10 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Pre-session working group – Zimbabwe clinic in the suburb of Glen Norah, some three kilometres away. However, because of high crime in the area it is unsafe for anyone, let alone women, to walk to the clinic at night. Amnesty International has documented cases where women have given birth while walking to the clinic while in labour during daylight.11 The cost of transport and healthcare are major obstacles to accessing maternal and newborn care for women at Hopley settlement. These barriers increase the risk of maternal and neonatal ill-health and death. Unaffordable costs mean that many of the women at Hopley needing healthcare will not be able to access it. 3.3 ACCESS TO WATER AND SANITATION Lack of access to clean water and sanitation in Operation Garikai settlements also contributes to women’s ill-health. During home deliveries women reported using dirty water to clean themselves and their newborn babies. Lack of access to safe water and sanitation exposes newborn babies to infections which can be life-threatening. At the time of Amnesty International’s visit in May and June 2010, five of the six boreholes sunk by a humanitarian organization were not working. The community relied on wells dug at their small plots of land, some next to pit toilets, risking contamination. 3.4 INADEQUATE HOUSING In interviews with women and girls and community leaders at Hopley, Amnesty International documented several reports of preterm births (babies born around seven months) who died hours after delivery because the mothers could not keep them warm in the plastic shacks. 3.5 RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ZIMBABWE Amnesty International has recommended to the government of Zimbabwe to urgently address serious threats to the health and lives of women and newborn babies at Hopley settlement and other Operation Garikai settlements. The government should: Immediately put in place all necessary measures to ensure pregnant women and girls at Hopley settlement have access to maternal and newborn care;
Investigate the reasons for preterm births and newborn deaths at Hopley settlement and the situation at other Operation Garikai settlements and identify and implement government interventions required to prevent maternal and newborn ill-health and death;
Put in place a health surveillance system to monitor the overall health situation in Operation Garikai settlements with a view to identifying the needs of inhabitants, including Hopley; such health surveillance should specifically monitor maternal, neonatal and infant mortality and morbidity;

Ensure the provision of a full range of accessible and affordable sexual, reproductive and 11 No Chance to Live, Newborn Deaths at Hopley Settlement, Zimbabwe, AI Index AFR 46/18/2010, December 2010. Amnesty International June 2011 Index: AFR 46/014/2011