2005 - Zimbabwe
Support for Australian government initiatives re. Zimbabwe
The Australian Association of Social Workers and the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers join in condemning President Robert Mugabe’s chaotic and destructive action that gives the international community the horrifying impression that he has declared war on the most vulnerable people of his sovereign nation, Zimbabwe. Such behavior has to be condemned in the strongest possible terms by Commonwealth governments and by all non-government personnel committed to the wellbeing of the peoples of this proud nation.The 1991 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Harare, Zimbabwe and attended by Mugabe, upheld the principles of democratic pluralism, good governance, human rights, combating poverty and protecting the environment. From every perspective, the behaviour of the leader of this nation today, is nothing less than outrageous.
Together with the International Federation of Social Workers, represented by the IFSW International Human Rights Commissioner, Elis Envall (Sweden), and the Commonwealth Organisation for Social Work, represented by Co-Chairs, Charles Mbugia (Kenya) and Tiong Ngoh Tan (Singapore), we strongly support the joint international initiative being taken by the Australian and New Zealand Governments in building an international coalition of action to bring urgent relief to the thousands of innocent Zimbabwean citizens caught up in this madness.
We will be encouraging member associations of IFSW and COSW to lobby their own national leaders to join with the Australian and New Zealand Governments in forwarding the three key initiatives:
i) Seek new International Cricket Council rules to allow teams to forfeit tours to countries where there is serious disregard for human rights.
ii) Encourage G8 members to tackle the Zimbabwe issue.
iii) Lobby representatives of UN Commission for Human Rights and the UN Security Council to :
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page last updated on 11.10.2005