7 7.1 Conclusions and Recommendations of the Special Envoy Overview Operation Restore Order was presented as an attempt at implementing internationally agreed goals and objectives. Its stated purposes to “clean up the city”, to have “cities without slums”, and “to secure people’s long-term interests” resonate with the goals of the Habitat Agenda and of the Millennium Declaration, particularly Goal 7, target 10 on water and sanitation, and target 11 on slum upgrading. However, the unplanned and over-zealous manner in which the Operation was carried out has unleashed chaos and untold human suffering. It has created a state of emergency as tens of thousands of families and vulnerable women and children are left in the open without protection from the elements, without access to adequate water and sanitation or health care, and without food security. Such conditions are clearly life-threatening. In human settlements terms, the Operation has rendered over half a million people, previously housed in so-called substandard dwellings, either homeless or living with friends and relatives in overcrowded and health-threatening conditions. In economic terms, the Operation has destroyed and seriously disrupted the livelihoods of millions of people who were coping, however poorly, with the consequences of a prolonged economic crisis. Politically, the Operation has exacerbated an already tense and polarized climate characterized by mistrust and fear. It has resulted in a virtual breakdown in dialogue between different spheres of Government, between Government and civil society, and once again put Zimbabwe in the limelight of international scrutiny. Efficiently executed in a militaristic manner, Operation Restore Order provides clear indications that the Government of Zimbabwe has the wherewithal to implement policies at a lightning speed when it has the political will. This political will should be used to advantage to redress the humanitarian crisis, so created, to embark on a sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation effort, and to bring to account those who have acted, or caused others to act, with impunity and outside the framework of international and national law. While there is an urgent and immediate need to address the humanitarian crisis resulting from Operation Restore Order, there is an equally urgent and compelling need to establish a strong link between the humanitarian response and longer-term human settlements and governance issues for the following reasons. Firstly, the humanitarian crisis resulting from the Operation was not caused by war or conflict. It was caused by a policy failure of the Government of Zimbabwe to come to terms with rapid urbanisation, its chaotic manifestations, and people’s “Right to the City”. Secondly, the human suffering resulting from the Operation was not caused by sheer negligence alone. It has its roots in a historical economic decline and a governance crisis evidenced by major gaps and overlaps between conflicting jurisdictions, and between central and local government. It also stems in part from a lack of respect for the rule of law by certain State actors and their apparent indifference to human suffering. Thirdly, the effectiveness of any humanitarian response, in terms of reaching those most in need and directly affected by the Operation, will depend almost entirely on instilling a climate of trust between different spheres of government and establishing dialogue and terms of engagement between government, civil society, the humanitarian community and the people affected themselves. The international community cannot afford, however, to squander the biggest asset and opportunity that Zimbabwe has, namely that Zimbabwe is not in a state of conflict or war. Despite 71