Zim, UN team up on achieving Vision 2030 goals

Trust Freddy Herald Correspondent

ZIMBABWE and the United Nations country team are working to achieve the country’s vision of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2030, as envisaged in National Development Strategy 1 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Deputy Chief Secretary for Social Services in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Reverend Paul Damasane, has said.

Speaking during a joint annual review meeting on the implementation of the 2022-2026 Zimbabwe United Nations Sustainable Development Co-operation Framework (ZUNSDCF) in Harare yesterday, Rev Damasane commended the UN Country Team for buttressing Zimbabwe’s vision through its various initiatives.

“Your Excellency Resident Co-ordinator, the United Nations Country Team in Zimbabwe has been an invaluable partner of the Government of Zimbabwe in our collective effort to achieve our Vision 2030, as enunciated by His Excellency, President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa of becoming a Prosperous and Empowered Upper-Middle Income Society by 2030 as well as attaining the global aspirations of transformation and universally accepted Sustainable Development Goals.

“This is a welcome indication that the Government of Zimbabwe and the Country Team have shared goals and priorities and are working together to achieve them, in order to improve the lives of the people of Zimbabwe,” he said.

Rev Damasane said review meetings present a unique opportunity to review and evaluate existing strategies under the Cooperation Framework.

“Not only is it critical that we come up with concrete recommendations and priorities, it is equally important that we continuously assess how far we have gone in implementing the recommendations made in 2023.

“While such recommendations are a critical tool in the work of the Country Team, let me also emphasise the importance of holding ourselves, and each other accountable to our commitment towards implementing these recommendations, and our responsibilities towards the people of Zimbabwe.”

UN Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator, Mr Edward Kallon, called for urgent action to accelerate the targeted goals in Zimbabwe.

“I stand alongside His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde E.D Mnangagwa and the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, in urging us all to redouble our efforts to ensure equitable, inclusive and just sustainable development for all, leaving no one and no place behind.

“It was eight years ago that member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. Today, only 15 percent of the targets are on track, and many are going in reverse – Zimbabwe is not excluded from this trend”.

According to Mr Kallon, a number of crises, including those brought on by climate change, armed conflicts, a bleak prediction for the world economy, and the ongoing fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, serve as a stark reminder that urgent action must be taken to reorient the goals.

He also commended the Government of Zimbabwe for undertaking the Mid-Term Review of NDS 1.

Anchored on Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) 2021-2025, the ZUNSDCF encapsulates the shared commitment to leaving no one behind through delivering concrete results that ensure inclusive participation and reaching the people typically left the furthest  behind.

The ZUNSDCF, with full Government ownership throughout the process, is a result of extensive consultations involving a wide range of key stakeholders whose inputs contributed to defining the strategic priorities and implementation modalities.