Zimbabwe is currently ranked 151st of 177th on the United Nations Human Development Index (Human Development Report UNDP, 2007).

The country’s population is 11.75 million in 10 provinces with 61 districts (Central Statistical Office - CSO).

Zimbabwe faces serious challenges, including deteriorating physical infrastructure, poor delivery of basic social services, food insecurity and HIV & AIDS. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has noted that additional challenges emanate from the country’s policy choices, which have brought about widening and deepening vulnerabilities.  The combined effect of these interrelated factors has led to a significant reduction in the quality of life for the population.

The following indicators clearly express the severity of current crisis:
• 80% of the population live on less than $1 per day
• Formal unemployment has risen to over 80%.
• 1.7 million people (15.6% of the population) of all ages are HIV infected (National Ministry of Health and Child Welfare Estimates, 2007) leading to over 3,000 deaths per week.
• 1.6 million children are orphaned, about 1 million due to AIDS (UNICEF, National Estimates, 2007).
• 16.6% children malnourished as measured by MDG indicator underweight (DHS, 2005/6).
• 40% of the population are without sustainable access to an improved drinking water source.
• Life expectancy has virtually been halved in the past two decades, from 60 years to 35 years, the lowest in the world.

In 2007, the combined impacts of adverse weather and severe economic constraints induced hardship and food insecurity among both rural and urban populations in Zimbabwe.  Severe dry spells and unfavourable rainfall during the 2006/2007 cropping season, compounded by the devastating effects of an unprecedented decade-long economic decline led the Zimbabwean Government to declare 2007 as a drought year.  Food insecurity is set to continue in 2008 due in part to severe floods in the region.

The economic situation was compounded by the government’s imposition of a blanket basic goods price freeze in June 2007 in an attempt to curb hyperinflation. "Operation Reduce Prices" compelled businesses to slash prices by fifty percent and price controls have resulted in shortages of basic goods across the country such as the most basic commodities: sugar, salt, meat, flour. 

While ongoing food assistance programs are expected to meet all of the assessed needs in rural areas, only one third of the one million urban Zimbabweans estimated to be food insecure are receiving formal food assistance. In urban areas, high levels of food insecurity persist and are likely to worsen due to food shortages on formal markets, exceptionally high and rising prices on parallel markets, and inefficient maize procurement, distribution, and pricing policies.

Government-sponsored 2005 “Operation Murambatsvina” to clear urban slums and illegal informal businesses forcibly deprived more than 18 per cent of the population of homes or livelihoods and badly damaged the informal sector, the lifeline for many urban poor. The fast-track land resettlement programme has also displaced hundreds of thousands of farm workers.

Health and education services are constantly destabilized by strikes and migration of professionals, thus eroding previous development gains.  The teachers’ union maintains that 15,000 teachers have moved abroad in 2007 alone.  The deteriorating economic environment has led to a crisis in the health sector and stocks of vital and essential drugs are now reaching unprecedented low levels. One in five adults is living with HIV and despite the decline in prevalence the pandemic continues to impact heavily on the poor and vulnerable in Zimbabwe.

Ireland allocated €3 million to respond to HIV & AIDS in Zimbabwe in 2007.  Channelled through local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the support is aimed at strengthening the HIV & AIDS response and improving the quality and coverage of Home Based Care. 

Currently, 14 civil society organisations working in the area of Home Based Care in Zimbabwe receive Irish Aid grants. These organisations focus on providing direct support to families and communities with a range of interventions including management of opportunistic infections and nutritional support. Ireland also provides core funding to the Zimbabwean AIDS Network, an umbrella coordination body for civil society organisations involved in HIV & AIDS work.

Together with other bilateral and multilateral donors, Ireland provides funds to the Expanded Support Programme (ESP), managed by UNDP, which aims to expand HIV and AIDS services at national and district level. It also provides essential commodities for the National Blood Service and support to paediatric AIDS services.

In addition, just over €2.5 million was provided to Irish NGOs and missionaries for long term development work in a range of areas, including HIV & AIDS, in Zimbabwe in 2007.

Since 2006, over €11 million in humanitarian aid has been provided to Zimbabwe, primarily for food relief, school feeding programmes, support to those displaced by government urban clearance programmes (Operation Murambatsvina), livelihoods programmes and healthcare provision. Of this, over €3.5 million was provided in 2007.