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Zimbabwe Sustainability Watch Network hosting the Budget Monitoring Training Workshop
ZERO Regional Environment Organisation
May 29, 2006

ZERO Regional Environment Organisation, the National Focal Point and coordinator of the Sustainability Watch (SusWatch) Project in Zimbabwe, together with MS-Zimbabwe, will this week (Tuesday 30th to Wednesday 31st May 2006), convene a two-day Budget Monitoring Training Workshop at the UNICEF Offices, No 6 Fairbridge Avenue, Belgravia, Harare.

Why this Workshop?
The workshop is aimed at capacitating participants to review, analyse and monitor national budget processes and implementation so that they can participate actively in its formulation, implementation as well as monitoring to make sure that they are pro-poor and that corrective measures are taken in time when deviations occur.

It seeks to raise awareness of media and Civil Society Organisations on the MDGs, and local processes as the country prepares to take further the MDG agenda to the grassroots. This is vital to enhance Sustainable Development and related initiatives.

Most importantly, the workshop will facilitate cementing of relationships between CSOs, media and the Government of Zimbabwe through the various ministries invited, as long-term partnerships between government, labour, business, farmers bureaucrats, politicians, civil society and the media are the key to meaningful development. Or as President Mugabe says in the foreword to the National MDG Report: "This first Zimbabwe Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report seeks to re-affirm our commitment to social development and poverty reduction so that no man, woman or child in our country will be subjected to abject or dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty."

The workshop is open to all SusWatch Network members, CSOs, youth, the private sector, UN agencies, Government as well as the media.

Why Monitor Budgets?
Government expenditure hinges on the National Budget, which is often complemented by a Supplementary Budget when ministries exceed their budgetary allocations.

How much a Government spends on the construction of roads, clinics, schools depends on the resources allocated to the various ministries. Zimbabwe’s revenues mainly come from taxation, which accounts for nearly 95% of total revenue.

The tax base is made up of Value Added Tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, presumptive tax, withholding tax, customs and excise duties, etc. These taxes will from a significant part of the financing required for attaining the 2015 MDG targets, which include:

• Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger;
• Achieving universal primary education;
• Promote gender and empowering women;
• Reducing child mortality;
• Improving maternal health;
• Combating HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
• Ensuring environmental sustainability; and
• Developing a global partnership for development.

Zimbabwe is currently ineligible to borrow from the Bretton Woods institutions. Nevertheless, the Government is committed to meeting the MDGs, first and foremost, from its own resources. "However, should international relations improve, external inflow of resources (grants and external borrowing) will go a long way to soften pressures on domestic resources," notes the National MDG Report.

Resource scarcity alone justifies monitoring of expenditure on a regular basis, preferably at quarterly intervals. Budgets should also be monitored in the interests of accountability, transparency and minimising corruption. For example, if a clinic that was budgeted at $10 billion suddenly shoots up to $100 billion, the obvious question would be: Was this due to inflation or deliberately inflated prices?

In monitoring MDGs implementation and Sustainable Development efforts in Zimbabwe the Sustainability Watch Civil Society Network intends to participate in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of the National Budget to ensure that it is not only "pro-poor" but achieves the Government’s stated objectives.

The Global Sustainability Watch Network (SusWatch) is a global civil society coalition which covers 18 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Zimbabwe is one of the three participating countries in Southern Africa. The others are Mozambique and South Africa. Currently, SusWatch Zimbabwe boasts a membership of about 35 organisations active in diverse fields such as environment, human rights, development, poverty eradication, HIV/AIDS, gender, water and sanitation, and energy. Government ministries and UN agencies also participate actively in SusWatch programmes. Membership is also open to the media and private sector.

SusWatch was born out of:

• The weak agreements at WSSD and the disappointing results of the 11th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in 2003 which failed to produce measurable instruments to oversee compliance with the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPI)
• Perceived hesitation by governments to ensure proper monitoring for compliance to WSSD commitments.

The underlying rationale of this initiative is to reinforce the Johannesburg Plan of Action by applying the MDG approach in monitoring the implementation of the WSSD targets/indicators.

The main focus is on Goal 7 (environmental sustainability) and its linkages to Goal 1 (poverty reduction) and Goal 8 (governance, trade, aid).

Visit the ZERO Regional Environment Organisation fact sheet

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