female condoms dropped by about 40%.68 Condom marketing programmes in some areas have reportedly come to a complete standstill, mostly because outlets such as tuck shops and informal vendors have been shut down. For example, at least half of the hair saloons involved in one NGO’s marketing program of female condoms had stopped functioning by the time of the arrival of the mission. The UN interim response plan includes targeted assistance to 10,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS, in addition to broader prevention interventions, at a cost of USD 1.7 million over three months. Priority interventions include: care for the chronically ill; continued home-based care; monitoring ARV compliance; information on HIV prevention; voluntary counseling and testing; promotion of condoms; and care for orphans and vulnerable children. It is the view of the mission that the target of this plan will have to be revised upwards. 3.6.6 Education Between 2000 and 2005, Zimbabwe experienced a reversal of gains previously made in primary education. The trend has been characterized by reduced enrolment rates, increased dropout rates, re-emergence of gender disparity and deterioration of the quality of teaching. Since 2000, net attendance has dropped by about 24%, from 85% to 67% for boys and from 86% to 63% for girls.69 Moreover, primary school completion rates that had peaked at 83% in 1990 declined to 75% by 2000, and dropped further to 63% in 2002. Education for a substantial portion of the school age children directly affected by the Operation has been disrupted, as the evictions took place in the middle of the academic/school year. An estimated 113,000 children aged between 5 and 11 while 109,000 children aged 12-18 were directly affected by the Operation. While there is, at present, no means of assessing the number of children not attending school as a result of the Operation, the UN inter-agency working group on the protection of children has reported that school enrollment may have dropped by about 25% following the Operation. Many displaced children are no longer within their original school catchment areas and have no ready or affordable means of transportation.70 One women’s organization told the mission that as many as 300,000 children were out of school as a result of the operation, but the mission was unable to verify this information.71 In Sakubva Township in Mutare, 80% of school-going children were reported as seriously affected by the operation.72 Furthermore, many teachers have also been displaced and are unable to get to work, thus compromising the quality of services offered in remaining schools. The mission saw several schools that were closed, as well as schools where teachers had to refuse pupils because of overcrowding. 68 Confidential submission. The State of the World’s Children 2005. 70 “Interim United Nations Multi-Sectoral Response Plan to the Recent Evictions in Zimbabwe”, 27 June 2005. 71 Testimony made during meeting with the Special Envoy with women’s groups on 30 June 2005. GoZ did not provide school statistics to the mission, while several newspapers reported that 300,000 children were out of school. 72 Fact sheet submitted by a group of churches on 1 July 2005 in Mutare. 69 41