Published August 8, 2012 By Tierney Anderson Country Profile CCPPR12ZW Report available in PDF and Flash formats

After gaining its independence from Great Britain in 1980, Zimbabwe thrived with one of the best education systems in Africa, a flourishing agricultural sector, and international business and tourism. However, the increased centralization of the government, failure to address underlying issues such as land conflict, economic mismanagement, and corrupt land reform policies, coupled with an ongoing drought, destroyed the agricultural sector and drove the economy into complete collapse. The healthcare and education systems failed and the country has endured widespread political violence, lawlessness, and human rights abuses under the 32 year rule of President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party.

Though the economy is slowly recovering and the 2009 ZANU-PF and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) power-sharing agreement following the 2008 post-election violence has tenuously held, Zimbabwe remains a highly unstable country. Political violence, human rights abuses by government and police, and widespread unemployment have left Zimbabwe in a state of deep insecurity. Ministries in the unity government are split between ZANU-PF and the MDC, making reforms challenging. Intimidation and arbitrary arrests of opposition leaders, internal rifts within ZANU-PF, and rising tensions in the lead-up to elections continue to undermine the unity government.

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Latest Update: 2012-08 Tierney Anderson
Previous Update: 2011-10 Ed Nagle

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