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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Operation Murambatsvina - Countrywide evictions of urban poor - Index of articles
The
impact of "Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order in Zimbabwe
Action Aid International
August 2005
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Executive
summary
The Zimbabwe "Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order" Survey
represents a unique opportunity to gain insights into the impact
of Operation Murambatsvina on communities and households where the
Operation was executed since 18 May 2005. This report attempts to
give a factual account of the impact "Operation Murambatsvina/Restore
Order". This is done through analysis of the impact at both
household level and communities.
A structured
questionnaire was used in the collection of data from 23,511 respondents
distributed in 66 affected high density wards in 6 urban cetres
of Zimbabwe. The quantitative household survey was designed to collect
the following types of information from the interviewed households:
1) household demographics, 2) Livelihood activities affected by
the operation, 3) household impact, 4) current coping mechanisms
being employed by the communities in response to the operation,
5) assistance communities are currently receiving 6) assistance
currently being offered and assistance perceived as required by
the communities.
Initially 110
team leaders for each ward were trained on the administration of
the questionnaire and sampling procedures. Thereafter, a further
9 researchers were trained by the team leaders at ward level. Therefore,
520 researchers collected this information over a two day period.
At least 500 homesteads were visited in each ward during the course
of the study. This represents a third of homesteads per ward. Data
collected was entered stored and exported into Statistical Package
for Social Science (SPSS) Version 13. Subsequently, analysis was
done to generate frequencies, descriptive and derived variables.
National
impact of the operation
A total of 1,193,370 individuals were affected by Operation
Murambatsvina in the six sampled urban areas. Harare was the hardest
hit area accounting for 71% of individuals affected by the Operation.
Bulawayo was the second worst affected nationally, however, the
proportion of individuals in Bulawayo affected were less than 30%
and this figure is the lowest at city or town level.
Socio-demographic
data of the sampled wards
From the data generated from the survey, 88% (n = 20,689) of
homesteads visited in the 66 wards were affected by the Operation
in varying proportions and different ways. Demographic data
for the general population is discussed below:
- Overall population
sampled is 127,587 with an average household size of 5.5
- The majority
of respondents household heads were male compared to female heads
(47% and 53%, respectively); - The average age of the head of
household is 40.7 years, with the youngest reported as 12 years
old and the oldest as 90 years old.
- Female household
heads were slightly younger than male household heads, 40 and
41 years old, respectively.
- Approximately
12% of homesteads visited are above 60 years (elderly headed)
and only 1% (142) were headed by minors (commonly referred to
as child headed, below 18 years).
- Furthermore,
children aged between 0 -17 years made up 71,691 members (or 56%)
of the total population. The proportion of male and female children
was roughly equal (51% vs. 49%)
- Thirty one
percent (31%) of interviewed households were hosting orphans,
whilst a further 13% were hosting at least a chronically ill individual.
A minority of 6% were hosting at least a mentally/physically challenged
person.
- As a measure
of vulnerability, the analysis classified all households into
five categories2. Most households interviewed fall in 3 categories
(39%), whilst in 1 category: 12%; 2 categories: 36%; 3 categories:
39%; 4 categories: 8% and only 4% in the 5 categories.
- Out of the
23,511 sampled homesteads, 22% of them reported that children
were not attending school as a direct result of the Operation.
- In the 22%
of the respondents who claimed children were not attending school
as a result of the operation, a total of 24,332 were recorded,
representing 19% of the population. Children in female headed
households seem to have been affected slightly more compared to
male headed households with 25% versus 21%, respectively. Furthermore,
worryingly, was the increased non attendance rates for households
hosting orphans against those not hosting orphans (40% vs. 15%).
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