Lazarus Sauti

Lazarus Sauti IN December 2019, cases of pneumonia were detected in Wuhan, China, and reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the 31 st  of December 2019. These pneumonia-like symptoms caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus were then named Covid-19. As of 8 October 2020, WHO confirmed 36 002 827 Covid-19 global confirmed cases with 1 049 810 people succumbing to the virus. “Out of 36 002 827 Covid-19 global confirmed cases, 1 212 396 were recorded in Africa,” WHO noted, adding that Zimbabwe recorded 7 951 cases with 229 patients succumbing to the virus. To combat the spread of Covid-19, Zimbabwe responded through national lockdown, social distancing, closing its borders, and self-quarantining measures. These measures promulgated in Statutory Instrument (SI) 83 of 2020, SI 93 of 2020, SI 94 of 2020, SI 99 of 2020, and SI 136 of 2020, greatly subdued economic activities in the country. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), the umb...

  Lazarus Sauti EVERY time climate-induced drought wrecks Zimbabwe, the media is saturated with pictures of wilting crops and dry pastures strewn with carcasses of livestock. These pictures confirm that climate change is affecting farmers as they are losing their crops and livestock. Armyworms invasions, pests, and diseases are further compounding the problem for farmers, especially smallholder ones who contribute over two-thirds of the total agricultural output in the country. Unfortunately, they are more vulnerable to climate risks as they do not have the resources to take preventive measures or absorb shocks. “Rainfall variability, harsh weather conditions, and chronic droughts have badly affected most families here in Hwedza,” said Sarah Makoni, a smallholder farmer in Gonese, a village in Hwedza District in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe. She added that most smallholder farmers in her area and other provinces like Manicaland, Masvingo, Mashonaland Central,...

Lazarus Sauti THE insurance and pensions sector plays a critical role in supporting Zimbabwe in the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.” Set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and intended to be achieved by the year 2030, SDGs are part of a UN Resolution called “The 2030 Agenda.” At a virtual launch of the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) and National Social Security Authority (NSSA) co-hosted Insurance and Pensions Journalists Mentorship 2020 Programme , IPEC Commissioner, Grace Muradzikwa said the rationale of insurance and pensions is resilience, meaning it overlaps with the SDGs. She added that the insurance and pensions sector is helping the country in implementing immediate enabling and cross cutting goals comprising SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3, and SDG 4, respectively. “The aim of SDG 1 is to end ...

Lazarus Sauti WIDOWS and older women are largely invisible and unsupported in society, according to the Executive Director at UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. She also said data about them is scarce, meaning their numbers go unmeasured. “Latest figures, which are from 2015, estimate that there are nearly 260 million widows worldwide; the actual number is likely to be much higher and to grow further as Covid-19 and its related effects on health continue to rage around the world,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said. She further revealed that more men than women are dying from Covid-19, a fact supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The United Nations (UN) public health agency noted that men account for nearly77 percent of Covid-19 deaths in Thailand, nearly 70 percent in Italy, and nearly 60 percent in Mexico. “As a result of these losses,” added Mlambo-Ngcuka, “tens of thousands more women could now be newly widowed.” These and other women in the women are much less likely ...

Lazarus Sauti ACCIDENT Prevention and Workers’ Compensation (APWC) Schemes are oldest and most widespread forms of social protection coverage in the world. They provide medical care, vocational rehabilitation, and cash payments to workers who are injured on the job or who develop occupational diseases, said National Social Security Authority (NSSA) Acting Director for Contributions, Collections and Compliance, Agnes Masiiwa. Addressing a virtual Insurance and Pensions Journalism Mentorship Program (JMP) 2020 hosted by the Insurance and Pension Commission (IPEC) and NSSA recently, Masiiwa said APWC schemes are designed to avert accidents at workplaces and to recompense workers who get injured in work-related mishaps or contract work-related diseases. “In Zimbabwe, the APWC scheme, which is governed through the National Social Security Authority ( Accident Prevention and Workers Compensation Scheme ) Notice, 1990 (S.I.68 of 1990), is 100 percent funded by employers,” she said. ...

  Lazarus Sauti HUMAN rights expert, Fortune Sakupwanya said rapid population ageing in Zimbabwe requires an insistent appraisal of social security to protect older people since they are vulnerable to diseases, poverty, and generally excluded from social security schemes. He added that informal family support for older people in the country is declining under the pressure of abject poverty, the impact of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and migration. “Zimbabwe has traditionally focused on establishing social security policies like contributory pension systems to protect people in old age, but this approach has left up more citizens unprotected by any form of pension,” Sakupwanya said. He added that social security – generally defined as a system of contribution-based health, pension, and unemployment protection, along with tax-financed social benefits – is critical to the promotion of human rights. “Social security forms a critical part of comprehensive social protection stra...

  Lazarus Sauti For a decade, Perkins Matara worked for a timber processing company in Msasa in Harare. He was retrenched in 2011 when the company downsized and ultimately closed in October 2015. “After my retrenchment, I ventured into street vending and I am earning a living,” Matara told insure263.co.zw . “I started street vending after realising that I could not get a new job due to the high unemployment rate in the county. I also terminated my medical insurance scheme since I was no longer employed.” For Mavis Godho, a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy holder from a local university, baking and selling buns in the city centre is her way of surviving. “I am a graduate, but I never had a formal job. Remember, unemployment is the new normal in Zimbabwe as the government has failed to stimulate the economy and to foster employment creation,” she said. “My products are not insured, and I don’t have a funeral or medical insurance cover.” The Confederation of Zimbabwe Indu...