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Zimbabwe now ranked world's 5 th most failed state
Tichaona Sibanda, SW Radio Africa
May 02, 2006

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news020506/failedstate020506.htm

Zimbabwe has now been judged the world's 5 th most failed state after moving 10 places up the ladder from 15 in less than a year, according to a report compiled by the US Foreign Policy magazine.

Sudan tops the list at number one in a report co-researched by the US based Fund for Peace think-tank. Nations were ranked according to their viability. Judged according to 12 criteria, including human flight and economic decline, states range from the most failed, Sudan, to the least, Norway.

Eleven of the 20 most failed states of the 146 nations examined are in Africa.

Commenting on the report Gugulethu Moyo, a lawyer with the International Bar Association in London, said debilitating combinations of a weak government, together with weak policies and weak institutions are clear indicators of Zimbabwe's rapid decline to chaos. 'The situation in Zimbabwe is dire, the crisis has been unresolved for a long time now and these are clear indicators that the country will descend into chaos very soon,' Moyo said.

The authors of the report said the second annual 'failed states index' was based on 'tens of thousands of articles' from different sources gathered over several months in 2005 and reviewed by experts. Each nation was given an overall score based on 12 criteria, some of which are; mounting demographic pressures, massive movement of refugees and internally displaced peoples, progressive deterioration of public services and widespread violation of human rights

The study concluded that Sudan was the country under the most stress because of the violent internal conflicts in the western Darfur region. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast - both ravaged by years of civil wars in recent years - ranked second and third respectively.

Moyo, who has worked as a human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe said, 'There is no solution in sight, and quite frankly nothing will work until there is a legitimate government that actually has the mandate and support of its people and international community to govern.'

Failed States 2006 - Top 10

1. Sudan (3)*
2. DR Congo (2)*
3. Ivory Coast (1)*
4. Iraq (4)*
5. Zimbabwe (15)*
6. Chad (7)*
(Tie) Somalia (5)*
8. Haiti (10)*
9. Pakistan (34)*
10. Afghanistan (11)*

* Position in 2005 report

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