Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, is now the country of Records: -1.8 million out of the 12.3 millions of the inhabitants, which is the 15.6% of the entire population, is affected by HIV / AIDS syndrome, that means that in the country there is the lowest life expectancy in the world. In facts, according to the WHO, the average life expectancy for men is 37 years, while for women is 34. The average age is 19 years;
-Zimbabwe is the country with the most dramatic increase in infant mortality in the world: 50% more of annual deaths than in the early nineties. One in ten children dies before his fifth birthday; - It has the highest corruption level in the world along with Azerbaijan, Yemen, Kazakhstan and Bahrain;
-The most repressive regime in Africa rules this country;
-Unemployment is more than 80% of the population;
-It holds the inflation record of 231,000,000%. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that about 3.4 million Zimbabweans have left the country to migrate, the most of them to South Africa.
In the final report of the FAO/WFP (World Food Programme) the number of Zimbabweans in need of food aid has risen from 5.1 million, in June 2008, reaching 7 million people by now.
The agency for humanitarian aid in Zimbabwe was forced to halve the cereal ration to people in need, in order to share it with the number of hungry people surviving on one meal a day, which is consisting in one bowl of corn in water.
The conflict caused by the election results of last year have further deepened the economic conditions of the country, thanks to President Mugabe who lost the elections but stayed in power by force for the umpteenth time.
Exports of minerals and agricultural products are almost completely ceased and most of the financial transactions are carried out on the black market.
As a consequence of price controls imposed by the government, most of the traders refused officially to sell their products, arguing that these prices are below the cost of production. Even the little food available in the country runs through the huge paths of the black market.
The lack of seed, in addition, prevents the cultivation of the fields, reducing the population to starvation. In the countryside, almost all children are forced by hunger in constantly searching for food, and finding only little wild fruits and edible roots in their struggling food hunting are forced to engage fighting with monkeys. The past school year the majority of students did not go to school because of the lack of teachers.
Moreover, because of the disastrous hygienic conditions and severe water pollution, in August 2008 there has been an outbreak of cholera, according to the latest reports released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which confirmed the number of dead at 3371, while the number of episodes of overt disease is 67,945. In two weeks there were 1,000 confirmed dead. UN agencies working in the country say it is the "worst epidemic occurred in Africa over the past fourteen years". "We are getting closer to a catastrophic scenario, with 60 thousand people sick", said WHO spokesman, Fadela Chaeb, according to which, almost half of the 12 million Zimbabweans are in risk of contracting the disease because of poor conditions of life in the country. The epidemic has also affected close countries, particularly South Africa, where, despite the closure of borders, there have been cases of infection.
Adding more, even a big contract mean as fuel has disappeared from all the distributors, flowing itself with all the most part of essential needs, into the black market pit. Being it fuel or illegal trade, the whole market exchange is in the hands of Mugabe's entourage, that meadow a price eight times the "official" one. The lack of fuel and electricity prevents operation of the water pumps, which the population would need both for irrigation and the filling of tanks as much as purifiers for drinking water.
