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Ban lift excludes human rights groups
Extracted from Media Update 25/2008
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
September 01, 2008

Hopes that government would come to its senses and heed intensified calls for the unconditional lifting of its ban on field operations of NGOs and private voluntary organisations were dashed following media revelations that not all aid agencies in the country can get back to work and help alleviate the plight of mostly starving Zimbabweans.

The ban was imposed three months ago during the run-up to the widely-condemned June 27 presidential run-off when government accused the independent aid groups of supporting the opposition.

However, a month ago, the authorities agreed to lift the ban to help pave way to power-sharing talks with the opposition but did not effect it until August 29th. The move coincided with recent representations to government from various quarters including the opposition MDC, the United Nations, and the US.

Although both public and private media reported the Social Welfare Ministry announcing the suspension of the field operations of the NGOs and private voluntary organisations with "immediate effect", they noted the new stringent measures attached to resumption of operations by the independent aid organisations.

These included furnishing the parent ministry with "monitoring and evaluation forms" which require them to detail budgets and organizational structures, with a September 30 deadline (Studio 7 3/8).

The private radio station reported the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) as saying NGOs and donors were currently holding a "series of meeting to determine whether they should comply with the newly-imposed regulations".

Earlier, The Standard (31/8) reported NANGO expressing concern that government's lifting of the ban could fail to bring the required change as it lacked any "tangible commitments . . . to remove the bureaucratic, security, financial and other restrictions to effective humanitarian operations". It quoted the organisation's spokesman, Farai Ngirande, lamenting its "selective application", which "excludes" several organisations operating in areas such as transitional justice, human rights, governance and democracy.

The paper quoted Ngirande: "It also does not recognise the inseparability of Civil Society's social, economic, cultural, political and civic responsibilities". In fact, Studio 7 (3/8) reported NGO sources alleging that government continued to bar them from providing humanitarian assistance despite its claims that food distribution and other forms of aid can resume if NGOs meet new registration and reporting requirements.

Besides, it cited the sources saying the authorities were only allowing the private voluntary organisations to help the "most vulnerable segments, including people living with HIV/AIDS, and continues to bar them from helping the general population".

MMPZ totally agrees with NANGO's calls for the government to create a "conducive environment" for civil society to help "millions of suffering Zimbabweans", given the "critical role that NGOs must play in this current environment characterised by economic collapse, social distress and humanitarian crisis".

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