Ah, the irony

As U.N. agencies go, it would be difficult to find one more useless than the U.N. Human Settlements Program, UNHABITAT, whose goal is "to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all."

Forget that the world's slum population only continues to balloon, not least in Nairobi, where UNHABITAT is based. Now we learn that UNHABITAT, during the 22nd meeting of its governing council on Thursday, will host a news conference by Zimbabwe's minister for national housing and its ambassador to Kenya titled "Zimbabwe calls for re-engagement with the international community."

"In view of the recent development in the country, Zimbabwe feels strongly that the international community should re-engage with it in order to alleviate the suffering of the Zimbabwean people," says the UNHABITAT news release. "This can only be achieved if more attention is given to development support and humanitarian aid."

One might remember that it was President Mugabe's government which was responsible for "Operation Drive Out Trash," a unilateral slum-destruction program that was itself condemned by UNHABITAT.