In her conclusion the UN Special Envoy has this to say at p 71: “. . .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. Suchconditions 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.‖ We fully agree with this description of the impact of the Operation. In our previous report on the Operation, we expressed similar sentiments. The ActionAid Report 6 Another important document that has recently been published is a report on a study carried out into the impact of the Operation in Harare. An international non-governmental, organisation, ActionAid, and the Combined Harare Residents Association [CHRA] conducted this study. These organisations carried out an extensive survey in 26 out of the 30 high-density areas of Harare, sampling 81 955 people. According to the report, 97% of households sampled said they had been affected by the operation in some way. They have been affected in one or more of these ways: losing accommodation, losing shelter, losing livelihood or by way of children not attending school. 76% of respondent said they had lost shelter; 79% said they had lost income; 45% of households reported losses of property and 22% reported school dropouts (but 45% said they would now have financial problems that would stand in the way of sending their children back to school). 7 Additionally, some 60% of households sampled claimed they had become food insecure as a result of the Operation and just over 20% of people interviewed alleged that they had observed a deterioration in their loved ones‘ health as a consequence of the displacements. Furthermore, 40% of the respondents, and 82% of child-headed households, claimed to have been psychologically traumatised by the events . 8 The ActionAid/CHRA study also pointed out that the disruption of the informal sector went far beyond the population of people who lost their homes, as the study demonstrated that a majority (73%) of urban dwellers were engaged in informal trading prior to Operation Murambatvsina. The primary sources of livelihood that have were cited to have been disrupted (73%) as a result of the Operation from the sample include: tuck shop ownership (9%), flea market (11%), fruit and vegetable vending (17%), offering accommodation (18%), cross border trader (6%) and petty trade (5%) such as sale of firewood. The humanitarian programme manager for ActionAid pointed out “The bulk of those affected by this operation are invisible and have had to resort to various coping mechanisms. Those without shelter have had to find support from relatives who are