Leaders from southern Africa have gathered in Zambia for a two-day summit likely to be dominated by the crisis in Zimbabwe.
The ongoing situation has led to millions of its citizens fleeing to neighbouring countries.
Presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia are among the Southern African Development Community leaders present in the Zambian capital, Lusaka.
Zimbabwe is currently in the throes of an economic crisis with inflation well past the 5,000% mark, four in every five people jobless and 80% of the population living below the poverty threshold.
Mr Mugabe blames the economic woes on drought and targeted European Union and US sanctions imposed against the ruling elite after the 2002 presidential election was dismissed as rigged by opposition parties and western observers.
Mr Mbeki was mandated by the 14-nation SADC last March to mediate in the crisis between Mr Mugabe's government and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and is scheduled to present his report to the Lusaka summit.
The SADC member nations are Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
