Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe economic and political crisis. Officially, inflation is a staggering 15,000%. One-third of children are chronically malnourished.

Monday 30 June 2008

Sarah Jacobs, spokeswoman for Save the Children in Africa, says:

"We have worked in Zimbabwe for nearly 25 years and through a number of crises. The effect of  this situation in Zimbabwe is completely catastrophic for its people, especially children, who are always the most vulnerable in an emergency. Thousands are struggling to survive without enough food, clean water, or the normality of going to school.

"Zimbabwe has the highest number of orphans per capita of any country in the world, and many children are carers for the rest of their families. Our activities, such as helping to support children look after relatives sick with HIV, or distributing life-saving mosquito nets, have been halted over this election period. In addition the harvest has been very bad and there are rising rates of  malnutrition and disease.

"These are the invisible victims - children in communities we are currently unable to reach. This is a worsening humanitarian crisis and aid agencies like Save the Children urgently need to get back to working with communities and delivering aid."

More information

• Read more about our work in Zimbabwe.
• Read our report Children Crossing Borders which presents findings of research into why unaccompanied children from Zimbabwe cross into South Africa.

• Download our briefing Zimbabwe's Children (PDF 119KB)