Global Environmental grant for Zim       

The Global Environment Facility Agency has allocated US$71 125 176 to fund land reclamation and reforestation programmes in Zimbabwe. The programme, dubbed Global Environmental Facility 7th Cycle, Dry Lands Sustainable Landscapes Impact Programme, will focus on three provinces: Manicaland, Masvingo and Midlands. It will provide significant support to the country to avoid further degradation, desertification and deforestation of land and ecosystems through the sustainable management of production landscapes. It will also tackle livelihoods, climate change, biodiversity conservation and environmental security.

HR advocate Dewa Mavhinga dies

The sudden passing of Dewa Mavhinga, Johannesburg-based Southern Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), is shattering news and the Mike Campbell Foundation is deeply saddened by his loss. As HRW writes, Dewa was “a beloved colleague to many activists across the human rights movement. He was known not just for his passion, commitment, and leadership on human rights, but above all for his great heart, kindness, and solidarity with others. We also send our deepest condolences to Dewa’s wife, Fiona, their four children, and his extended family and many friends in Zimbabwe, South Africa and across the world.

HR abuser Zim elected vice chair of KP

Zimbabwe has been elected vice-chair of the Kimberley Process for 2023 following a vote held in Moscow in November. Russia is the current chair. The Kimberley Process, which was set up to prevent the flow of conflict diamonds, lost significant credibility when it decided to approve the sale of diamonds from the Marange fields of Zimbabwe, a diamond mining area infamous for its human rights violations.

The atrocities committed by the government-run diamond mines in this area continue to this day, with the most recent reports detailing a culture of corruption, violence and appalling torture.

Conditions for rejoining Commonwealth

In response to questions in the UK House of Lords on 23 November 2021, British Commonwealth Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon said Zimbabwe will only be accepted back into the Commonwealth if the Mnangagwa government ends political persecution and respects the rule of law. He also answered questions about the continued detention of MDC Alliance youth activist Makomborero Haruzivishe and the mounting political persecution under Mnangagwa. Baroness Kate Hoey said: “Zimbabwe will only become a democracy if the people have genuinely free and fair elections. We saw that recently in Zambia”.

Open letter to President Mnangagwa

This week marks four years since the 2017 coup that catapulted Emmerson Mnangagwa to the presidency. In an open letter to the president, a young Zimbabwean warns him that he is “failing to comprehend the task at hand and squandering public goodwill”. He asks: “Are you oblivious to the nature of the core challenges that underscore our nation’s fragility: poverty, unemployment and inequality, however the political cards fall, these tripartite issues should cease to define the lives of the people, they must catalyse common purpose and actions. You seem not to be alive to your responsibilities to those you are meant to serve.”