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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Operation Murambatsvina - Countrywide evictions of urban poor - Index of articles
Harare
homeless in 'very bad' way
BBC
News
December
03, 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4495438.stm
Some of the
700,000 Zimbabweans hit by slum clearances are living in "very bad"
conditions, said a top UN envoy after visiting a squatter camp.
UN's emergency
relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland waded through mud to meet people
living under plastic sheets, reports Reuters news agency.
This is the
highest level visit since a UN report condemned the demolitions.
Mr Egeland was
invited to "correct" the bias of that report, said Zimbabwe's President
Robert Mugabe.
"It is very
clear that the needs are great, the needs are tremendous and the
people are living under very bad conditions," Mr Egeland said after
visiting the Hatcliffe camp 20km outside the capital, Harare, home
to about 8,000 people.
Reuters reports
that women ululated and cheered when they saw Mr Egeland, hoping
his visit might lead to better living conditions.
Aid accepted
He
later went to Whitecliff, where the government says it is building
new houses for some of those made homeless.
The government
had refused international help for those affected - saying far fewer
than 700,000 were affected.
But last month,
it accept the offers of aid and has also reached an agreement to
let the World Food Programme distribute aid to at least three million
people going hungry after poor harvests.
The government
said the slum clearances were intended to reduce crime and overcrowding.
Mr Egeland is
due to meet Mr Mugabe on Tuesday. He met Local Government Minister
Ignatius Chombo and other government officials over the weekend.
The visit follows
a UN report describing Zimbabwe as being "in a virtual state of
emergency".
It said forced
government evictions of hundreds of thousands of people earlier
this year had deepened the country's economic problems.
The report,
compiled by Anna Tabaijuka said the forced evictions had caused
untold misery.
'Untold misery'
Mr
Egeland will assess the performance of UN agencies in their efforts
to help Zimbabweans through the worsening crisis.
He is also due
to meet religious and civil society leaders, some of whom are bitterly
critical of the government.
In southern
Zimbabwe, Mr Egeland is expected to travel into rural areas where
people are suffering severe food shortages.
Last week lobby
group Human Rights Watch said that since Mrs Tabaijuka's report,
UN agencies in Zimbabwe have not done enough to help destitute people
and have been reluctant to confront Mr Mugabe's government.
A senior UN
official in the region told the BBC that the agencies are "caught
between a rock and a hard place".
They have an
obligation to maintain a presence in Zimbabwe and, he said, they
cannot achieve much without collaborating with Mr Mugabe.
The BBC's Barnaby
Phillips says Mr Egeland will get a better understanding of this
awkward dilemma for the UN - to concentrate on humanitarian work
or confront the government but risk losing all influence.
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