Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
DEVELOPMENT players have been urged to embrace accountability, innovation and continuous improvement to ensure that social development, gender and social protection interventions deliver tangible benefits to communities.
The call was made during a Social Development, Gender and Social Protection Thematic Committee meeting held in Gwanda, Matabeleland South Province.
In a speech read on her behalf by Provincial Director for Economic Affairs and Investment Mr Richmond Ncube, Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent Secretary Mrs Lathiso Dlamini-Maseko said development initiatives must demonstrate measurable improvements in people’s lives.
She said there was a need for tangible evidence showing how interventions had improved access to essential services, strengthened social protection, promoted gender equality, empowered vulnerable groups and advanced inclusive development.
“It is important to appreciate that development is not simply about the implementation of programmes, the expenditure of allocated resources or the achievement of numerical targets. At its core, development is about transforming people’s lives and creating tangible improvements in the communities we serve.
“As a province, we must therefore continuously assess whether our programmes are reaching the intended beneficiaries, whether our interventions are addressing the real needs of communities and whether the resources entrusted to us are generating meaningful and sustainable outcomes. It is against this background that these thematic pillar meetings become particularly significant,” she said.
Mrs Dlamini-Maseko said the review process should also inform future planning by identifying areas requiring improvement, strengthening successful interventions and developing more effective strategies to address outstanding development priorities.
“The Social Development, Gender and Social Protection Pillar speak directly to the welfare, dignity and well-being of our people. Its mandate encompasses the protection of vulnerable households, the empowerment of women and girls, the promotion of disability inclusion, child protection, access to social services and the creation of opportunities for marginalised communities.
“As we assess our performance, we must pay particular attention to the realities confronting our communities, including poverty, unemployment, drug and substance abuse, gender-based violence, child vulnerability and the increasing demand for social protection services,” she said.
She said devolution and decentralisation remained fundamental to promoting inclusive, balanced and locally driven development, adding that interventions should prioritise prevention and empower communities to become resilient, productive and self-reliant.
“Devolution is not simply about transferring responsibilities to lower levels of Government. It is about empowering communities and local institutions to participate meaningfully in determining their development priorities.
“It seeks to ensure that planning and resource allocation responds to the unique needs and circumstances of individual communities,” she said.
Matabeleland South Provincial Medical Director Mr Andrew Muza, who chairs the thematic committee, said the meeting would facilitate the development of a framework aligned with the province’s economic development plan and the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).
He said the committee was reviewing progress made against targets set in its 2026 annual work plan while identifying achievements and challenges encountered since January.
“We met this year as the Social Development, Gender and Social Protection Thematic Committee to develop our 2026 annual working plan. In that plan, we had targets that we had set for ourselves as a sector. We have gathered here to review the progress we have made from January 2026 to date. We also want to look at achievements and challenges we experienced along the way.– @DubeMatutu
