UN envoy pledges support to fair election in Zimbabwe

A visiting top United Nations official has met Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo to discuss the world body's support to Zimbabwe's upcoming polls. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administrator Achim Steiner told journalists after the meeting on Thursday that the UN was committed to supporting Zimbabwe's efforts to hold free and fair elections and achieve economic growth, Xinhua reported.

"We are very much committed to the success of this election as we are committed also to the economic recovery of Zimbabwe as a nation in terms of its macro-economic indicators," Steiner said. He said the UN was pleased to provide Zimbabwe with technical support for the crucial polls, which comes after the resignation of former president Robert Mugabe last November.

"We are very proud and pleased to be part of efforts to support the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) not only on the technical side but also on public outreach, voter education and many of the elements that are essential to make this a successful election," he said. Already, the UNDP has provided support to ZEC to conduct bio-metric voter registration under which 5.3 million Zimbabweans have so far registered for the polls.

Steiner's visit is the first by a UN official since the end of Mugabe's presidency. Zimbabwean elections are expected to be held no later than August 21 this year.

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