ZIMSTAT to aid economic growth

Abel Zhakata Senior Reporter
THE Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) final report recently published by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency provides Government and other decision makers with data on the general welfare of the people as well as informing national development priorities like Zim-Asset.

Addressing delegates who attended the presentation of the MICS results in Mutare on Wednesday, acting Manicaland Provincial Medical Director, Dr Simba Mashizha urged Government departments and the private sector to use the results of the report to come up with informed decisions that aid national economic and social development.

MICS, he said, provides policy and decision makers with data to monitor and report on selected indicators for all eight Millennium Development Goals in 2015.

“It also provides decision makers with evidence on the situation of children and women’s rights and other vulnerable groups in Zimbabwe as well as informing Zim-Asset national priorities,” he said.

Dr Mashizha thanked the donor community for providing finance towards the successful completion of the survey.

The MICS is an international household survey programme developed by UNICEF in the mid-1990s.

It is designed to collect statistically sound, international comparable estimates of key indicators that are used to assess the situation of children and women in areas of health, education, child protection, HIV and Aids, water and sanitation.

ZIMSTAT conducted the survey between February and April 2014 which covered housing characteristics, education, water and sanitation, child mortality, immunisation, reproductive health, maternal mortality, HIV and Aids, sexual behaviour, circumcision, birth registration and care for the ill.

With reference to child mortality, the survey found out that rural areas recorded more deaths per 1 000 live births compared to urban areas and that the rate was highest in poorest households compared to richer ones.

The survey also found out that breast feeding was near universal in the country with 98,1 percent of children feeding from their mothers’ milk.

“The Government of Zimbabwe promotes exclusive breastfeeding for all infants less than six-months-old. The MICS results showed that 41 percent of infants less than six months were exclusively breastfed, with infants in urban areas more likely to be exclusively breastfed than those in rural areas,” reads the report.

On water and sanitation the survey found out that 76,1 percent of the population was using an improved source of drinking water (98,4 percent in urban areas and 67,5 percent in rural areas).

The survey also found out that girls were more literate than boys with 92 percent of young women and 86 percent of young men were literate.

Apart from the MICS, ZIMSTAT also carried out the Labour Force and Child Labour Survey in June 2014 whose findings were also presented on Wednesday.

The survey is a component of the Zimbabwe National Households Surveys Capability Programme that is designed to monitor living conditions.

It also provides socio-economic indicators useful in monitoring living conditions as well as providing in-depth information on labour force in Zimbabwe.

The Characteristics of Labour Migrants Report which is part of the Labour Force and Child Labour Survey is the first ever report to be produced both in Zimbabwe and in SADC region. The report is divided into two parts; the first part focuses on incoming migrants while the second part is on out-going migrants.

At least 207 000 migrants are staying in Zimbabwe of whom 78 000 are labour migrants. Neighbouring countries accounted for the majority of in-coming labour migrants with South Africa accounting for the highest percentage at around 45 percent.

Data on out-going migrants showed that 72 percent of the out-going migrants were aged between 20 and 34 years. Close to 73 percent of these migrants had completed secondary education at the time of their departure.

Lack of employment opportunities was cited by the majority of the migrants, at 49 percent, as their main reason for leaving Zimbabwe.

South Africa was the dominant country of stay for out-going migrants followed by Botswana. The survey revealed that 46 percent of the outgoing migrants did not send any remittances, 24 percent remitted both money and goods while 20 percent remitted money only.

Of those who remitted cash, only 24 percent remitted at least $500.

The report also noted that the nature and spatial distribution of the Zimbabwean Diaspora population remains largely unknown, rendering evidence based policy formulation and programming to issues related to labour migrants, remittances and the effective involvement of the Zimbabwean Diaspora in national reconstruction and development difficult.