Only two months ago the situation seemed as if it couldn’t get any worse, but it has.
Ongoing food shortages and severe poverty in Zimbabwe has lead to the worst cholera outbreak in decades.
“The extent of suffering ‘has reached Auschwitz proportions’, read the bold title of a two-page spread in The Times yesterday.
And with mass media attention like this - we hope - comes widespread action.
Gordon Brown, who has been one the most outspoken world leaders against Mugabe, has said that the issue is an international emergency, “the world is saying ‘enough is enough”.
Similarly, Condoleeza Rice said, “If this is not the moment that it is obvious to the international community that it is time to demand what is right, I don't know when that moment will ever come.”
The first signs of a regime that could be on the brink any time soon are surfacing in the words of politicians the world over; cracks in Mugabe’s usual steadfast façade are becoming obvious. Perhaps Mugabe has been woken up to the picture of his country in descent.
Could we be getting somewhere?
Though the cholera outbreak, or something similar, was on the cards. When a country finds itself in economic collapse, when clean water, food and healthcare is so scarce, you would want to assume that someone shouts “CRISIS” and international bodies of the first-world flock in before any major outbreak or before the place ceases to be a country at all. Unfortunately, in our not-so-perfect world, it doesn’t work like that.
It takes something like this to bring about change. Change, let’s not get ahead here, but in the last few days we have heard the most promising words from international bodies that international intervention could be on the way. Let us pray.
No comments:
Post a Comment