Nation defies Covid-19 headwinds in SDG push
DESPITE Covid-19, Zimbabwe has overcome the problems in pursuance of its plan towards the attainment of population management commitments and sustainable development goals, with the “whole of Government and whole of society” approach playing a crucial role, Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Constantino Chiwenga said yesterday.
Giving a presentation at the 19th edition of the International Inter-Ministerial Conference on Population and Development, which is taking place on the sidelines of the International Conference on Family Planning, VP Chiwenga took the occasion to tabulate the milestones that Zimbabwe has registered in population management efforts as well as family planning.
Among the milestones, VP Chiwenga highlighted the continuous funding for population management and family planning programmes, the improvement in the uptake of modern contraceptive methods and the resultant reduction in maternal deaths and maternal morbidities.
These milestones have largely been a result of President Mnangagwa’s thrust to mobilise local resources and channel them for local development as espoused by his “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/ Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo” approach as well as collaborative efforts from international partners.
Zimbabwe’s success comes in the wake of targets set by the population and development conference in Nairobi in 2019, after which Zimbabwe went on to set up a National Taskforce for Population and Development to accelerate the attainment of set goals.
The Inter-Ministerial Conference on Population and Development in Nairobi committed itself to making bold steps to transform the world by ending all maternal deaths, to meet all unmet needs for family planning, and end gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls by 2030.
“In recognition of the commitments which were made during the Nairobi Summit, held in 2019, the Government of Zimbabwe set up a National Taskforce for Population and Development which is a key tool for implementing the commitments,” said VP Chiwenga.