ZIMBABWE is failing to meet key international human rights commitments, with millions of citizens facing worsening access to water, sanitation, housing, income and civil liberties, according to new data released by the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI).
The independent global human rights organisation released its latest assessment on Tuesday, painting a grim picture of Zimbabwe’s social, economic and political conditions.
According to the report, Zimbabwe scored 63,1% on HRMI’s Quality of Life Index, which measures performance on the rights to education, food, health, housing and work.
The report identified water, sanitation, housing and subsistence income as some of the country’s weakest areas.
Zimbabwe scored 31,1% on the right to water, 35,8% on sanitation and 36,4% on subsistence income, with HRMI warning that these indicators have deteriorated over the past 15 years.
“The rights we measure are absolutely fundamental, and leaders must prioritise them,” HRMI co-executive director Thalia Kehoe Rowden said.
“We urge Zimbabwe’s leaders to take action and improve the quality of life in light of this data.”
The report also highlighted the country’s low housing score of 33,5%, which HRMI said reflects “persistent barriers to full economic inclusion and access to adequate housing”.
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Human rights experts involved in the assessment said children and women from poor socio-economic backgrounds remain the most vulnerable to violations of economic and social rights.
Beyond living conditions, the report raised concerns over shrinking democratic space and state repression.
Zimbabwe received an Empowerment score of 4.3 out of 10, which measures freedoms relating to assembly and association, freedom of expression, participation in government, and freedom of religion and belief.
According to HRMI, the score suggests that “many people do not enjoy their civil liberties”.
The country’s Safety from the State score stood at 6.5 out of 10, reflecting concerns over arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
The report concluded that Zimbabwe’s governance challenges are worsening both economic hardship and political instability.
“These statistics paint a troubling picture of Zimbabwe’s social, economic and political landscape,” HRMI said in its findings.
“Together, they suggest that Zimbabwe is struggling to meet international human rights commitments, with governance failures deepening both economic hardship and social instability.”
The findings come at a time when Zimbabwe continues to grapple with high unemployment, inflationary pressures, deteriorating public services and growing concerns raised by civil society organisations over democratic freedoms and governance.
The report is also released as Parliament considers Constitution Amendment No. 3 Bill, which proposes, among other changes, extending the retirement age of senior judges and delaying the implementation of constitutional provisions relating to elected metropolitan mayors and presidential running mates.
Largely, CAB 3 seeks to extend the tenure of President Emmerson Mnangagwa by two years to 2030.
Under the current Constitution, he should not be a beneficiary of any changes that tweak his term of office.
Any changes should be subjected to a referendum.
Critics argue that some of the proposed amendments could further weaken democratic governance and constitutional safeguards, while the government says the Bill is intended to improve the country’s governance framework.
