Statement from the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations on the raids on informal settlements and flea markets The National Association of NGOs (NANGO), representing NGOs in the country, notes with great concern the severe impact that the current Operation Restore Order and Operation Murambatsvina are having on family livelihoods and on the welfare of the orphans and vulnerable children. Although a detailed audit of the impact is not yet complete, indications from Organisations working directly with those that have been affected point to the significant entrenchment of an already dire urban poverty, unemployment and human rights violations. Women, orphans and vulnerable children are by far the most affected groups requiring urgent assistance in the form of shelter, warmth, sanitary wear, food and medication. Whilst acknowledging the need for a broad economic turnaround and the efforts made so far towards the redress of the country’s economic position, NANGO insists that the Operations are incongruent with the government’s expressed commitments to the Informal Sector Economy and to Orphans and Vulnerable Children. It is unfortunate that the coping mechanisms and social safety nets that people have been building over time, at times with government support, are being decimated overnight. By no means should the prerogative of fostering clean environment be allowed to override government’s obligation to protect the interests of the poor, the marginalized and the vulnerable. A more responsible course of action should be to put in place to deal with the crime and dirt in the city without prejudicing people’s basic livelihoods. As the population battles to ameliorate the emerging humanitarian crisis that has been predicated by the poor performance of the economy and the looming drought, the call is for government to support rather than impede its population in the struggles against poverty and unemployment. NANGO thus calls upon government to increase its spending on social service delivery, to support the informal economy and to focus more on putting in place social protection programmes and mechanisms. NANGO hereby calls upon government to stop the Operations immediately until appropriate alternative mechanisms are put in place. NANGO is also calling on all NGOs to respond to the crisis by offering practical humanitarian assistance to those affected. Statement by Christians Together for Justice and Peace, Bulawayo Archdiocese entitled “Give us this day our daily bread” Zimbabwe is facing an unprecedented crisis on many fronts. As church leaders we are concerned about many aspects of the crisis, but none more so than the desperate shortage of food across the country, now approaching a famine situation. We are aware of massive suffering among our people, due either to non-availability of food or its non-affordability by large sections of the population. Worse still, we are aware of many instances in which members of the opposition MDC or those perceived to be sympathetic to that party are deliberately and systematically being denied access to food. This gross violation of human rights has caused, and continues to cause, needless suffering to some of the most vulnerable in the community and we could remind those responsible for this victimization (and any who acquiesce in this evil policy) that they are guilty of the most grave crimes against humanity. We trust that one day those responsible for these dastardly crimes will be held to account before an international tribunal. We know - a more awesome and terrible prospect by far - that they are answerable before Almighty God. At such a time of widespread hunger and massive social deprivation the launching of the so-called “Operation Murambatsvina” (“Operation Drive Out Trash”) is in our view particularly insensitive and inappropriate. Indeed the whole operation smacks of callout indifference to the plight of the poor. The street vendors in our cities who have been the target of police brutality these last few days and have seen their pathetic shelters destroyed and few belongings confiscated, deserve better of us all. Whatever criminal elements may lurk in their midst or feel off their vulnerability, they are still, and will ever remain, children of God -not so much “trash” to be swept away. Their squalid living conditions are an indictment of the kind of society we have allowed to develop in recent years, with