Intervention Areas Following Prisons Visits. Reflections on mid 2008 programming Against a background involving economic hardships characterized by hyperinflation and shortage of resources ZACRO held a secretariat strategic planning workshop which focused on fine tuning programming and suit demands of the economic crisis prevailing in Zimbabwe and enable ZACRO to meet demands of its target group. This was within the framework of the organization’s broad and consolidated strategic plan whose performance target period is year 2010. Hence during the period under review ZACRO intensified prisons visits – assessing needs and exploring intervention exercises through rehabilitation and restoration of the inmates. Thus initially ZACRO intensified the prisons visits Mashonaland and Manicaland and had spread out to Midlands and Matabeleland after ZACRO had not been very active in these regions owing to the numerous problems encountered during the programming year in retrospect. The secretariat then agreed to have programming center on the following: • Rehabilitation and integration activities. • The halfway house had to be upgraded and put to better use by released inmates for a short period of time whilst reunification was short. • There was also need to focus on restoration activities after prison visitations. Following the prisons visits there were efforts towards to start or reinforce small micro projects and other rehabilitation projects. Such interventions in the prisons were considered after numerous requests from the target group. Major highlights are summarized in the Thus the interventions by the humanitarian, assistance, organization during the 2008 rehabilitation and half way home log prisons visits are detailed both sheet. ZACRO considered some of in this prisons visits report the requests from the inmates, exsection and the log sheet. offenders and their relatives or dependants and officers too. Thus during the first half of 2008 ZACRO mainly concentrated on prisons visits in Mashonaland and Manicaland regions. Highly notable interventions ranged from rehabilitation to integration, restoration and half way home needs and these are indicated in the following tabulated information. Although interventions varied from one to another depending on needs of the target group - problems affecting prisoners which included shortage of food and clothing among prison issues around their plight were registered in almost very prison visited which called for an urgent form of humanitarian assistance intervention in all the country 55 prisons. This all explains why luring and channeling humanitarian assistance in the prisons was major programming activity after prisons visits by ZACRO during 2008. Midlands, Masvingo and Matabeleland prisons visits The organization engaged in massive prisons although in most the of these were conducted between September Midlands/Masvingo and Matabeleland region and and thisOctober mainly 2008.The prisons visits in these regions were during the second half of the year under review.. mainly ZACRO carried out by Mrs Ponde the Development Worker, secretariat visited most of the prisons in these regions Mr Mudehwe during – Programs Manager, Mr. Chiota – the the last quarter of 2008. The purpose of the prisons Nationalvisits Coordinator and Miss Bhunhu – the Welfare was to conduct need assessment for potential activities Manager and during this period under review. programs that the organization wanted to engage in with the different prisons. The visits were conducted from May 24