Webinar: Zimbabwe – the forgotten country?

The webinar aims to make a meaningful contribution to the current preparation process of the new Danish development strategy, which so far has included very few voices from the Global South as part of its consultations. Zimbabwe was once one of Denmark’s key development partners but this is no longer the case. The event will draw on experiences and insights from Zimbabwe’s civil society sector and reflections on the changing relationship with Denmark, to help expand the debate on the new development strategy.

This event will be held in English.

Link to registration:
 https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0qf-yvrT8rEtU7cRHHa0lfIr5VuqzAiUmT

Keynote speakers

Prof. Brian Raftopoulos, formerly employed by the University of Zimbabwe until he left for South Africa, where he is now the Director for Research and Advocacy for Ukuthula Trust, and a Research Fellow at the International Studies Center, University of the Free State.
Title of presentation: Resurgent Authoritarianism in Zimbabwe. (See more about the content of the presentation below).

Dr. Shari Eppel, psychologist, and director of the Ukuthula Trust and has worked concretely with human rights in the country for more than 25 years (See more about the content of the presentation below).
Title of presentation: Shrinking Spaces. (See more about the content of the presentation below).

Dr. Amanda Hammer, Associate Professor, Center of African Studies at University of Copenhagen will introduce the 2 keynote speakers.

Today, there are no bilateral activities, and diplomatic relations are managed from the Danish Embassy in South Africa and only a few Danish civil society organizations have limited activities in the country.

Political developments in the country have not been conducive to cooperation, with challenges to human rights, democracy and good governance, and a country that has become increasingly militarized.
Denmark is part of several countries that through economic and political sanctions want to push Zimbabwe on a good governance and democracy track.

Apparently, the sanctions and closing of embassies in the country have had the opposite effect. The regime has become increasingly repressive especially after the unity government of 2009-13, and in foreign policy terms, the country has become closer attached to People’s Republic of China.

For Denmark, this has had the unintended consequence of making it easier to close its embassy in 2016 when savings had to be made in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the number of programme cooperation countries had to be cut.

The webinar consists of presentations from 2 Zimbabweans: Dr. Shari Eppel and Prof. Brian Raftopoulos respectively.

The first presentation by Brian Raftopoulos, entitled Resurgent Authoritarianism in Zimbabwe, will provide an overview of the systematic project by the Zimbabwean state to dismantle the political opposition through a combination of judicial and coercive measure. In addition, the presentation will also examine the implications of this form of rule on Zimbabwe’s regional and international relations.

The second presentation by Dr. Shari Eppel, entitled Shrinking Spaces, will look more closely at the micro-level implications of the current crisis on the humanitarian, livelihood, health and cross-border survival strategies of the Zimbabwean citizenry, in a time of a global pandemic.

We have invited The Minister for Development Cooperation, Flemming Møller Mortensen, and the development spokespersons of the parliamentary parties to comment. What can we learn from the Zimbabwe case and how can /shall this be taken into account in the new development strategy?