respond; and (iv) the preparation of a comprehensive report to the Secretary-General on the situation with recommendations on how the condition of those affected may be addressed.7 The mission had unimpeded access and freedom of movement and received good cooperation on all fronts from the Government of Zimbabwe. The Special Envoy consulted widely with Government officials, including President Mugabe, Ministers, Ministers of State, Governors of four Provinces and four Mayors, as well as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. She met with senior political party representatives, including some members of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party’s Politburo and Central Committee, as well as members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).8 The mission also consulted widely with civil society organizations in Harare, Headland, Rusape, Mutare, Gweru, Bulawayo, Hwange and Victoria Falls. The Special Envoy also met with various religious leaders and other individual Zimbabweans, including evictees, as well as the wider diplomatic community and international and national NGO’s. She held group consultations with African Ambassadors on the one hand, and with Ambassadors of donor countries and Heads of bilateral aid agency missions in Harare on the other. In addition, mission members were able to conduct in-depth consultations with a cross-section of personalities and organizations, including Government authorities, as well as representatives of the private sector and trade unions.9 The mission formally started on the same day as the Government paper, The Herald, announced that the clean-up operation was “winding up”. 10 However, a few days later the Special Envoy and mission members witnessed the ongoing destruction of houses and structures in at least two locations, Porta Farm near Harare, and Luveve in Bulawayo. The mission visited the Caledonia ‘transit camp’ for those displaced near Harare, run by a special unit of the police and currently holding an estimated 5,000 displaced people.11 It was clear that the Operation was not over by the day the Special Envoy and her team left Zimbabwe on 9 July, seven weeks after it had started. 1.4 Historical, Socio-economic Context The social, economic and political circumstances in which the Operation took place were first and foremost specific to Zimbabwe. They share, however, many common and similar aspects with historical and present trends that characterise the rapid and chaotic urbanisation occuring in many African countries and cities.13 The following chapters provide a brief overview and analysis of the likely causal factors and context leading up to the Operation and their implications in terms of addressing the humanitarian crisis in the short-term and to forge enlightened policies and programmes to bring Zimbabwe, and its afflicted human settlements, sustainable relief and reconstruction in the medium and long-term. 1.4.1 The Historical Context 7 Terms of Reference of this mission are attached to this report as Annex 1. The Special Envoy met the following members of the MDC: Hon. Gift Chimanikire, MP for Mbare, Harare; Hon. Trudy Stevenson, MP for Harare North; Hon. Thokozani Khupe, MP for Makokoba, Bulawayo; and Hon. Paurina Mtarirwa, MP for Mufakose, Harare. The leader of the MDC Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai was not in the country throughout the duration of the mission. 9 A complete list of persons and groups consulted cannot be attached on grounds of confidentiality. 10 Herald 26 June 2005. 11 A description of the implementation of Operation Murambatsvina, as seen by the local press, is given in the Annex 2 of Section A. The annex provides an insight into the scope and pace of the Operation’s implementation, as well as of the reaction to the visit of the Special Envoy and her mission team. 13 In our Common Interest, Report of the Commission for Africa, March 2005 page 227 8 14