Mothers and babies at a hospital in Zimbabwe. The European Union's new seven-year partnership with the country will focus on health, agriculture and governance. Photo by: Paolo Patruno / United Methodist Women / CC BY-NC-ND
In 2002, the European Union imposed aid restrictions on Zimbabwe in response to rampant human rights violations and constant shortfalls in ensuring credible elections. Much of the donor community has likewise exercised some level of withdrawal from the southern African country throughout the past decade, slowing progress in several key areas.
On the economic front, Zimbabwe remains a low-income country that is highly dependent on agriculture and mining. World Bank data show a sharp drop in the growth of the country’s gross domestic product from 2012 to 2013, decreasing from 10.6 percent to just 4.5 percent. Medium-term growth estimates are low, averaging only 2.5 percent for the next four years. Meanwhile, the poverty, income, consumption and expenditure survey for 2011-2012 pegs the rate of poverty in the country at an alarming 72.3 percent, and extreme poverty at 16.2 percent.