MORE than a quarter of a century into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world remains off-track to meet its most fundamental promise: ending poverty and leaving no one behind.
While economic growth has lifted millions out of destitution, it has also proven brittle, bypassing the most vulnerable — the people with disabilities, the elderly, the unemployed and those in informal work — who are often the first to be crushed by economic shocks, climate disasters, or pandemics. It is here that social protection emerges not as a charitable expense, but as a structural
From a macro-economic standpoint, social protection is not a welfare cost or charitable transfer. It is a productive investment in human capital, aggregate demand stabilisation and long-term growth.
Dzviti (nee Mapungwana) is a development economist, women economic empowerment and business analyst. These weekly New Horizon articles, published in the Zimbabwe Independent, are coordinated by Lovemore Kadenge, an independent consultant, managing consultant of Zawale Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, past president of the Zimbabwe Economics Society and past president of the Chartered Governance & Accountancy Institute in Zimbabwe. — [email protected] or mobile: +263 772 382 852.
