UN pledges to help Zim implement SDGS

By The NewsDay | Jun. 16, 2022 | 2 Min read

Speaking in Harare during a joint steering committee meeting on the Zimbabwe Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (ZUNSDCF), UN resident coordinator Edward Kallon also promised to assist Zimbabwe recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BY PRIVELEDGE GUMBODETE THE United Nations (UN) yesterday has pledged to provide human, technical and financial resources to enable Zimbabwe achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

“Let me take this opportunity to reassure the government that as the UN, we collectively remain committed to achieving the aspirations of the cooperation framework through the deployment of human, technical and financial resources in the most effective and efficient manner towards delivering on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the transformative recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kallon said.

The ZUNSDCF, running from this year until 2026, is the strategic instrument for planning and implementation of UN-supported development programmes and projects in the country.

ZUNSDCF replaces the Zimbabwe UN Development Assistance Framework which ended last year and facilitated the delivery of development projects and programmes worth US$523 million.

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Misheck Sibanda who also spoke at the event said: “All having been said and done, to achieve the 17 SDGs requires significant scaling up of SDG-aligned investment, and more than what government alone can provide, and thus for broader collaboration with development partners and the private sector, alongside the public sector.

“The partnership with the UN and development partners and the private sector, therefore, is vital in steering cooperation towards accelerated SDG delivery as well as our national economic growth and development.”

Different development partners who took part at the meeting agreed to prioritise socio-economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, climate action and resilience building and programmes focusing on youth, women, persons with disability, indigenous populations, key populations and migrants.