major developments in 2019

Needs assessment

The extent or number of victims as well as their location is not known. ZIMAC planned to conduct a National Landmine Victim Survey but has failed to get the required funding.[61] ZIMAC and the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare plan to capture mine victim data during the conduct of the Zimbabwe National Census in 2022 if funding is sufficient.[62] A Living Conditions Survey was carried out in 2013, which outlined the living conditions, needs, and challenges of persons with disabilities.[63]

The HALO Trust and NPA have conducted ad hoc assessments in order to select beneficiaries for a prosthetic fitting program, but those assessments are limited in scope.[64]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Immediate medical care for landmine injuries is received at primary health care clinics which will refer most cases to district hospitals for treatment. Transit to referral facilities can be burdensome and involve long distances as most of the extant minefields are in remote locations. ZIMAC reported that people injured by antipersonnel mines/ERW usually receive medical treatment from the nearest local district medical hospitals or clinics, but if injuries are beyond the local health care services capability, travel to provincial or national health care centers is required.[65]

There is limited availability to physical rehabilitation centers, specialist doctors, prosthetics or physical therapists in most of the rural areas of Zimbabwe.

There are only three public, National Rehabilitation Centers which provide rehabilitation services and assistive devices. These services are not available in the mine-affected regions. The United States (US) Department of State and UK NGO Zimbabwe a National Emergency (ZANE), through funds granted to the HALO Trust and NPA, continued to support the travel and fitting missions of Cassim’s Prosthetics, based in Bulawayo. While this activity is inherently unsustainable and indications are that funding in future years will decrease, the collaboration between Cassim’s and the HALO Trust remained the only reliable source of prosthetic services.[66]

Rural people and landmine survivors often cannot afford to travel to access these services or spend long periods away from their families or means of income. The HALO Trust has assisted identified mine survivors with prosthetic limbs.[67]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

A quota allocated for the employment of persons with disabilities is proposed in the Draft National Disability Policy.[68]

Cross-cutting issues

Resources are provided for all people living with disabilities, including landmine survivors, through the Department of Social Welfare.[69] Support includes the payment of vocational training and medical fees, the implementation of harmonized social cash transfers, the provision of educational assistance to all children of school going age, loans under a revolving loan fund facility, the purchase of assistive devices, and the monthly provision of maize to the food insecure.[70]

A new Directorate of Disabled Persons under the ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare has been created to cater for the welfare of disabled persons, including mine survivors.[71]

Men, women, and children have received prosthetics from the collaboration between Cassim’s, the HALO Trust, and NPA, but no specific programs or activities target women or children.[72]

Policy

The Republic of Zimbabwe signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified on 18 June 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. In January 2001, Zimbabwe enacted the Anti-Personnel Mines (Prohibition) Act 2000, which incorporates the treaty into Zimbabwe’s domestic law.[1]

Zimbabwe has provided its views on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2, and 3. In May 2006, it stated that in joint military operations Zimbabwean forces will not assist or participate in planning and implementation of activities related to the use of antipersonnel mines. It said that the Mine Ban Treaty “clearly bans” foreign stockpiling and transit of antipersonnel mines, and also prohibits antivehicle mines with sensitive antihandling devices or sensitive fuzes that can function as antipersonnel mines. Finally, it said that the number of mines States Parties chose to retain should only be in the hundreds or thousands and not tens of thousands.[2]

Zimbabwe regularly attends meetings of the treaty, including the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014, and more recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, where it provided an update on Article 5 mine clearance activities.[3] Zimbabwe also attended the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019.

Zimbabwe is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, nor is it party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and retention

The government maintains that there has been no mine production since independence.[4] Previously, government and other sources indicated that Zimbabwe was a past producer and exporter of antipersonnel mines, but not on a significant scale.[5] Production of two types of Claymore mines, the Z1 and ZAPS types, ended when Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980.[6] On 15 November 2000, Zimbabwe destroyed its stockpile of 4,092 antipersonnel mines.[7] At the time, it decided to retain 700 mines for training and development purposes (500 PMD-6 and 200 R2M2).[8] By the end of 2018, that number had been reduced to 450 (340 PMD-6 and 110 R2M2).[9]

Zimbabwe has acknowledged that it also stockpiles Claymore-type devices, but without tripwire fuzes because Zimbabwe considers these illegal under the Mine Ban Treaty.[10]

In 2019, six donors contributed US$7.9 million toward clearance operations in the Republic of Zimbabwe (32% more than in 2017).[1] All funds were allocated to clearance and risk education activities.

International contributions: 2019[2]

Note: N/A=not applicable.

In 2015–2019, the government of Zimbabwe contributed $2.7 million to its national mine action program, representing 10% of its total mine action budget.[3] International contributions have totaled some $27.7 million during that time.

In August 2017, Zimbabwe submitted its fifth Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline extension request, in which it estimated approximately $130 million would be needed to carry out clearance operations in 2017–2025. Zimbabwe projected that it would contribute about $12.7 million of this total. This implies that Zimbabwe’s capacity to address its mine contamination largely depends on adequate and steady international funding.[4]

Summary of contributions: 2015–2019[5]