Policy and legal framework on internal displacement in Zimbabwe: an overview

Published on March 7, 2021

Nqobizitha NDLOVU* | genida

Zimbabwe is prone to rapid and slow onset disasters of both natural and man-made origins that have repeatedly caused several devastating effects and triggered population displacement. Over the last decade, natural disasters caused by cyclones and El-Nino, as well as socioeconomic and political factors have all contributed to migratory movements in the country. Contrary to the picture portrayed by the government of Zimbabwe, internal displacement is more prevalent in the country than is at first discernible. This brief offers an overview of the current policy and legislative framework on internal displacement in Zimbabwe. It identifies the lack of any formal legal recognition of internal displacement and weak property rights as the major drivers of internal displacement.
While there is no national legal framework specifically recognising and providing for the protection and assistance of IDPs, the 2013 Constitution articulates a Bill of Rights that protects the basic rights of IDPs. However, this exposes IDPs to blanket solutions which does not consider IDPs as a vulnerable group requiring specific policies and programmes to support them. As such, the broad recommendation is the domestication of the 2009 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa and the 1998 United Nations Guidelines on Internal Displacement.

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