Hospitals are virtually closed because apart from a shortage of drugs, doctors and nurses are literally on strike.

    The same situation prevails in schools where some teachers have said they will only return to work next year, while the sitting of public examinations was almost disrupted.

    In tertiary institutions, halls of residence have been shut down and students have to find alternative and expensive accommodation outside their campuses.

    All this comes with galloping inflation of more than 230 million percent, the highest in the world, and with Zimbabweans still on budgets being forced to revise them everyday.

    Non-governmental organisations, which form part of the UN joint appeal, say they are very concerned about the humanitarian crisis that has gripped Zimbabwe.

    National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations advocacy and policy manager Fambai Ngirande said while the global political agreement paving the way for an all-inclusive government seemed to be the only hope for Zimbabwe to emerge from its political and economic quagmire, it was still not the best option for the country.

    There were concerns of democracy and respect for human rights and the rule of law which needed to be tackled first if the perceived government was to work, he said.

    "The global agreement seems to be our best chance but it is not the best possible outcome," he said, adding that the outcome he would have wanted was one where the will of the people was respected.

    "From a civil society point of view we are concerned about the people who are suffering. The outcome of their vote was sabotaged and right now we have a country running on remote control. There is no government and there is no national budget. The all-inclusive government will not work because the structural conditions are not ripe for democracy, human rights and respect for the rule of law," Ngirande said.

    The government should be controlled by the people and should be free of corruption, Ngirande said.

    "We have a humanitarian crisis in the country, but because there has not been a government in place, we have had ad hoc responses to the crisis, which is worsening the situation," he added.

    Ngirande alleged that because of starvation, some people who had been given maize seed they fell ill after washing off pesticides before boiling it for food.

    Zimbabweans are now left wondering whether the Sept. 15 agreement is just another theatrical act by the parties involved or will bring food on their tables.

    What they want is not merely co-existence between the rival political parties, but co-operation which will improve their lives, uplift them from poverty and disease and restore their dignity.

    Even if the agreement works for Zimbabwe, how long will it take the international community, which has become Zimbabwe's economic lifeline, to embrace it?