1. INTRODUCTION “Depression, social withdrawal, physical disability, and loss of skilled labor all serve to degrade available human capacity, as do less tangible impacts such as a reduced sense of control over events and circumstances. Events and conditions also frequently lead to wide disruption of the social ecology of a community, involving social relations within families, peer groups, religious and cultural institutions, links with civic and political authorities etc. Targeted disruption of such structures and networks is often the central focus of contemporary political and military conflict.”viii ActionAid International and its partners have issued two reports on Operation Murambatsvina to date. The first, carried out in Harare, indicated a wide range of adverse consequences for the residents of Harare as a result of the operationix. This was consolidated in the second report, which reported on a nationwide surveyx. These two reports confirmed and extended the report of the UN Special Envoy on the forced displacementsxi. These reports and the many other reports all adopt the same positions in generalxii: That the actions of the Zimbabwe Government were precipitate, excessive and unnecessarily harsh; That very large numbers of people have been adversely affected; That very large numbers of people have been put at significantly greater risk in a variety of ways; That there is an urgent need for humanitarian assistance for those people affected by the operation. Overall, the various reports indicate that a “complex emergency” has been one of the consequences of Operation Murambatsvina, placing Zimbabwe in the situation of countries undergoing civil war or low intensity conflicts. In situations of mass violence in particular, there are a wide range of interacting factors that must be addressed with urgency, and these especially implicate economic development, social capital, and human rightsxiii. Much of this was raised in the report of the UN Special Envoy’ The report of the UN Special Envoy was criticized by the Zimbabwe Government on a number of specious grounds, but the report has been corroborated in virtually every respect by local Zimbabwean research. Whilst the Government’s position on further displacements, evictions, and harassment of informal traders remains unclear, there are reports that indicate that such actions have continued after the announcement by the Vice-President of the suspension of Operation Murambatsvina. Buildings have been demolished, and arrests of vendors continue unabated. It is apparent that the Zimbabwe Government still continues to deny all accusations and allegations, and shows little concern for the humanitarian consequences of this “disastrous venture”. However, it is the case that many Zimbabweans are still suffering, and this present report demonstrates the consequences for the affected in a number of key thematic areas. These thematic areas where chosen in order to highlight the plight of the victims of Operation Murambatsvina. 1