Correlation between exclusionary policies, social and economic crisis and drug abuse

THE future of any nation is preserved by the youth and younger generations.

The youths are the leaders of tomorrow, thus their behaviour must always be under check to ensure that the future of the country is not compromised.

While there is a need to keep a check on the youth, the government has the primary responsibility of ensuring that a conducive environment for youths to flourish and jobs is created.

A condition and atmosphere which is completely absent in Zimbabwe due to exclusive policies, weak government, weak social safety nets, corruption, economies of affection, impunity and poor public finance management.

At the same time, the socio-economic challenges have not spared the youth.

Zimbabwe has a youth unemployment rate of more than 86%.

The majority of the youths survive on vending and child labor is rife.

Most younger people opt to leave in search of greener pastures as they can no longer bear the social and economic challenges.

Nurse aid and cruise ship jobs have become havens for a few Zimbabwean youths.

Nevertheless, majority of the youth have resorted to drugs because of depression due to socio-economic challenges.

According to the Zimbabwe National Drug MasterPlan (2021-2025), many youths see drugs as a sanctuary to the social and economic challenges they are encountering.

The Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan states that alcohol and drug abuse have undermined human capital development and they account for over 70% of mental health problems in the country.

At the same time, the World Health Organisation`s report titled Mental Health Among Young People in African Region states that Zimbabwe has the highest number of 15 to 19-year-olds in Africa who engage in heavy “episodic drinking”, at 70.7% among males and 55.5% among females.

Some of the life-destroying and even lethal drugs stated in the report include mbanje (marijuana), crystal methamphetamine (also known as, “mutoriro”, “dombo”, or “guka”), also ganja cakes, BronCleer cough syrup (bronco), and illicit alcohol popularly called “musombodhiya”.

To this end, it is critical for the government to note that there is a positive correlation between exclusionary policies, social and economic challenges and drug abuse.

Thus, if Zimbabwe is to attain vision 2030 and a prosperous upper-middle class economy measures to redress social and economic challenges must be put in place. Inclusive policies, job creation and drug curbing must be at the core of government’s projects.

This is the only way the future of Zimbabwe can be secured against drug abuse which undermines human capital development

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe is engulfed with a gloomy humanitarian context at a time the government pretends to present an effective national resilience front.

Recently while in Dakar at the Feed Africa Summit, President Emmerson Mnangagwa asserted that Zimbabwe was food secure.

A statement that does not capture the reality on the ground as approximately 3.8 million people from the rural areas and 1.6 million from urban area face food insecurity.

According to the 2022 Zimvac Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report, approximately 38% of rural households are food insecure, a number that is greatly disputable if one is to considered that more than half of the entire country is in extreme poverty.

Matabeleland North has the highest food insecurity with 58% households in need of food support.

Some of the areas with the most insecure households are Hwange which had 73%, Binga 71% and Buhera 75%.

Moreover, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), “an estimated three million Zimbabweans, including two million children, are estimated to require urgent humanitarian assistance across the country this year” a clear reflection of the socio-economic challenges confronting the nation.

The 2022 ZimVAC Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report says 88. 7.9 million Zimbabweans are in extreme poverty

In addition, youth unemployment was pegged at 77.4% with 53.8% of the youth entangled in drug abuse.

A situation that has been worsened by the fact that government only targets to support 1.5 million children on Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) against a 4.2 million demand.

The status of national resilience remains a major drawback in terms of attaining vision 2030 and national human capital development which is a prerequisite for national growth and development.

Human capital development is further undermined by child poverty which has increased tremendously in Zimbabwe.

Approximately, 1/3 women aged 20-24 years married before the age 18; 35% of children between the age of 5-17 are experiencing child labour, while 13% are working under hazardous conditions and over 51% of children are not registered at birth.

The plight and agony of children in Zimbabwe worsened by a dysfunctional social protection system which has failed to account for the welfare of children.

As a result, approximately 3.5 million children are chronically hungry, about 60% of rural girls and women encounter period poverty thus they lack access to menstrual supplies and education and lastly it is believed that girls who experience poverty miss 20% of their school life.

The situation is further aggravated by the fact that 68% of pre-primary school aged children (3-5 years) and 47% adolescents (13-18 years) are not in school and approximately 4.5 million children experienced loss of learning due to Covid by early 2021.

Child marriage rates remain high at 21.2% for adolescent girls aged 15-18 driven by poverty and social norms.

Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development