Meanwhile, and as the socio-economic and political crises deepened, the United Nations, through its Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Hilal Elver, added its voice. Ms Elver recounted seeing people waiting for hours, in long lines, in front of gas stations, banks, and water dispensaries, and receiving information that public hospitals had been reaching out to humanitarian organisations after their own medicine and food stocks were exhausted. Ms. Elver called on the Zimbabwean Government, political parties, and the international community to come together to “put an end to this spiraling crisis before it morphs into a fullblown conflict”. The independent UN human rights expert was presenting her assessment on the current situation in Zimbabwe, concerning all aspects related to the right to food, following an 11day visit to the country. Because of hyperinflation, which, said Ms. Elver, has reached some 490 per cent, more than 60 per cent of the population is now “food-insecure”, in a country once seen as the breadbasket of Africa: “In rural areas, a staggering 5.5 million people are currently facing food insecurity, as poor rains and erratic weather patterns are impacting harvests and livelihoods”, she said. “In urban areas, an estimated 2.2 million people are food-insecure and lack access to minimum public services, including health and safe water”. She described the figures as “shocking”, and warned that, due to factors such as poverty and high unemployment, widespread corruption, severe price instabilities, and unilateral economic sanctions, the crisis is getting worse. It is these developments that gave rise to the incessant calls for Zimbabwe to implement democratic reforms and the need for dialogue between protagonists President Emmerson Mnangagwa and MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa. And as the year, drew to a close, former South African President Thabo Mbeki came to Harare in December 2019 and held meetings with President Mnangagwa and Chamisa on an exploratory mission to facilitate dialogue to end the socio-economic and political logjam. 7