On 11 April, the UN Country Team in collaboration with the Government of Zimbabwe hosted  an MDG Dialogue event to mark the countdown to 1000 Days of Action to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The MDG Dialogue was part of the global launch where UN and partners worldwide will countdown the remaining 1000 days until the 2015 target date for achieving the MDGs. The countdown began on 5th April.
 
UNIC Harare mounted an exhibition of publications that  included The Millennium Development Goals Report:  2012 (100 copies), Millennium Development Goals: 2012 Progress Chart (100 copies), ZUNDAF 2012-2015 Snapshot, Tawanda’s Journey, MDGs Reference Guide (wallet-size) and other publications from the United Nations Country Team.

The MDG Dialogue focused on the health MDGs, with particular attention to MDG 5 on maternal health, and on Zimbabwe's perspectives on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Speakers at this event, which was attended by over 100 people included UN Resident Coordinator and UNIC Harare Director, Mr. Alain Noudehou who set the scene in his opening remarks saying that although Zimbabwe has achieved progress in the areas of education, reducing child mortality and combating HIV, it still had a lot of work to do to reduce the high rate of maternal mortality.

Other speakers included UNFPA Representative, Dr Tambashe and World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative Dr. David Okello. The government was represented by Mr. Mhishi, Director in the Ministry of Labour and Social Services, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, Dr. Desire Sibanda.

The event was attended by over 150 people including representatives of the UN, government, donors, civil society and the media. It was well-covered by both print and electronic media.   

The MDG Dialogue was preceded by an advocacy campaign which included inserting a UNCT statement on the 1000 days, tweets and facebook messaging by the different UN agencies in Zimbabwe.

The importance of water, its unique qualities and the need for its conservation came to the fore at a half-day poetry competition held on 26 March in commemoration of World Water Day.

The event, which was held under the theme International Year of Water Cooperation,  saw 24 pupils from 12 schools in Harare articulate their arguments about the importance of water in poetic form, to a panel of adjudicators and officials from UNIC Harare, the Ministry of Water Resources and Development and about 500 school pupils, teachers and invited guests.

The poems highlighted issues of water supply, water pollution, health and water, hygiene, hand washing and personal cleanliness.

Winners walked away with prizes donated by UNILEVER and Faith Wear retail store.
Giving the background to the Day, UNIC Harare’s National information Officer, Ms Tafadzwa Mwale, explained that an international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day.

Chief Hydrologist in the Ministry of Water Resources and Management Mr Manyangadze was the Guest of Honor at the event.

This year’s commemoration was held at Seke 1 High School, situated about 40 kilometers out of Harare.
UNIC provided the World Water Day banner used on the Day. UNIC also distributed the statement of the UN Secretary-General for the Day. The event was organized by UNIC Harare in partnership with Zimbabwe United Nations Association (ZUNA).

 

On 23 February, over 500 children joined UNIC Harare and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in commemorating International Mother Language Day. The children from Children in Performing Arts Workshop (CHIPAWO) Centres in Harare Norton, Domboshava, Chitungwiza and Bindura, performed traditional dance, drama and recited poetry in different local languages thereby demonstrating the cultural diversity and multilingualism existing in Zimbabwe.

The children also made totemic praises to demonstrate the need to master different and rich cultural forms of expressions and to emphasize and enlighten the audience on the importance of totems, their role in promoting identity and to strengthen relations. In addition, Emerald Hill School for the deaf taught some children sign language.

UNIC also mounted an exhibition of UN publications translated into Shona and Ndebele. These included the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Calendar of UN Observances.

Further, UNIC translated the International Mother Language Day message issued by the UNESCO’s Director-General, which was read in Shona at the event.

There are more than 16 languages spoken in Zimbabwe. These include Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa.

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 1999, and adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2009. The Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism and to highlight greater awareness of the importance of mother tongue education.

On Thursday 8 March, UNIC Harare organized for television reporters and cameramen from the national television network, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), to interview girls living in urban areas on the divide between girls living in urban versus rural areas.

The interviews were part of this year’s commemoration of International Women’s Day, whose theme was “Empower Rural Women in Rural Areas – Eradicate Poverty and Hunger”.

Some of the issues raised in the debate were: rural-based girls should be willing to learn new things; feel empowered and have a strong self esteem and should not feel disadvantaged simply because of where they live. It was agreed that these girls should have better access to technology and engage in projects to end rural poverty.

The interview was screened on ZBC, which is the country’s only broadcasting TV station, on Friday 9th March, in a programme called “My Time Teen Talk” on Channel 2.