Published by the government of Zimbabwe
24 July 2008
Harare — A visiting United Nations official yesterday said most negative media reports about Zimbabwe are discredited in the United States and Europe as nationals of those countries continue visiting the country.
In an interview with New Ziana, United States based UN expert on Ozone depleting substances and their alternatives, Abid Merchant said few people in the US and Europe believed reports of violence and lawlessness in Zimbabwe that sections of the Western media peddled on a daily basis.
"Most of the negative media reports on Zimbabwe are discredited," he said, adding although violence could have occurred during the harmonised elections, he found the situation in the country peaceful and hospitable.
Merchant, who was in Zimbabwe from Monday to Wednesday to attend a UNDP-funded stakeholder workshop on Ozone Depleting Substances, said many people in Europe were ignoring warnings by their governments against travelling to Zimbabwe either on business or holiday.
He said foreign nationals who returned from Zimbabwe were contributing immensely to discredit negative media reports about the situation in the country.
Merchant said some of his friends and relatives had questioned his sanity when he told them about his plans to travel to Zimbabwe for the workshop.
He had, however been surprised to find many foreign nationals on the plane he boarded in South Africa heading to Zimbabwe.
'There was a sizeable number of foreign nationals on the plane, some of them with their families," he said.
Merchant expressed confidence that the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations on Monday to pave way for talks to resolve the country's problems would improve the image of the country and result in increased tourist inflows.
He noted that the economic situation in the country had reached debilitating levels and required urgent address.
"If the image improves, more people will visit the country and it will earn more foreign currency to turn the economy around," said Merchant.
The UN and its agencies also do not allow its officials to travel to Zimbabwe save for special assignments for which it issues special permits and Merchant was issued with such a permit for him to attend the workshop.
Some Western countries, led by Britain and the United States, have been on a campaign to vilify Zimbabwe in an effort to isolate it in retribution for embarking on agrarian reforms to address a colonial legacy.
New Ziana
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