3 June 2021, Harare –Today the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement and the United Nations in Zimbabwe jointly launched national and provincial dialogues on food systems. Launching the national food systems dialogues, Honourable Dr. A J Masuka, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement underlined that the UN Food Systems dialogues were adopted to enable systematic and inclusive opportunities for stakeholders to be engaged in food systems. Noting the Government of Zimbabwe’s focus on transforming production and food systems was in sync with the objectives of the UN Food Systems Summit taking place in New York in September 2021, Dr Masuka said, “The Summit depends on the engagement of citizens all over the world, through a ‘three-stage’ dialogue process.” The three stage process are: identification of issues affecting food systems and existing national plans for sustainable food systems; identify promising approaches from engagements at sub national level that contribute to the development of national pathways especially in the face of devolution; and national authorities and stakeholder leaders to exchange views about the pathways and commitments of different actors towards sustainable national food systems by 2030. The launch which brought together over 130 delegates from Government, UN, Civil Society, Private Sector and Communities underlined that sustainable food systems remain critical to the achievement of all the SDGs and are directly related to health and well-being, and environmental sustainability. Noting that Zimbabwe has joined 116 UN Member States that have committed to convene such dialogues ahead of the global UN Food Systems Summit later in the year, Ms. Maria Ribeiro, UN Resident Coordinator for Zimbabwe said, “the Food Systems Summit is central to the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by shaping the future direction and action for food systems.” The UN Secretary General, in September 2021, will convene a High-Level Food Systems Summit at the General Assembly in New York. Food systems encompass the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry or fisheries, and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded. The objective of the UN global Food Systems Summit is to come up with solutions to transform food production, consumption, and the ecosystem to “build forward better” from COVID-19 and achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Summit aims to deliver the following four outcomes: generate significant action and measurable progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. raise awareness and elevate public discussion about how reforming food systems can benefit people and the environment. develop principles to guide governments and other stakeholders looking to leverage their food systems to support the SDGs. leave a system in place to ensure that the Summit’s outcomes continue to drive new actions and progress. The national and planned subsequent provincial dialogues, as well as other dialogues that are being organized by Non-Governmental Organizations, including youth groups are expected to deliver perspectives to transform food systems in Zimbabwe.  The United Nations in Zimbabwe in its new five-year UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2022-2026) in support of national development priorities has adopted environmental protection, climate resilience and natural resource management as one of the four key strategic priority areas. The UN agencies in Zimbabwe have been supporting national efforts towards reaching the most vulnerable who live in fragile environments across the country and progressively building community resilience and livelihoods. Following the launch of the national food systems dialogue today, a series of localized dialogues will be convened in all Zimbabwe’s provinces in the coming weeks. Media Contacts : Barbra Machekano | Communications Officer | Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement | Email: barbsmute@gmail.com | Mobile: +263-773-847213 Kevin Mazorodze| Communications Specialist | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) | Email: Kevin.Mazorodze@fao.org | Mobile: +263-718-529889 Sirak Gebrehiwot | Communications Specialist | United Nations Zimbabwe Resident Coordinator’s Office | Email: Sirak.gebrehiwot@one.un.org | Mobile: +263-772-198036

The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a dim light on the progress made in achieving gender equality by 2030 in Zimbabwe as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A little over one year since the pandemic struck, a myriad of studies and surveys have reported  exacerbation of gender inequalities as women and girls continue to bear the brunt of unpaid labour, while being disproportionately at risk of violence compared to their male counterparts.  The pandemic is indeed not only a health crisis but also a social one. The COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken to curb the spread of the disease, such as national lockdowns have resulted in what is now dubbed “The Shadow Pandemic” as emerging data and reports from those on the front lines, have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified.[1] Teenage pregnancies are also on the rise as a result of the lockdowns. The world has come to understand that violence against women and girls is one of the most pervasive violations of human rights. Such a recognition illustrates that gender-based violence is not as a result of women and girls’ innate vulnerability, but a deeply-rooted structural discrimination against women and girls that perpetuates gender inequality. Gender inequality lies at the very root of gender-based violence, and unless the issue is addressed, a future where women and girls live free from violence and discrimination is futile. Thus, while the COVID-19 pandemic continues and efforts to curb its spread intensify, now is the time to equally buckle up and work hard to achieve gender equality in spite of the challenges the pandemic has revealed. This is a matter of urgency as women are at the forefront of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic as healthcare and frontline workers both at institutional level and at home. The Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls is so critical now more than ever in the fight against gender-based violence in Zimbabwe. The European Union (EU) has committed USD21m for phase 1 of implementation of the Spotlight Initiative and is leading the fight for gender equality from the front.  The Spotlight Initiative takes the EU political commitments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and particularly SDG 5, to the next level. With the generous funding of the EU, the four-year Spotlight Initiative programme aims to: Ensure that Zimbabwe adopts and implements legislation that strengthens the Constitutional provisions on gender equality, which leads to effective prevention and response to all forms of GBV and strengthens institutions to be more gender-responsive in their overall mandates, Design programmes that advance prevention of violence, Provide essential services to survivors, and Foster a strong social movement against violence and harmful practices at the national and sub-national levels. Achieving gender equality and ending violence against women and girls can only be realized through a whole-society approach. For Zimbabwe to protect and ensure the rights of women and reap the benefit from engaging more than half of the population to recover better from COVID-19, a deliberate policy and strategic focus should include: First, ensuring equal access to education. Gender inequality in education leads to higher fertility, higher child mortality, higher malnutrition, and lower education investments with the effects often being quite large. Policies designed to boost enrolment would particularly help poor women and thus contributing to poverty reduction in income and non-income dimensions. In addition, the educational attainment and future financial status of children is much likely to reflect those of the mother than those of the father. Considering that human capital is the most important prerequisite for growth, education and enhanced economic status for women are critical to meeting long-term development objectives. Second, women must be drawn into the economic mainstream. The consequence of decline in women’s relative or absolute economic status has both an ethical and long-term economic implication. Any process of growth that fails to improve the welfare of the people experiencing the greatest hardship, broadly recognized to be women, has failed to accomplish one of the principal goals of development. In the long run, the low status of women would translate into slow economic growth. Third, regulating and legalizing informal-sector employment where the majority of the female labour force (about 90 % according to some estimates) is employed would improve the economic status of women through facilitating access to credit and other services. Fourth, increased participation of women in governance and political decision making at all levels. Women’s empowerment either through affirmative action or other avenues is associated with improved governance and reduced corruption. Gender equality is a critical economic issue for Zimbabwe, directly linked to growth and poverty reduction outcomes, and not a marginal social or women’s issue concerned with equity, and thus should be prioritized as a matter of urgency for the country to progress. The Spotlight Initiative, led by the UN Resident Coordinator, is being implemented by six UN Agencies (UN Women, ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA and UNICEF) in partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe, Parliament, Independent Commissions, Civil Society, Academic Institutions, the Private Sector, and the Media and directly and indirectly targets 11 million beneficiaries, particularly rural women and girls, women and girls with disabilities and those living with HIV.   [1] “The Shadow Pandemic: Violence against women during COVID-19”: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/in-focus-gender-equality-in-covid-19-response/violence-against-women-during-covid-19

Today at a high-level consultative virtual meeting, the Government of Zimbabwe and the UN Country Team determined four strategic priority areas for the new 2022-2026 Zimbabwe-UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. The meeting brought together Senior Government Officials and Heads of UN Entities and was  convened jointly by the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr. M J M Sibanda and UN Resident Coordinator, Ms. Maria Ribeiro.  Noting the Government of Zimbabwe’s long-standing partnership with the United Nations, Dr. Sibanda said, “the UN Cooperation Framework strategic priority areas are aligned to the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) 2021-2025 with corresponding outcomes to contribute to the transformative agenda of the Government by refocusing the UN’s convening power and resource mobilization capabilities towards sustainable development.” The four strategic priority areas agreed are: People-centered, equitable, human development and well-being. Environmental protection, climate resilience and natural resource management; Economic transformation, equitable and inclusive growth; and Transformative, accountable, equitable and inclusive governance. The UN Cooperation Framework, central to the success of the UN Development System reform that the UN Secretary-General embarked on three years ago, will complement national priority areas, support the country to recover better from COVID-19 pandemic and contribute towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Noting the Cooperation Framework adopts a human rights-based approach with gender equality, accountability and sustainability as the bedrock for sustainable human development, UN Resident Coordinator Ms. Maria Ribeiro said, “the UN Country Team with its partners will support Zimbabwe to ‘build forward better’ from the COVID-19 pandemic and address multidimensional causes of poverty, inequalities, and reduce vulnerabilities.” The high-level consultation meeting also discussed how to strengthen partnerships between the Government of Zimbabwe and the UN Team in the areas of development coordination, results reporting, resource leveraging, communications and advocacy as well as monitoring and evaluation for evidence- based decision making. END Media Contact: Anderson Chiraya, Office of the President and Cabinet, e-mail: chiraya.anderson@gmail.com, Mobile +263 712 323 859 Sirak Gebrehiwot, UN Communications Specialist, e-mail: sirak.gebrehiwot@one.un.org, Mobile +263 772 198 036

In January 2020, the United Nations launched the global consultation to mark its 75th anniversary. Through surveys and dialogues, it asked people about their hopes and fears for the future – representing the UN’s most ambitious effort to date to understand expectations of international cooperation and of the UN in particular.  It is also the largest survey to date on priorities for recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 21 September 2020, over a million people from all countries and all walks of life had taken part. Their answers provide unique insights into what the public wants at this challenging time for the world. They are released today to coincide with the UN General Assembly’s official commemoration of the 75th anniversary, held under the banner: the future we want, the UN we need. Key findings include: Priorities for action Across regions, ages and social groups, respondents were broadly united in their priorities for the future.
  Amid the current COVID-19 crisis, the immediate priority for most respondents is improved access to basic services – healthcare, safe water, sanitation and education, followed by greater international solidarity and increased support to those hardest hit. This includes tackling inequalities and rebuilding a more inclusive economy.
  Looking to the future, the overwhelming concerns are the climate crisis and the destruction of our natural environment. Other priorities include: ensuring greater respect for human rights, settling conflicts, tackling poverty and reducing corruption.
  Perceptions of the UN Over 87% of respondents believe global cooperation is vital to deal with today’s challenges, and that the pandemic has made international cooperation more urgent. Seventy-five years after its founding, six in 10 respondents believe the UN has made the world a better place. Looking to the future, 74% see the UN as “essential” in tackling the challenges.
  However, respondents want the UN to change and innovate: to be more inclusive of the diversity of actors in the 21st century, and to become more transparent, accountable and effective. “Across this anniversary year, we have engaged in a global conversation. And the results are striking. People are thinking big – they are also expressing an intense yearning for international cooperation and global solidarity. Now is the time to respond to these aspirations and realize these aims. In this 75th anniversary year, we face our own 1945 moment. We must meet that moment. We must show unity like never before to overcome today’s emergency, get the world moving and working and prospering again, and uphold the vision of the Charter.” - United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres Full report and press kit: https://www.un.org/un75/presskit
Join the conversation: www.un75.online Background In January 2020, the UN Secretary-General launched the UN75 initiative, not as a celebration, but as the world's largest conversation about current global challenges, and the gap between the future we want and where we are headed if current trends continue. 
  The Secretary-General saw UN75 as an opportunity for the UN to listen to the people it serves and identify their priorities and suggestions for enhanced global cooperation. UN75 was initiated to better understand people’s hopes and fears for the future, inviting people everywhere to imagine the future they want and contribute ideas on how to make it a reality, building a better and more sustainable world, for all.
  Through formal and informal surveys, and dialogues held across the world, the exercise was intended to take stock of global concerns and gain views from across the world on what sort of global cooperation is required. It was also intended to re-imagine what role the United Nations might play in helping to address our global challenges.
  After the pandemic made in-person gatherings challenging in many parts of the world, the initiative increased its efforts to reach people online, expanding the one-minute survey and social media outreach to shift the dialogues to online settings, where possible. At the same time, it put more emphasis - and resources - on reaching those without internet access: working with UN offices and other partners on the ground, and through telephone and SMS communications. 
  By adding questions on building back better from the pandemic, it was able to conduct the largest and most diverse global survey to date on post-COVID priorities. 
  To date, over 1 million people have taken the one-minute survey in all UN Member and Observer States and more than 1,000 dialogues have been held in 82 countries across the world. In addition, 50,000 in 50 countries took part in independent polling by Edelman and the Pew Research Center, and artificial intelligence analysis of social and traditional media was conducted in 70 countries, along with academic and policy research mappings in all regions. Together, they represent the UN's most ambitious attempt to undertake a global reality check and hear from “we the peoples” on their priorities and suggested solutions to global challenges, providing unique insights into the future we want and the UN we need. For further information and/or to request an interview, please contact Lisa Laskaridis (lisa.laskaridis@un.org)