Zimbabwe after Live Aid

Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, is located in south-eastern Africa. The fortunes of Zimbabwe have for almost three decades been tied to President Robert Mugabe, as the country's only ruler, since the country’s independence in 1980. The president presides over a nation whose economy is still in tatters, where poverty and unemployment are widespread and political strife and repression commonplace; the forced seizure of almost all white-owned commercial farms, in order to benefit landless black Zimbabweans, led to sharp falls in production and the collapse of the agriculture-based economy. The country has endured rampant inflation, critical food and fuel shortages and currently has the third highest prevalence of HIV in the world.

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Time Line

• 1964 The start of the civil war in Rhodesia. Ian Smith of the Rhodesian Front (RF) becomes prime minister, tries to persuade Britain to grant independence.

• 1965 Declares its independence from the UK unilaterally in 1965. It was not until 1979 that a white minority government gave way to democratic constitution, ending the 16 year bush war.

• 1972 Guerrilla war against white rule intensifies, with nationalist group rivals Zanu and Zapu operating out of Zambia and Mozambique.

• 1980 End of the Rhodesian Bush War, ending white-minority rule. This was followed by the ascendancy of the Veteran pro-independence leader Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe after winning British-supervised independence elections.

• 1983 Many civilians are killed in the struggle for independence. SOS Children builds its first community in Zimbabwe, in a small village called Bindura, to help the children who lost their parents in the devastating killings.
  

• 1989 SOS Children opens a second village, Waterfalls, close to Harare. The community now includes an SOS Youth home for older children nearing adulthood, a Nursery and Primary School. 

• 1995 SOS Children's Village Bulawayo is opened. In addition to its other services, it offers a Family Strengthening Programme which aims to improve the outlook for vulnerable local families.
  

• 1998 Economic crisis accompanied by riots and strikes.

• 2001 Finance Minister Simba Makoni publicly acknowledges economic crisis, saying foreign reserves have run out and warning of serious food shortages. Most western donors, including the World Bank and the IMF, have cut aid because of President Mugabe's land seizure programme.

• 2002 Parliament passes a law limiting media freedom. State of disaster declared as worsening food shortages threaten famine.

• 2005 Tens of thousands of shanty dwellings and illegal street stalls are destroyed as part of a "clean-up" programme. The UN estimates that the drive has left about 700,000 people homeless.

• 2008 Zimbabwe declares national emergency over a cholera epidemic and the collapse of its health care system.

• 2010 The maternal mortality rate, a good indicator for development progress, remains high at 750 deaths per 100,000 live births.

• 2011 Based on available data, Zimbabwe is ranked 173rd out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index.
  

• 2013 New constitution approved by an overwhelming majority in a referendum. Future presidents will be limited to two five-year terms, elections will be held later in the year. In May, it was highlighted that Zimbabwe still imports the majority of its food from its neighbours, meaning that it's food security status is very low.