Posted by pretty on 8:32 am in News, Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on SDGs an opportunity to improve on social inclusion
When the world shifted from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals, there was a voice of approval from developing countries.This was backed by a feeling that previously, the industrialised north had undertaken the role of prescribing targets for African countries and were interfering at every level, undermining the sovereignty of each signatory state.
SDGs have been hailed by experts who feel that they allow each country the space to work on achieving the goals in an order they deem feasible.
One of the key themes in Agenda 2030 titled, “Leaving no one behind” has been welcomed by disability inclusion activists and people with disabilities.
Quite often people have spoken about social inclusion but have failed to unpack what it means for the minority groups.
According to the United Nations, the disabled constitute the largest minority group, adding up to about one billion people globally.
As is the case, those living with disabilities are happy that they are getting recognition in the guiding principles which will be used to steer development effort until 2030. For quite a long time, society has seen people with disabilities as charity cases in need of sympathy. A paradigm shift is long overdue.
Time is nigh for the populace, regardless of physical capabilities or lack thereof, to understand that with enabling infrastructure and a respectful attitude everyone can play a role in the development of the country.
Gone are the days when including the impaired in the development dialogue was when they were at the receiving end of compassionate hampers.
In the modern era, they can contribute in any sort of discussion lucidly like any able bodied participant.
Mr Kudzayi Shava, a visually-impaired disability activist and lecturer at the Reformed Church University, said recently disability is a social construction and along with the SDGs, there needs to be adequate conversations around it.
“Disability is misunderstood. Disability is a social construct which comes from the absence of enabling conditions which guarantee their participation is certain discourses,” he said.
Time and again, media practitioners have also side-lined disabled voices in discussions outside the imparity spectra, something Shava lamented.
“Journalists should not consult us when they are issues to do with disability only. We need to be involved in sports discussions, political discussions and wide ranging dialogue because we know these things too,” he said.
Mr Shava said instead of the two ceremonial Senate seats handed to the disabled, they would have preferred to run for the legislative seats and get to win them as well if they had sound policies for the electorate. He added that their engagement in other human endeavours like starting families should not be given special attention but treated like any other expected social occurrence.
Mr Shava embraced the new SDGs saying they have clarity on the importance of people with disabilities unlike the discarded MDGs which did not explicitly state people with disabilities.
Questions have been asked on the level of inclusion and what it means beyond what is written on paper.
e development efforts have been preached for a while but there is still a tendency of treating the disabled like fixated beneficiaries.
Academic and disability advocate, Dr Tsitsi Chataika from the University of Zimbabwe called for a change of approach in interactions involving people with disabilities.
“We need to stop treating people with disabilities as if they are incapable of doing simple things like running a business, among other things. At times the media writes stories with headings which read, against all odds when a person living with disability has done a normal thing which would have not made a story if it was an able-bodies person,” she said.
She added that social inclusion is both an objective and a process which needs serious interventions from the grassroots to the highest level of interactions in the society.
“Development cannot exclusively reduce poverty, unless all groups contribute to the creation of opportunities, share the benefits of development and participate in decision making,” Dr Chataika said.
Development efforts where certain groups are included in group photographs so as to solicit bigger deposits from international backers lack sincerity.
This is why most ventures have been reduced to the distribution of foodstuffs and countless consultation processes which are repeated at intervals.
Ideal principles which are accompanying the new SDGs are participation, accessibility, sustainability and non-discrimination.
These principles entail that there should be a long-term plan meant to include all members of society from women, children and all the other groupings.
Coupled with the need to be realistic to the environment in which the efforts are being made, development in the country will only bear fruit if people abandon the “they” mentality.
Problems on inclusion are born when a section of society is described by a pronoun.
According to World Bank statistics, there is about one billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s population, who experience some form of disability, and disability prevalence is higher for developing countries.
These statistics mean that looking at people with disabilities with a prejudiced eye is counterproductive and works against the overall development effort.
Posted by pretty on 10:54 am in Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on The role of private sector in SDGs implementation
World leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, at the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2015, which includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) along with 169 targets to end poverty, reduce inequality and injustice and tackle climate change calamities over the next fifteen years. SDG implementation will require much larger amount and more varied sources of financial resources than it was for meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
This new Agenda is a milestone in global, national and local development efforts and calls for actions through the help of global partnerships with both the public and private sectors. To achieve these SDGs governments must take the lead in living up to their pledges pursuing a ‘whole of society approach’. At the same time, the private sector should extend its helping hands to the government with new initiatives, new ideas and new technologies for the sake of the country and betterment of the people.
WHY PRIVATE SECTOR? Bangladesh was one of the few countries among the developing nations that have achieved most of the goals of MDGs. That led the UN to involve Bangladesh in the process of framing SDGs right from the beginning. Bangladesh also responded positively by proposing 11 goals, 58 targets and 219 indicators, many of which were included in the proposal of the 30-member Open Working Group (OWG) of the UN General Assembly. Therefore, Bangladesh was well aware of the SDGs development.
The SDGs are quite efficiently embedded in the plan document of Bangladesh. The 7FYP growth strategy is basically a private sector-led growth strategy where private sector is expected to contribute 77 per cent (24.65 trillion) of the total outlay of Taka 33.9 trillion. The public sector investment will be devoted to creating necessary infrastructures to facilitate private investment, while playing its due role in creating human resources and other social obligations. Aside investment, the private sector has to take the lead role in creating productive employment opportunities and adopting a production system that is environment-friendly and climate-resilient. Under corporate social responsibility (CSR) it can address many social responsibilities. It can play a dominant role in innovation and transfer of technologies. Private sector has many responsibilities concerning SDG goals 1 to 9 and 13-15.
Surely, national governments will continue to have the primary responsibility for financing the SDGs through their own development plans and budget, but it will not be enough, given the wider breadth and width of the scope of SDGs. To fully realise the SDG goals, all parties-government, civil society, media and the private sector-must have a shared responsibility.
Private sector has been the driver of economic growth in Bangladesh like many other developing countries (77 per cent of total investments comes from private sector). A large number of targets of SDGs are related to growth, employment, and the delivery of key services such as education, health and sanitation, which cannot be achieved without the active participation of the private sector. In order to achieve these goals through greater involvement of the private sector, there has to be a framework of how these two actors can work in tandem. In some cases, particularly protecting environment, private sector requires incentives from the government to remain competitive in the world market. In order to make private sector more ‘responsible’ in production and consumption, an efficient mixture of laws and incentives should be in place. The modalities of engagement of the private sector in achieving SDG goals can be categorised into four groups:
n Re-invigorate the contributions of the private sector: The private sector plays a crucial role in helping countries meet the national goals. They are already involved in reducing unemployment, providing important services like health and education, meeting the large demand of the population through production. And now, more than ever, there is a greater need for alignment, measurement and communication for the sustainable efforts to enable a strong private sector contribution to the SDGs. In this case, the government does not need to do anything, except for oversight and caring about quality.
n Engaging private sector through incentive/disincentive mechanism: There are activities for which the private sector requires incentives to deliver. There may be a few sectors or areas where this sector has the possibilities but requires an extra push through incentive mechanism. The government should identify these areas and take appropriate measures to create opportunities for the private sector. The incentives will identify new areas for the private sector to invest in line with SDGs. Sustainability is reliant on innovation, and in order to be innovative, the private sector has to play a pivotal role. The private sector can move quicker and smarter than other actors in the economy in every aspect. For a paradigm shift the private sector should be involved in new areas of innovation, wisdom and setting examples of best practices.
n Engaging private sector through laws: In some cases, effective laws and their enforcement are required to get the private sector contribute to the SDGs producing desired outcomes while ensuring sustainability. The Government should see the private sector as the best agent of wealth creation and social wellbeing.
n Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability are now key business functions, which have paved the way for corporations to examine their wider role in society in ways that have never been done before. Therefore, a framework is required to align the use of CSR with SDG goals and targets and also for monitoring.
Table I shows the sectors in which the private sector can be involved to achieve the SDGs.
CONCLUSION: Governments will be the overall mediators of development through the public purse. But their failure in many countries has provided an empty space that must be filled by other entities, and a major one is the private sector and its champions, the large corporations. It is relatively easy to argue the obverse that corporations should stick to making profits and leave development to governments. But development creates good business environment. The market, left to purely profit maximisation has been unable to fulfill social roles such as reducing unemployment, ensuring primary and secondary education for all, tackling major diseases of the Third World, etc.
At the end, it is the people who make the market for products and services. Markets can grow only when people have purchasing power. Poorer people mean less growth of market. Peaceful socio-economic situation brings more investment; better climate, hygiene, sanitation etc. reduce man-hour loss due to sickness of self or kids. Quality education creates better citizens and workforce which create the base for good governance. Prudent use of land (barren and fertile) for urbanisation and agriculture helps economy to grow in a better way and use of green energy has a positive impact on all these. Though CSR is seen as responsibility of large companies only, the concept of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and value of peace must be inculcated to each and every entrepreneur to make development sustainable for all.
Posted by pretty on 11:36 am in News, Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on Zimbabwe’s housing woes
. . . dishing out stands not solution
Roselyne Sachiti Features Editor —
Government recently announced that it will be allocating housing stands to more than 100 000 civil servants around the country in both urban and rural areas.
The move, while noble and welcome, particularly at a time accommodation shortage is spiralling due to increased rural to urban migration, presents a number of grey areas which if ignored may result in serious challenges in future.
There are also concerns over the sustainability of such a decision and whether it is the best to address current housing challenges.
Finite land
Land is a finite resource, which if not managed effectively, may result in Government only meeting the needs of the current generation and ignoring those of the future.
If anything, a sizeable number of the over 113 000 civil servants expected to benefit from this scheme already
own housing stands and houses they obtained through other Government schemes rolled out in the past.
Currently, Harare has 23 483 potential beneficiaries, Manicaland 14 275, Midlands 12 887, Mashonaland East 10 125, Bulawayo 9 352, Mashonaland West 9 098, Masvingo 5 938, and Mashonaland Central 9 061. Matabeleland North and South Provinces have a combine 18 733 registered potential beneficiaries.
Numbers of beneficiaries are also expected to balloon because Government is taking on board every civil servant, including those not members of the Apex Council.
Potential beneficiaries will buy the land at a cost of $4 per square metre in high density suburbs and for between $20 and $25 in low density areas. The cost is lower in places like Kadoma where a square metre will cost $2 in high density areas and $5 in low density areas. An additional $1 administration fee will be paid through the Salary Services Bureau (SSB).
Civil servants will get their title deeds after making all payments depending on the size of stand. It is for this reason that the whole issue is worrying. Yes, Government is playing its role of providing a public good by making available housing, which may lead to improved livelihoods, but the sustainability of this is not guaranteed.
Instead of giving out land to meet the housing needs of civil servants, why can’t Government use the same land to develop and build public housing where civil servants will stay on a subsidised rent basis?
Housing shortages have resulted in many unplanned settlements in Harare
These buildings should be in form of flats and apartments for both low and high earners. Building upwards will certainly save land.
Picture this, in about three to 40 years from today, the people who benefit today could have left the civil service with new individuals coming in. The new groups of civil servants might also demand housing land and the cycle will go on and on.
Not to be outdone, in many other parts of Zimbabwe are millions of other Zimbabweans; youths, women and other minority groups seeking housing land through other channels like local authorities, Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp) and private developers.
The question is, does Zimbabwe have enough land or is there a danger of continued destruction of the environment to create space? Are we not at risk of creating slum like settlements in trying to quickly fulfil the appetites of people?
Are all these people first-time or multiple homeowners? Have the potential beneficiaries declared other housing land they already own? What should be on the Government’s top 10 list to develop housing settlements in a sustainable way without a negative impact on the environment and future of the country?
Urban Planning and Local Government practitioner Mr Percy Toriro said as a practitioner interested and working in the area of cities and how people live in them, he appreciates the effort Government is putting in an attempt to alleviate housing challenges for the people of Zimbabwe.
However, what concerns him most is the high number of unserviced stands that have become part of the housing stock in and around cities.
“As an example, researchers estimate that as many as 100 000 stands in and around Harare are not fully serviced with roads, water and reticulated sewerage.
“This poses for me two significant challenges; firstly, those people are deprived of decent lives and are exposed to communicable diseases. Secondly, that indirectly places an additional burden of infrastructure costs on the rest of the residents since the problem will at some point have to be borne by everyone.
“I am, however, comforted by the pronouncement of the Ministry of Local Government permanent secretary that Government will no longer give out unserviced land.
“We support this move as planners because it translates to liveable and sustainable urban settlements. We urge authorities to strictly adhere to the intention,” he said.
He also urged authorities to practice equity in allocating the land.
“Public resources are supposed to be allocated in a fair manner on a need basis. In that vein, measures must be taken to ensure the same beneficiaries don’t continue to benefit from different Government schemes. Land is a finite resource and we must disabuse ourselves of the notion that the resource is inexhaustible,” he added.
Past experiences tell a story of housing settlements in conflict with the environment. In most new settlements, housing clearly has a negative impact on the environment. People are building houses on wetlands disrupting the natural habitat. Wetlands act as a sponge which absorbs excess water and releases it in the dry seasons.
With many boreholes also being drilled in the new residential areas which do not get water supplies from council, the water table is being compromised each day affecting water levels in sources like Lake Chivero.
Sanitation issues also arise as most people building in these areas use septic tanks and blair toilets, and even open defecation, a hazard on its own.
Mr Toriro explained that there are also technical issues that require attention and the need to guard against urban sprawl.
“Let’s build compact sustainable cities where we implement our policy on vertical development. The sizes of our stands are unsustainable because everyone wants a big stand. There are many competing needs for land.
“Care must also be taken to make ecological considerations and come up with green cities that have breathing spaces. Green belts are the lungs through which cities breathe. Lastly, let’s take care to create residential areas with employment or economic opportunities. We shouldn’t just create dormitory towns without opportunities for employment. A delicate balance is required,” he emphasised.
Housing, poverty and industrialisation Poverty Reduction Forum Trust programmes coordinator and social economist Mr Tafara Chiremba said the collapse of industries and loss of formal employment had pushed people to look for cheaper housing or stands for home ownership in peri-urban areas.
He said an in-depth analysis clearly attributes the recent urban — peri-urban migrations to Government’s policy on land distribution in urban areas.
“Processes of urban sprawl into rural farmlands are taking place around all urban areas. Places such as Seke and Caldonia in Harare were once rural farm lands but have since been converted into peri-urban settlements following Government’s policy to avail more land to local authorities for housing development,” he said.
Government is trying to address shortages of housing for the poor. Through the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) under the Social Service and Poverty Eradication cluster, Government committed to improve the standard of living by constructing 300 000 houses under the National Housing Programme by 2018.
“The Government has not been following urban development and national spatial plans as vigorously as what it used to do before 2000. Many peri-urban settlements have been informally produced and this has ultimately generated infrastructure deficits especially for water and sanitation, health and education services, as well as electricity, high levels of congestion on the limited transport infrastructure,” he said.
He added that more residents travelled long distances to access basic services such as water and that this was disproportionately affecting children and women.
“The risks of environmentally related health hazards including cholera are very high and Government risks incurring high costs of medication to maintain the health of the residents. The high infrastructure deficit is also exerting pressure on few resources available for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme,” he noted.
A review of literature shows that Zimbabwe requires up to $325 million per year for at least a decade for WASH alone to cover the infrastructure deficit. Yet, in 2010 for example, the WASH sector allocation was a mere $15 million or 16 percent of total spending.
Mr Chiremba said a major weakness was that most the beneficiaries did not have resources to build houses.
“The distribution of a public resource like land is always good as it presents an opportunity to address social injustices in house ownership. However, distributing land for example to unemployed youths without initiatives to economically empower them to pay for the development of the land and construction of a proper house derails efforts to fight poverty and social injustice in a sustainable manner.
“The most common outcome is reselling of the stand or development of a substandard house and this is not what real social and economic empowerment should mean for the poor urban population,” he said.
He added that most of the residents cannot meet the requirements to access financial assistance from banks to build houses. He said Government and local authorities tend to lose potential revenue sources through rates payment when a large proportion of beneficiaries of land were not in a position to build houses.
Possible solutions
He suggests that there must be a balance between distribution of land to fill the immediate social justice needs of the homeless and improving productivity of land for industrialisation.
“The Government through the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing should prioritise upgrading of existing slums and peri-urban settlements and provide essential social services infrastructure such as water and sanitation,” he said.
He also pointed out that Government through the Ministry of Energy and Power Development should invest more in energy generation and improve access to clean and affordable energy in urban areas.
“On land distribution and housing development, there is need for Government to take a holistic and sustainable approach in responding to social injustice in urban areas.
“The Government must think broadly on how it can make use of land as a source for industrialisation. Land must be productive for it to contribute to both economic growth and poverty reduction. The Government should harness the two way linkages between land development and industrialisation.
“A sustainable land development should be backed by improvement in opportunities in the manufacturing sector while land development can be a source of economic resources such as savings, taxes for the country and the operations of local authorities.
“To achieve a balanced growth that will enhance poverty reduction and eliminate inequality, the country needs a domestic resource mobilisation strategy which is anchored on harnessing all possible sources of savings and taxes especially those that are linked to immovable property,” he said.
Making PPPs and agriculture work
In addition, Mr Chiremba proposed that Government and local authorities should accelerate the implementation of low cost PPPs in housing development to reduce the costs of land development.
“This can provide a win-win situation as the approach reduces the cost of developing land for home ownership and it makes it possible for councils to benefit from well-constructed and completed structures through rates payments,” he said.
He further recommended that Government should speed up efforts to revive rural agriculture to improve food security for both rural and urban population.
“The Government through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should be concerned about financing climate change resilience measures going forward. There is need to establish more irrigation initiatives to combat the effects of climate change.
“There is also need for Government to invest in rural infrastructure (roads) and agricultural value chains through resuscitation of rural development agencies such as District Development Fund (DDF) and Agricultural Rural Development Agency,” explained Mr Chiremba.
Zimbabwe’s commitment to SDGs
Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda which was adopted by the United Nations on September 15, 2015. The new global agenda presents a much wider framework in that it incorporates a specific and unique goal to address the challenges of cities and urban population.
The need to put more energy on this goal comes from the observation that growth of cities in Africa has been happening with increased social and economic challenges faced by the urban population and Zimbabwe is not an exception.
SDG 11 speaks about the need to ensure that cities and human settlements are inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable between 2015 and 2030. Its fulfilment provides a greater potential for the realisation of leaving no one behind principle and broad-based human development.
Some of the specific targets that this agenda intends to achieve are as follows:
- Enhancing inclusive and sustainable urbanisation and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries
- Ensuring access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums
- Provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.
Although the Government of Zimbabwe commits to the implementation of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, it has prioritised only 10. By prioritising the 10 SDGs, the likelihood is that more focus and resources will be availed to this priority list first.
However, goal (number 11) that speaks to the need to ensure that cities and human settlements are inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable is becoming more critical and the country has to deliberately target its fulfilment to achieve broad-based results on its priority goals such as inclusive and sustainable growth, poverty reduction and elimination of all forms of inequality.
Posted by pretty on 9:07 am in Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on Localising the ‘leave no one behind’ promise in Zimbabwe
http://blog.sightsavers.org/localising-leave-no-one-behind-promise-zimbabwe/This post is written by Peter Bare, Sightsavers’ Programme Manager in Zimbabwe.
In September 2015 at the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations, the world finally agreed on 17 goals that would propel the world to the next level. But the next 15 years will have to be filled with more than rhetoric.
To African countries, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015-2030 present an opportunity to continue with the unfinished business left by their predecessor, the Millennium Development Goals. And the year 2030 for Zimbabwe (and potentially the rest of Africa) will be a great year – if we do not wait to track our progress, but seize the moment and lay a strong foundation now.
Zimbabwe conducted a very encouraging multi-stakeholder meeting soon after September 2015, where the local United Nations SDG taskforce met MPs, civil society organisations and the private sector to discuss ways of localising the SDGs. The meeting also highlighted the need to ensure that bills passing through parliament conform to and address the 17 SDGs.
Parliamentarians were urged to raise awareness in their own constituencies, and the Minister of Economic Development discussed aligning the SDGs to the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZIMASSET).
Unfortunately ZIMASSET, while a comprehensive, well-articulated plan, is weak on monitoring and evaluation. It lacks a framework for tracking progress and there is no budget allocation for its implementation. There’s a lot of work to be done if we are to ‘leave no one behind’ and meet the 17 goals (with their combined 169 targets) that achievement will be measured against.
A strong political will at the highest level is needed. Political parties and the government have to walk the talk; the same zeal that leaders brought back from New York has to cascade down to the lowest level of leadership in Africa. The political manifesto has to align with the 17 pointers of Agenda 2030. It is this SDG alignment with the National Development Plan that will put Zimbabwe on course to meet the goals.
On 19 July 2016, barely seven months after the SDGs launched, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released the first report on them. This highlighted the importance of baseline data. For Zimbabwe in particular to know where it is now, we need this data – it will show us who we are ‘leaving behind’. We need to make this baseline data available as early as possible.
Lamentably, most African countries failed to achieve the MDGs, simply because they lacked policy and institutional coherence in their implementation – we cannot let this be the case for Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa during the next 15 years. There must be serious reflection on the institutional structure that was present during the MDGs to evaluate strengths and weaknesses – this will help make sure that structures and policies are put in place for the SDGs that consistently maintain economic growth, promote good governance and uphold the rights of citizens.
Posted by pretty on 1:36 pm in News, Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on GOVERNMENT MUST URGENTLY ADDRESS HEALTH ISSUES TO MEET SDGS
By Byron Mutingwende
Health is a basic fundamental human right recognised under the global development agenda as one of the crucial priorities that governments must address.
Speaking at a meeting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), John Ngirazi, the Executive Chairperson of the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH)said that the health sector was facing a plethora of challenges which should be addressed as a matter of urgency in order to attain the global development agenda.
“Ladies and gentlemen, our country is going through a serious economic crisis and social unrest and the health sector has not been spared. There are no drugs in our health centres; there are no enough nurses and doctors to take care of the sick.
“It is very worrying that Zimbabwe has over 3 500 qualified nurses sitting at home – they are jobless – but there no enough nurses in clinics. Some nurses have skipped the country for greener pastures. As CWGH, we believe it is high time the government unfreezes health posts and revise the staff establishment so that it speaks to the current disease burden and population increase,” Ngirazi said.
Zimbabwe is currently faced with a severe water crisis as a result of the current El Niño induced drought and yet Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) are some of the most basic needs for human health and survival. That is despite the fact that only seven years ago, the country witnessed one of the worst cholera outbreaks in the country that killed over 4 000 people.
“As I speak here, the country is on the verge of another cholera outbreak as most urban and rural homesteads have gone for months without safe drinking water. The right to water entitles every citizen to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.
“It becomes even more depressing when some of the country major referral hospitals – Parirenyatwa, Mpilo, UBH and Harare Central Hospitals – the epitomes of national health –endure water crisis seriously compromising the effectiveness and efficiency of health service. A situation where hospitals operate without water is too risky to contemplate as it exposes patients to disease outbreaks.”
It is unfortunate that a few weeks ago, some referral hospitals had scaled down surgical operations and other service provisions due to serious shortages of drugs, water, electricity and medical equipment. Chronically ill patients, who require constant supplies of expensive medications and monitoring, were hardest hit.
There was concern that since the Abuja declaration in 2001, Zimbabwe has not been able to allocate at least 15% of its national budget to health as per the commitment.
Ngirazi bemoaned the fact that the country relies on donor funding and urged the need to devise innovative domestic ways of funding its health systems. The inadequate funding for health care has resulted in the country failing to realise its full potential of providing sufficient and quality services to its people.
The country has struggled with a huge burden of disease. Zimbabwe has high prevalence of TB, malaria, HIV and Aids, communicable disease – cholera, typhoid and other epidemic prone disease and the Non-Communicable diseases cancer, hypertension and diabetes.
But Chief Ruzani from Wedza, born Nicholas Ruzani, said some of the health conditions were caused by lifestyle patterns which included excessive drinking, smoking and promiscuity.
“People should go back to eating traditional foodstuffs like rapoko, sorghum and millet. Exercising alos keeps one fit and equally important is the need to shun promiscuity to avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases,” Chief Ruzani said.
CWGH noted that user fees continue to be applied in an ad hoc manner and vary depending on the service provider. Infant, under 5s and maternal rates remain a cause for concern. The country is far from achieving its target of 326 deaths per 100 000 live births by 2020. At 651 deaths per 100 000, maternal mortality rate remains unacceptably high.
The deteriorating health situation has been worsened by the food crisis that affected over 70% of households in the country. It should be noted that some patients are defaulting on their medications because of lack of food.
“Notwithstanding this, we continue to witness rising Out-of-Pocket expenditures for health a situation that has led to general low level of utilisation of health services by most households at a time they need the services most. Some patients don’t even go to clinics anymore opting for divine intervention from Pentecostal churches.
“Even the 10% of our population covered by medical aid societies have not been spared by the current crisis. Some medical institutions turn away holders of certain medical aid societies yet they would have paid their monthly subscriptions, others incur huge shortfalls. CWGH supports the creation of a National Health Insurance but bemoans that this process which could have been implemented a decade ago remains somewhat a non-priority.”
CWGH reiterated the fact that the Public Health Act Amendment Bill and the Medical Aid Society Bill have taken too long to come to fruition. The health advocates urged the Ministry of Health and Child Care to push the relevant authorities for the Bill to be brought to Parliament for debate and passage.
That should be coupled by the need for the urgent alignment of the health policies to the Constitution. Addressing the plight of village health workers (VHWs) should be expedited since they are the foundation of primary health care in the country.
A health economist in the ministry of health and child care, Gwati Gwati said that the National Health Sdtrategy (2016-2020) emphasised on financing for universal coverage.
Judith Kaulem, the Director of Poverty Reduction Forum Trust said that health is an enabler in the attainment of sustainable development goals.
Kaulem called for integrated implementation in programming for health in linking it to issues of education, climate change and so forth in pursuit of leaving no one behind.
“No goal shall be considered achieved without achieving other goals. Thus there is the need for partnerships to work together for skills and knowledge transfer across the various sectors. We need to demystify the issues of sustainable development so that they talk to the needs of all. We need to address all the barriers affecting the provision of health,” Kaulem said.
Getrude Avortri from the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that achieving and sustaining Universal Health Care (UHC) can be done through a revitalised Primary Health Care (PHC) approach and sustainable service delivery through strengthening of the health systems.
“We are seeking for the achievement of the unfinished Millennium Development Goals relating to reduction of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent mortality; and strengthening sexual and reproductive health. There is also the need to reduce the burden of AIDS, TB, malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), hepatitis, and other communicable diseases,” Avortri said.
Avortri added that community directed strategies, which build upon the core principles of PHC are effective and efficient models for delivering integrated health interventions.
“Such approaches ensure that health interventions reach people who need them most and that the communities are consulted during formulation stages. Even in health facilities, patient/client engagement and involvement helps improve health outcomes, and ensures better experience at a lower cost,” she said.
Posted by pretty on 9:29 am in News, Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on Inclusiveness, Key To SDGs Implementation
Watmore Makokoba
The inclusion of all stakeholders in the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the missing link that might weaken the processes and stall realisation of positive outcomes in Zimbabwe.
Speaking during a media workshop themed “leaving no one behind, SDGs and inclusive Development: Strengthening Media Community in Zimbabwe”, Judith Kaulem ,Executive Director of Poverty Reduction Forum said government needs to urgently set in motion the implementation of SDGs as a matter of urgency
“Government needs to urgently speed up the process of launching the National Strategy on SDGs (which is not yet launched by now) and inclusively involve all stakeholders so that the implementation action plan produce desired positive results”, said Kaulem.
Peter Bare, programme Manager for Sightsavers Zimbabwe said, “the implementation of SDGs especially in Zimbabwe is very critical at this moment in time when developing countries are already affected by problem these goals seek to alleviate such hunger, climate change and poor health facilities”.
Dr Tsitsi Chataika, Coordinator for Zimbabwe Disability Inclusive Forum (University of Zimbabwe) said for inclusiveness to achieved, people living with disabilities must also be given equal opportunity to participate and be part of the implementation processes.
G Nyaguse from the Ministry of Macro Planning and Investment promotion said country’s’ action plan for the implementation of SDGs is primarily anchored on ZimAsset because it encompasses most of what is required towards the fulfilment of the goals.
“The government of Zimbabwe blueprint for the implementation of SDGs is premised on the current sustainable economic growth ZimAsset , because it was agreed that as a country we cannot be producing more and more action plans before implementing what we already have at hand”, Nyaguse said.
Njabulo Ncube, a veteran Journalist and media practitioner said “the media plays a big role in the implementation of SDGs hence there is need for collaboration between media and civil society for sustainable development to be achieved”
The workshop organised by Sightsavers and jointly facilitated by Ministry of Macro-Economic Planning and Economic Promotion and the University of Zimbabwe was aimed at reinforcing the capacity of media to cover and analyse themes linked to the achievements of the UN SDGs in Zimbabwe.
Posted by pretty on 8:55 am in Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ESPOUSES INCLUSIVITY: AN SDGS PERSPECTIVE
By Byron Mutingwende
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs it has emerged.
“Sustainable development calls for concerted efforts towards building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future for the people and the planet. For sustainable development to be achieved, it is crucial to harmonise three core elements: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. These elements are interconnected and are crucial for the well-being of individuals and societies,” said Dr. Tsitsi Chataika, the Coordinator of the Zimbabwe Disability Inclusive Forum.
Chataika made the remarks at a workshop organised by Sight-savers under the theme, “Leaving no one behind: SDGs and Inclusive Development” held at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Harare on 14 November 2016 that was meant to capacitate the media on reporting about SDGs.
Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. Therefore, it encapsulates the promotion of inclusive and equitable economic growth, greater opportunities for all, reduction of inequalities, raising basic standards of living, equitable social development and inclusion, and the promotion of integrated and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems.
“According to the 2011 World Bank Report on Disability by the World Health Organisation, there are an estimated 1 billion persons with disabilities worldwide. The same report states that 1 in 5 of the world’s poorest people have disabilities. Disability is both a cause and consequence of poverty, yet international policy-makers and stakeholders have not historically recognised or prioritised this issue within international development efforts,” said Kudzai Shava, a Lecturer at the Reformed Church University and disability rights activist.
After three years of intense intergovernmental negotiations United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015. The 2030 Agenda has 17 goals for sustainable development and 169 targets. There are 11 explicit references to persons with disabilities in the 2030 Agenda, and disaggregation of data by disability is a core principle.
It is hoped that the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’S will influence the direction of global and national policies relating to sustainable development for the next 15 years. If the 2030 Agenda is going to be successful all of the UN Member States from 193 countries must include persons with disabilities in their national plans for implementation and monitoring.
The Rio +20 Outcome Document of 2012, “The future we want”, which is the basis for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the SDG’S, has five specific references to disability, namely: responsibilities of States to respect, protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedom for all (paragraph 9); participation and access to information and judicial and administrative proceedings for promotion of sustainable development (paragraph 43); affirming that green economy policies in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication should ”’enhance the welfare of persons with disabilities.
Shava added that the text of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’S can be interpreted through the lens of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Zimbabwe has identified 10 out of the 17 SDG’S as specific priorities for the country over the next 15 years, and will undertake a ‘phased’ approach in their implementation as a mechanism to deal with current and anticipated resource constraints in the country, according to the Government. The prioritised SDG’S are as follows in order of importance: Goals 8; 7; 2; 9; 6; 13; 17; 3; 4; and 5. They cover decent work and economic growth, provision of affordable and clean energy, ending hunger, industry, innovation and infrastructure and sustainable management of water, combating climate change, global partnerships, promoting healthy lives and well-being for all, quality education and gender equality.
History is littered with horrendous and shocking stories of disabled people’s ill treatment and painful experiences of neglect, stigmatisation, discrimination, immense prejudice and extreme poverty all of which underpin and characterise their ‘social oppression’ in all societies across the world. They face daily struggles with accessibility and inclusion yet, inaccessibility and exclusion are not inherent aspects of disability, but rather, mechanisms of social organisation and structure which maintain a culturally transmitted negative perception of them. Their desire (as all other human beings) is to fully participate in ordinary activities of life such as working, playing, gaining education, striving for success, raising families, expressing their sexuality, involvement in community development and participation in larger social and political enterprises.
The Director of Policy Planning at the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, Grasiano Nyaguse said that the media play a central role in informing the public about what happens in the world, particularly in those areas in which audiences do not possess direct knowledge or experience.
The role of the media in the implementation of the SDG’S from the perspective of disability inclusion is multifaceted. There are however a number of things that the media should be aware of in order for them to effectively report on, as well as foster full understanding of the SDG’S among persons with disabilities, thereby ensuring ownership and promoting their participation in the implementation of the 2030 agenda.
This can be done through getting a clear understanding and perspective of what exactly disability rights entail; providing information and helping them make sense of the activities and programmes involved in the implementation of the SDG’S and the CRPD; and raising awareness on the SDG’S among the key players in SDG implementation.
Posted by pretty on 8:46 am in Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on Zimbabwe: Smart Policies Can Lessen Climate Change Effects
In recent years, national leaders have pursued many new development initiatives. Among them are the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on sustainable financing, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris climate agreement and the World Trade Organisation’s Nairobi Package.These frameworks could fast-track the continent’s development, and even fulfill the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next 15 years. The initiatives dovetail with the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063, a set of aspirations for a more prosperous continent.
At the same time, Africa confronts chronic problems of poverty, food insecurity, ballooning youth unemployment, mounting debt, climate change and environmental degradation.
These problems have been exacerbated by falling commodity prices, which have dropped over 40 percent from their peak in 2011. This translates to a loss of over $63 billion, which has left a trail of economic devastation for commodity-dependent nations such as Angola, Nigeria and Zambia. Commodity revenues make up more than half the total of Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Africa must make a concerted effort to address these long-standing obstacles to growth, and seize available opportunities to get on a path to sustainable development.
Natural capital losses
Africa currently loses $68 billion annually from environmental degradation, according to Agriculture for Impact, an independent group that advocates for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
In addition, key environmental sectors such as forestry, wildlife, fisheries and mining suffer losses worth billions to illegal logging, illegal trade in wildlife, unaccounted and unregulated fishing and illegal mining practices, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has found.
Without investments to eliminate inefficiencies in the agro-value chain resulting from farming on degraded lands, Africa loses between $4 billion and $48 billion in food worth annually. This is in addition to 6,6 million tonnes of potential grain harvest lost to degraded ecosystems.
Consequently, countries in Africa spend $35 billion annually on food imports, which is hardly sufficient, as more than 200 million Africans still go hungry, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. Yet with appropriate government policies, Africa could recover that $35 billion and be able to finance development projects and boost food security.
Targeted policy interventions
Africa’s current precarious ecosystem situation can be addressed by promoting environmental sustainability. A good first step is to sustainably harness Africa’s natural capital, advises UNEP.
At the 16th African Ministerial Conference for the Environment, held in Cairo, Egypt, in April, Africa’s environmental experts identified three key ways to leverage natural capital opportunities. The first involves policies, actions and partnerships at national, regional and global levels designed to reverse current losses from degraded ecosystems, agro-value-chain inefficiencies, illicit financial flows and crimes involving wildlife, logging, fisheries and mining.
By reversing these losses, Africa could save up to $150 billion annually. Sectors such as health care and education, needing annual investments of up to $32 billion and $26 billion respectively, and infrastructure, for which investments of $93 billion are required annually, could potentially benefit.
The second way Africa can sustainably harness natural capital is by allocating, again at national and regional levels, a portion of current natural capital earnings to unlock the potential of natural-capital-based sectors. By so doing, the continent would be achieving the targets of multiple SDGs. For example, investments in ecosystem-based, adaptation-driven agriculture and using clean energy for processing and other commercial chains can potentially support sustainable agro-industrialisation.
Clean energy can boost sustainable agro-processing in rural areas and, combined with affordable financing and market accessibility, enhance farmers’ incomes, boost food security by up to 128 percent and create up to 17 million jobs along the entire value chain. This is in addition to boosting an agro-sector expected to be worth $1 trillion by 2030, according to the World Bank.
Investments in natural-capital-based sustainable agro-industry will contribute towards SDG 1 (poverty eradication), SDG 2 (an end to hunger), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 8 (sustainable economic growth and employment), as well as promoting food security and improved nutrition.
Investments can enhance climate adaptation and the health of ecosystems, and produce healthier food even as clean energy options reduce emissions and pollution–all of which would contribute to SDG 3 (good health and well-being for all) and SDG 13 on climate action. Healthy ecosystems would contribute to SDG 15 (protecting life on land).
The World Bank reckons that a 10 percent increase in crop yields in Africa would translate to approximately a 7 percent reduction in poverty through agricultural growth, which is at least two to four times more effective in reducing poverty than growth in other sectors.
The third way Africa can leverage natural capital opportunities is by targeting policies and actions to enable value addition of its natural capital exports, instead of exporting raw materials.
This would enhance earnings. Policies prioritising investment in rural transport and energy infrastructure to achieve sustainable agro-industrialisation is a good starting point, experts believe.
Unlocking agriculture potential
Experts continue to praise key elements of the Paris climate agreement, the SDGs, and the AU’s Agenda 2063. What is lacking, however, are policies to ensure those elements are part of individual countries’ development frameworks and, most importantly, that their implementation is financed. Without such policies and financing, it may be difficult to achieve modern, climate-friendly and efficient food systems, and, by extension, inclusive economic growth. With regard to the critical financing need, one area of intense discussion is how to deal with illicit financial flows, mainly attributable to Africa’s natural capital. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), financial aid spent on improving tax administration could substantially increase tax revenue for African countries. For instance, a project assisting Kenya’s tax administrators returned a massive $1 650 for every $1 extra invested, while a programme in Mozambique was able to increase short-term revenues by 350 percent
The potential is huge, yet currently just 0,07 percent of OECD assistance to poor countries is used to improve tax systems. Building capacity of Africa’s negotiators with multinational companies and improving regulatory oversight in tax administration could help deal with illicit flows and recoup funds for sustainable development.
African countries should make it a priority to implement the 2015 recommendations of the AU high-level panel on illicit financial flows headed by former South African President Thabo Mbeki.
These include taking measures to deal with organised crime, including environmental crimes (which make up about 33% of all organised crimes) and the public sector corruption that plays a key role in facilitating these outflows.
Additionally, unnecessary tax expenditures such as incentives for natural-resource exploration constitute significant revenue losses, up to 4 percent of GDP, in addition to providing loopholes for fraud. Up to 65 percent of oil subsidies in Africa benefit the richest 40 percent of households and feed corrupt cartels, according to the African Development Bank.
Africa’s huge natural resources can turn the dream of a prosperous continent into a reality. Countries need to act urgently and strengthen the governance structure and to enact and implement appropriate policies. The challenge is to make actions speak louder than all the fine words.
Dr Richard Munang is an Africa climate change and development policy expert at UNEP, and Mr Robert Mgendi is an adaptation policy expert. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of UNEP.
Posted by pretty on 8:11 am in Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on Human development & Agenda 2030: Effecting positive change in people’s lives
By Selim Jahan, Director, Human Development Report Office, UNDP
This September marked the first anniversary of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As we shift into the implementation phase, increasingly I am asked: “How is the concept of human development linked to the 2030 Agenda? How is it relevant to the achievement of the new goals?”
The UN Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals already mirrored the basic principles of human development – expanding human capabilities by addressing basic human deprivations (ending extreme poverty and hunger, promoting good health and education, etc.). The SDGs are a product of a global conversation involving a broad range of stakeholders from all over the world and all segments of society. It has been heartening to see that this highly consultative process resulted in a new global agenda that is even more fully reflective of human development principles.
The new agenda is committed to strengthening human capabilities, as well as voice, participation, gender equity, social justice and sustainability for all. It promises to “leave no one behind,” neither those in poverty nor those facing discrimination, neither in present nor future generations. In the human development approach, this is articulated as the “universal life claims” that form the foundation of our work. It’s the idea that every life has value, and every life is equally valuable.
In this regard, the human development principles and framework can provide intellectual contributions to the 2030 development agenda and the SDGs implementation. How?
To start, the principles and framework can offer a perspective to better understand the connectedness among the different goals and how holistic policy approaches will strengthen progress. At the same time, the narrative of the new agenda can enrich human development analysis, helping to expand its frontiers by highlighting elements that deserve fresh exploration to fit today’s development landscape. For example, access to information and communications technology (ICT), part of Goal 9, will significantly affect the choices and opportunities available to people everywhere. Inexpensive and reliable access to the Internet may enable other capabilities in the areas of education, work and political participation, among others, when well managed. But there are stark differences across the globe. While 79% of people in Europe use the Internet, only 25% of those in sub-Saharan Africa and only 6% of the population in least developed countries are Internet users.
Synergies also exist at the measurement level. The 17 SDGs are associated with specific targets and indicators to monitor progress. The indicators are a product of an intergovernmental process; UN member states have agreed on them. Human development measures can be aligned to some of those indicators and contribute to tracking progress in areas such as education, inequality and women’s empowerment, particularly at the national level. And as each Human Development Report (HDR) is intended to add value to the development discourse by applying a human development lens to a topical issue, these reports also can spotlight areas where progress is lacking. National and regional HDRs, for instance, often investigate sub-national patterns of development to put a spotlight on disparities among various areas of a country. In Mongolia, the Human Development Index (HDI) for the Ulaanbaatar capital region was 0.812 in 2014, while that in the Khovsgol region was 0.634. In Nigeria, while the maternal mortality ratio in Imo province was 111 per 100,000 live births in 2014, the comparable figure for the Kwara province was 489 per 100,000 live births – more than four times that of Imo.
Likewise, human development measures can take advantage of the SDG indicators as they evolve over the next 15 years. Since their inception, HDRs introduced a range of composite human development indices and indicators to capture inequalities and the nature of extreme poverty, including the signature Human Development Index,which generates headlines across the globe by showing average progress in basic human development at the country level. With the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, we can expect a wider range of data and indicators that are relevant to assessing human development more broadly in areas, for example, such as sustainability.
The next global HDR will consider how to achieve human development for everyone. It applies a human development perspective to the 2030 Agenda’s notion of leaving no one behind. It will present principles, analysis and policy options at the national and global levels. We seek to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by leveraging such linkages to effect positive changes in people’s lives.
Posted by pretty on 12:15 pm in News, Sustainable Development Goals | Comments Off on zimbabwe facing mountain task to achieve sustainable growth
By Jeffrey Moyo
Harare, November 07, 2016 – THIRTY FOUR year-old Albert Chiza struggles along First Street in the Zimbabwean capital Harare with a huge sack filled to the brim with trinkets picked from dustbins around the city. The sack hangs on his back as he rummages for more sellable items through heaps of garbage around the city.
Despite being a civil engineer who graduated from Zimbabwe’s National University of Science and Technology a decade ago, Chiza has never had a job before.
Like millions of Zimbabweans, Chiza, after failing to secure employment, has turned to doing various substandard jobs for self sustenance.
And laden with many jobless citizens like Chiza, this Southern African nation’s bid to attain the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal Eight of promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work for all remains an arduous task.
The SDGs were agreed upon last year in September by UN member states, which in this case are a set of goals including the bid to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda, with all the targets to be achieved by 2030.
Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate hovers around 90 percent. As a result, sustainable economic growth may be a pipeline dream for this country as several companies keep shutting down, rendering millions of people jobless.
This Southern African nation’s 2013 National Social Security Authority (NSSA) Employer Closures and Registrations Report for the period July 2011 to July 2013 showed that 711 companies in Harare, had shut down, leaving more than 8,000 individuals jobless.
But the women here are the hardest hit by the country’s slow pace to achieve sustainable development.
According to the UN Women Africa, despite regional and international commitments to 50/50 parity representation by 2015, Zimbabwe only holds an average 25 percent representation in public service institutions.
And for many Zimbabweans hit hard by the country’s harsh economy like Chiza, talking of decent employment has rather turned out to be helpless nostalgia.
“While many people here ditch to see government making breakthroughs in creating decent jobs for all, it is like there are concerted efforts to rather work against the UN goal of promoting sustainable economic growth,” Chiza said.
Even with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset), it seems there is no respite in the battle to promote sustainable economic growth.
The ZimAsset initiative was crafted by the governing Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front party in 2013 to achieve sustainable development through use of the country’s abundant human and natural resources. However, with not much activity taking place around the initiative, it has not yet shown itself capable of promoting sustainable economic growth.
“ZimAsset does not have funding and it also has no buy-in from international financial institutions,” Tapiwa Mashakada, Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change shadow Minister of Finance, said.
The result is that many Zimbabweans here have been impelled to hatch desperate survival plans amid the country’s comatose economy.
“Apart from picking up trinkets like plastic containers for recycling, I also do all sorts of menial jobs to earn a living while my wife is a vendor in the capital, where our school-going children join her daily after school,” said Chiza.
In May this year, Zimbabwe’s Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa told journalists that the government was developing a two-year poverty reduction strategy which “will focus on practical well-targeted measures that can be implemented in the short to medium term, with long lasting impacts that guarantee improvement in the welfare of the citizenry.”
Agriculture was singled out as key to dealing with the poverty challenges that the country faces which had been made worse by an El Nino-induced drought in the previous season.
But even before then, poverty had already shot up, thanks to the country’s chaotic land seizures from white commercial farmers 16 years ago, leaving the land in the hands of poorly-equipped indigenous farmers.
With huge tracts of land rendered less productive following the country’s land redistribution exercise, Dr Jesimen Chipika, national coordinator of the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (IPRSP), attributed the deepening poverty levels here to the underperforming agricultural sector.
“Poverty levels keep rising across the country, with most families experiencing food deficits owing to underperforming agriculture,” Chipika said.
Nevertheless, while poverty rages on among the country’s peasants where, according to the country’s Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, approximately seven million of rural dwellers live in abject poverty, economic development minister Chinamasa points to agriculture as a springboard of economic breakthrough.
“Transforming agriculture will have a positive impact on the rest of the economy, and certainly that is where livelihoods are made, as 75 percent of the population depends on agriculture,” said Chinamasa.
Zimbabwe has a population of approximately 13 million people, with 67 percent of these living in the rural areas.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s struggling economy is also to be blamed on President Robert Mugabe’s tenacity with controversial economic policies, according to independent economists here.
These, they say, have resulted in this country lagging behind in terms of achieving the UN SDG of promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.
“Despite seeing how destructive the indigenisation policy that his [Mugabe’s] government keeps chasing, he has kept calling for the seizure of foreign owned firms by local black Zimbabweans, scaring away any potential investors,” Kingston Nyakurukwa, an independent economist here, said.
Nyakurukwa also pinned the blame for Zimbabwe’s failure to achieve sustainable development on underutilisation of natural resources here.
“Failure to maximise the use of natural resources like minerals has crippled our country’s bid to achieve the UN-SDG number eight while corruption and low Foreign Direct Investment levels have disturbed the country from realising sustainable development,” Nyakurukwa said.
According to Zimbabwe’s Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, 51 percent of foreign businesses should be ceded to indigenous persons, a move many like Chiza feel would keep them jobless a bit longer.
“Indigenisation has helped to keep foreign investors away from Zimbabwe, meaning continued unemployment for us,” said Chiza.
