Story by Kenias Chivuzhe
ZIMBABWE recently concluded consultations on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in all its ten provinces, preparing for its third national review at the upcoming High-Level Political Forum in New York this July.
The tenth and final meeting, held in Mutare, saw crucial discussions on scaling up value addition in industries and decentralising SDG implementation by placing focal persons at the district level with the measures aimed at job creation, boosting revenue, and enhancing local ownership of the SDGs.
“We have gathered submissions on the need to ensure the issue of SDGs cascades to local authorities at all levels of governance to increase
their awareness. A call has been made to have SDGs focal persons at all levels of governance up to provinces and districts. The other issue that was raised is the need to scale up value addition and beneficiation. There is a lot of value addition in this province that includes processing of macadamia nuts, avocado pears, bananas, timber and other fruits but we need to scale up value addition to ensure we create
employment, generate more revenue and create more export receipts,” said Deputy director ministry of public service, Labour and Social Welfare, Sylocious Chaturuka.
Government is convinced that the review process is important in achieving public buy-in on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and accelerating the drive to promote the national inclusive development agenda.
“Voluntary National Reviews facilitate the sharing of experience including success, challenges and lessons learnt with the view of accelerating the implementation of the sustainable development goals. It also helps to increase the awareness of the SDGs and national development plans among the citizens in line with the principle of inclusive development,” noted the Chief Employment Officer Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Norah Toto.
Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Advocate Misheck Mugadza weighed in saying, “His Excellency, President Mnangagwa in September 2023 attended and participated in the 2023 SDGs summit where he committed to the actions to accelerate the implementation of SDGs and attainment of agenda 2063. His policy directive for his second term in office is to focus on and emphasise production and results. This shows the country’s commitment to the attainment of Vision 2030.”
The consultations also addressed critical areas such as gender equality, youth inclusion, climate change, disability rights, and fostering partnerships. These discussions pave the way for a comprehensive national review to be presented on the international stage in July.
