via Zim children score major milestones in 2014 | The Herald January 7, 2015 by Richard Nyamanhindi
The year 2014 witnessed incredible milestones for children in Zimbabwe.
At the end of August, through the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2014, the national statistical agency, ZIMSTAT, announced that the number of children that die from preventable causes was now lower than it has ever been in the past 20 years.
Four out of five children are now being immunised from preventable disease – an all-time high.
In the last year, the country was able to reach hundreds of thousands of children with Rotavirus and Human Papilloma Virus vaccinations, deliver clean water to more than four million people and worked towards getting more than half a million out of schoolchildren back into formal education.
The strengthening of the health system that started a couple of years ago resulted in noteworthy improvements in maternal and child health in 2014.
As of December, under-five mortality stood at 75 deaths per 1 000 live births, a decline from a high of 94 deaths per 1 000 live births in previous years.
Similarly, the maternal mortality ratio (although still high) currently stands at 614 deaths per 100 000 live births, a remarkable drop from a high figure of 960 deaths per 100 000 live births a few years ago. Behind these gains are thousands of Zimbabwean children whose lives have been saved and have been given the chance to survive and contribute to Zimbabwe’s future.
In 2014, the number of babies saved from being born with HIV more than tripled. Thanks in large part to political commitment and leadership and advances in science behind the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) and anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment.
During 2014, Zimbabwe committed to protecting unborn babies of HIV-positive women through the launch of Option B+, demonstrating Government’s commitment to the attainment of Millennium Development Goal 6 that seeks to combat HIV and Aids, malaria and other diseases by the end of this year.
A similar story of progress was also recorded in the education sector.
Access to education was maintained at over 96 percent in primary school and 57 percent in secondary school net enrolment rates.
Access and quality were enhanced by maintaining a 1:1 pupil-to-textbook ratio, procurement and distribution of science kits to all secondary schools and the training and effective supervision of teachers. The launch of the School Curriculum Review Process and the introduction of the School Improvement Grants among other programmes further solidified the gains already manifesting in the education sector. The 2014 Grade 7 results of 38 percent, the highest since 2009, was confirmation of the gains to Zimbabwean children.
During 2014, a large-scale water and sanitation programme benefited approximately four million people in both urban and rural areas reducing the incidences of water borne diseases such as cholera, especially among women and children.
The first-ever Child Sensitive Social Policies Conference was held in Harare, launching the first in a series of consultations to engage various stakeholders and marginalised and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe.
The conference interrogated for the first time the effectiveness of interventions which address child poverty and social exclusion in both urban and rural areas.
Zimbabwe also joined the world in celebrating progress made in Children’s Rights since 1989.
The CRC@25 celebrations in November reinforced the importance of safeguarding the rights of children as enshrined in the new Constitution.
The celebrations emphasised the importance of prioritising and accelerating progress for the poorest and most disadvantaged children.
Nonetheless as we continue to celebrate the various attainments for children in the year gone by, we should remember that women and children continue to face barriers to utilisation of services due to user fees, distance, cost of transport and religious beliefs, while violence, geographic and wealth disparities still persist.
Given that more than 70 percent of households live in poverty (24 percent of which live in extreme poverty), focus in 2015 should be on prioritising and addressing these inequities and their social determinants for a better life for children and women of Zimbabwe.
The year 2014 also restated the strong public-private partnerships that exist in Zimbabwe through various funding mechanisms that include the transition funds in health, education, child protection, and water and sanitation, the World Bank’s Results-Based Financing Framework, the Global Fund, and many others.
As a result of these strong partnerships, more than 55 000 poor and labour-constrained households for example benefited from the cash transfer programme, improving the lives of 154 000 children.
Nonetheless as we continue to celebrate the various attainments for children in the year gone by, we should remember that women and children continue to face barriers to utilization of services due to user fees, distance, cost of transport and religious beliefs, while violence, geographic and wealth disparities still persist.
Given that more than 70 percent of households live in poverty (24 percent of which live in extreme poverty), focus in 2015 should be on prioritising and addressing these inequities and their social determinants for a better life for children and women of Zimbabwe.
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