adminTakunda Mugaga Economic Agenda
National budgets worldwide have always presented challenges for ministers of finance because of the need to strike a balance in the allocation of available resources. Normally it is the disadvantaged in society such as women and children whose concerns are overlooked when it comes to budgetary allocation.
While the Government should be commended for making great strides in providing a platform for the children to air their views through the Junior Parliament initiative that is run by the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment not much has been done to put those views into action.
To bridge this gap some professionals have revived the Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children.
It is an association that is dedicated to seeing to it that the upcoming fiscal policy has policies that are biased towards children, is already seeking an audience with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance and Budget as a means of achieving its goal.
It has become a custom that every fiscal policy which is announced speaks to key areas such as agriculture, health and education and the council feels that it’s high time that children’s issues feature on the priority list.
The association’s economic development officer for the body, Ms Charlene Makuni, is convinced that it is possible to have a National Budget which gives precedence to development of youth in the country.
She strongly felt the Psychomotor Ministry which falls under the President’s Office was a Godsend for the youths given the high unemployment rate in the country.
“Children need grooming, access to learning material, quality education in this period where extra lessons dominate the conventional learning system, protection from capitalist private colleges sprouting up everyday, reporting channels for abuse ranging from rape, harassment and exploitation through heavy work as well as the right to information regardless of the religious backgrounds,” she said.
Ms Makuni, a trained economist, feels that he time is nigh for politicians and other professional bodies to tackle child rights matters through a budget statement not placards as is the case with most donor-dependent associations.
What makes this body unique is that it is an umbrella organisation for child rights.
They do not just look at one facet of a child’s needs but rather all their needs.
It is the only organisation registered as an umbrella organisation for child rights.
The misconception has been that rights are limited to politics, in fact children have a right to food, clean water, education and also freedom.
When President Mugabe opened a Johanne Marange church in Marange early this year he emphasised the need for children to have unrivalled access to education since they are the future leaders.
The council is therefore calling for the allocation of at least 15 percent of the Budget to child-related activities as a means of creating sustainable development for future economic growth.
This should be different from allocating a budget to education or child welfare where the funds end up serving the wrong constituents or supporting recurrent expenditures such as buying medications and training nurses who are beyond the majority age.
The council is pushing the agenda in partnership with various organisations such as Save the Children, Tusa-nani Cover Trust, Child Line, World Vision, Life Empowerment Support Organisation, Terre des Hommes and Mentoring Zimbabwe among others.
Mr Freddie Rafomwoyo, the public relations officer for the Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children, is optimistic that Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa and his team will definitely lend them an ear in the 2014 Budget.
This is critical because about 42 percent of Zimbabwe’s population of close to 13 million are below the age of 15 which presents a demographic time bomb of having to develop children who are willing to acknowledge that employment can no longer be viewed as securing a job but rather creating one.
Gone are the days when the youth will switch off the television when the fiscal policy is being announced because of the traditional perception that the statement is for the business community and politicians.
The time is nigh for the younger generation to question some policy decisions but this can only be made practical through an enlightened youth populace who knows what a Budget implies.
However, an enlightened youth develops through a youth sensitive budget statement which views youth as the cause not effect as has been the case for the past years.
Thank you and God bless you.
- Christopher Takunda Mugaga is an economist. He is the Head of Research for Econometer Global Capital, a regional finance and economics research firm. He can be contacted on: [email protected] or +263 772340353/ + 263 776 266 062.
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