Zimbabwe is in freefall. This is a crisis that affects us all, and not just its people, whose fate is on our conscience. For those of us who believe governments have a responsibility to protect their citizens, it is a moment that imposes a special challenge and one we must not ignore.

Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is having tragic consequences both inside the country and in the southern Africa sub-region. The recent suspension by the government of the work of aid agencies will only make the already desperate plight of millions within Zimbabwe even worse. This is a picture of need that we Africans had hoped to put behind us.