Story by Memory Chamisa
THE United Nations (UN)-Zimbabwe Joint Steering Committee on Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework met in Harare this Wednesday to chart a strategic course in advancing sustainable development goals in the country.
Now in its fourth year of implementation, the Zimbabwe United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (ZUNSDCF), serves as a critical mechanism for providing strategic direction and policy oversight to the institutional arrangement to drive efforts towards sustainable development in Zimbabwe.
United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon, reiterated the importance of aligning strategic priorities for 2025 in light of the current shifts being experienced globally.
“To accelerate progress towards our overarching 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we must continue to build on the whole-of-government and whole society thinking and implementation approach of the Government of Zimbabwe. Academic scholarship on SDGs has identified six transformative entry points that can have catalytic and multiplier effects across the SDGs, food systems, energy access and affordability, digital connectivity, quality education, jobs and social protection, and, climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution,” he said.
“These transitions are not a new agenda but rather an organising framework that can spotlight investment pathways to accelerate SDG progress within and across countries.
“Each of these key transitions requires consideration of multiple policy levers across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development. The transitions require effective means of implementation, strengthened governance through transformed policy and regulatory frameworks, enhanced national public sector capabilities, and transformative financing.”
Representing the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Martin Rushwaya, the Deputy Chief Secretary, Reverend Paul Damasane stressed the importance of development partners in strengthening government efforts in allocating resources efficiently.
“ZUNSDCF represents a strong partnership between the government of Zimbabwe and the United Nations, underpinned by the shared commitment to sustainable and inclusive development.
“It is a guiding framework that ensures the UN’s programmatic presence remains geared at supporting the targets and national priorities as outlined in National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), and ultimately our aspirations as outlined in Vision 2030.
“Through this framework, we reinforce our dedication to achieving the ambitious status of an empowered and prosperous upper middle-income economy by 2030 or earlier and leapfrog to another development epoch, which is the post-2030 agenda. The success of the ZUNSDCF depends on the strength of collaboration and joint programming, insisting that the government alone can not achieve sustainable development; neither can the UN system operate in isolation. He said.
“We programmatically need each other. It is through strong and strategic partnerships involving the Government of Zimbabwe, the UN team, other development partners, the private sector, and civil society that we can effectively attend to multidimensional challenges, emerging issues, and future opportunities, while at the same time consolidating the gains of all our previous efforts. This meeting essentially presents an opportunity to strengthen synergies and symbiotic relationships and share lessons learned to ensure that we collectively deliver tangible and impactful results to the people of Zimbabwe,” Reverend Damasane said.
Zimbabwe, like many other countries, has been facing quite a number of adversities both on the economic and social front, with government ensuring citizens are cushioned through implementation of various measures and policies that sustain economic growth.
The ZUNSDCF is tasked with four thematic areas that include, people, with focus on vulnerable populations, access to quality education, and gender disparities.
Planet, which is on promoting sustainable management of natural resources and climate-change resilience. Prosperity, which looks at fostering inclusive sustainable economic growth and supports government efforts to stabilise the economy and manage public debt Peace, which enhances accountable institutions, rule of law, and human rights.
