By Joyce Mukucha
The Government of Zimbabwe has commended the unwavering support shown by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for working and supporting the nation’s education and health sectors.
In an interview with journalists in Harare on Thursday, Vice President General Constantino Chiwenga who also serves as the Minister of Health and Child Care said UNICEF plays a crucial role in the health and education sectors of the country since the attainment of independence.
He said the government is tirelessly working to ensure that the mortality rate of Zimbabwean children is reduced.
“UNICEF has been with us since our independence – assisting us in the area of the children primarily funding and assisting us in establishing our village health workers which are key to good health delivery.
“They are also into areas of education and you are aware that we are in the process of bringing the mortality rate of children to less than 12 per every 100 00 born by 2030. That is the ambition we would want to achieve,” he said.
Meanwhile, outgoing UNICEF representative to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Laylee Moshiri who paid a courtesy call to VP Chiwenga to discuss the country’s health and education sector in children, said UNICEF was committed to assisting Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Health and Child Care to ensure that children access good health for them to grow and prosper.
She hailed the government of Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 response team for showing dedication in curtailing the deadly pandemic in the country.
“UNICEF is here to support the government and Ministry of Health in efforts to ensure that all children grow to be healthy, so they can thrive and develop. We see that the pandemic was quite a challenge across the world but the system was able to continue and challenge the pandemic,” she said.
She added that UNICEF’s role is to support the system strengthening in various dimensions towards becoming resilient.
Ambassador Moshiri will leave the country at the end of March.