Zimbabwe: No justice for the victims of forced evictions
29
assistance and cooperation to do so. In order to ensure that any sanitation facilities
proposed do not pose a public health risk in an urban context, the government should
seek technical assistance, including expert advice, to ensure that current housing and
stands and all future housing and stands, have access to adequate water and sanitation
facilities which are appropriate to the location, accessible to all without
discrimination and consistent with the human rights to adequate housing, health, and
water. Further, the provision of adequate water and sanitation must address the
particular needs of children, women and vulnerable groups.
4. Establish security of tenure
Immediately stop all forced evictions in Zimbabwe.
Introduce legislation to guarantee a degree of security of tenure for all, based on
international law and standards.
5.
Promote housing self-help schemes
Take specific steps to support people’s self-help initiatives on housing, such as
Housing Cooperatives, including by facilitating the work of non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) involved in housing, and ensuring that legal and technical
barriers faced by the poor are minimised.
In seeking to address the right to adequate housing the government should allow
donors to work with NGOs and communities within an overall human rights housing
framework.
6. Ensure provision of humanitarian aid for those in need
Allow humanitarian organisations access to all populations in need of emergency shelter
and other humanitarian aid.
7. Promote and protect livelihoods
Recognising that unemployment in Zimbabwe is currently at approximately 80 per cent and
there are very few options for the majority of people to earn a living, the government must not
impede and should seek to support the efforts of individuals to secure an adequate standard of
living through participation in the informal economy:
Immediately end the police harassment of street vendors and small and micro
businesses. Any police action to address illegal activities such as foreign exchange
trading must not violate human rights, including the right to work and the right to an
adequate standard of living.
Remove onerous requirements and reduce the financial cost of acquiring licences to
engage in vending or petty trading and ensure clear information is available on how to
apply for a vending licence.
Amnesty International 8 September 2006
AI Index: AFR 46/005/2006
Select target paragraph3
Add to table of contents