UN assessment report outlines development challenges, opportunities in Zimbabwe

The UN has recently published the Common Country Assessment (CCA) report which was commissioned to determine the scope of development cooperation with the Government of Zimbabwe for the next five years – 2022 to 2026.

The assessment report pointed out that recurrent humanitarian crises continue to impede Zimbabwe’s progress towards the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. The CCA findings also noted that Zimbabwe made remarkable progress in the first decade of independence with quantum improvements in social wellbeing, while registering a decline in some socio-economic indicators, largely due to prolonged periods of economic recession, political challenges, and recurrent climate-induced humanitarian crises.

“The CCA provides an analytical snapshot of the dynamics of development in the country to inform the programmatic priorities for the UN in Zimbabwe in support of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and the National Development Strategy 2021-2025,” said Ms. Maria Ribeiro, UN Resident Coordinator.

The CCA covered five Ps of sustainable development, namely: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships. The CCA makes recommendations to inform development strategies:

“The pathway to the goal of transformative change embodied in several key policy instruments of the Government of Zimbabwe such as Vision 2030 and the NDS1 requires an increased and intensive focus on socio-economic and political empowerment. Socio-economic and political empowerment in turn, requires the strengthening of human capabilities and the generation of sustainable economic opportunities, while harnessing innovation to accelerate attainment of the SDGs,” the document reads.

In order to build long-term resilience among the most vulnerable populations and avoid pushing them further behind, the CCA recommends that there should be a focus on strengthening systems and catalysing collaborative and transformative partnerships, not only with the Government but also with critical players including development partners, local authorities, the private sector, civil society, and communities.

To enable economic transformation, equitable and inclusive growth, the CCA points as priority the need for collaboration in strengthening Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), deepening value chains and reinforcing the nexus between employment and economic growth while catalysing investments in infrastructure and green investments is fundamental to sustained economic growth and poverty reduction.

This would involve supporting the country’s plans in areas of agriculture, value addition and beneficiation of key value chains and linkages and improving the mining fiscal framework, among other actions.

In terms of governance, the CCA notes that working with the Government and all partners to strengthen the capacity of key governance institutions to promote dialogue and citizen participation, fight corruption, and deliver equitable justice and public services will be vital to anchor foundations for transformative and sustainable development.

Read the CCA Report