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How poor service delivery in Zimbabwe hampers the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Roberta T. Muropa
June 14, 2006

When I observe the environment that surrounds me, the concept of basic and quality service delivery has become a thing of the past, especially in the main city centers, residential areas and towns in Zimbabwe. The primary earners are trying to make ends meet, by providing food on the table for their families, and at the same time, being good citizens by paying their monthly rates, electricity and water charges, with the hope that they will receive good social services, through maintaining roads (fixing potholes), street lights and collecting garbage by the city councils. However, the city fathers have not been honoring this duty, leaving many families to deal with the garbage disposal which has some health and environmental implications. I tend to ask myself if whether Zimbabwe is reversing its progress towards achieving the Millenium Development Goals (HIV & AIDS , Malaria and the management of the environment).

It is a fact that at the present moment, the country is facing harsh economic and social challenges that has seen the level of poverty rising but at the end of the day, women are the ones who have to face the brunt of ensuring that the family is protected from any health and environmental hazards. The poor service delivery in Zimbabwe is not something to write home about. Women, being the home providers , are the ones who will have to find ways to disposes the garbage, thus compromising their health and that of their children, as well as the surrounding environment ,by burning the waste (air pollution) and land pollution. This reverses the gains that had been made by the government in protecting the environment as stipulated in Goal number 7.

It should be taken into account of the fact that women are the majority who are providing home based care for people living with HIV & AIDS who have become terminally ill and they would need a good environment as part of their rehabilitation process. The city council’s failure to perform its duties in providing good service delivery compromises peoples health, increasing the chances for people living with HIV & AIDS contracting many diseases. In some cases, (where access to clean and safe water is a human right),when water is not accessible in some parts of the city, it becomes a crisis. In the long run, if the city council fails to provide these services as it’s supposed to be its responsibility , private companies would take over the responsibility of the city council and provide such services at high rates which most people would not be able to afford. To me, that would also become a big crisis, as the first phase of the privatization of state enterprises would have to be implemented, as private companies ‘s sole aim is to make profits and not concentrate on people’s welfare. It’s only a matter of time , when the privatization of public services has already taken its toll, where ,for example, Lesotho, has almost done so in all public sectors ( health, tourism, transport, communications, etc).What this would mean is that , by 2015,Zimbabwe would have reversed its gains in achieving the main MDGs , hence reversing the process of achieving sustainable development.

The concept of privatization of state enterprises is part of the agenda for global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund(IMF), World Bank(WB) and the World Trade Organization(WTO),though implemented through transnational companies which would bring more harm than good , leading to the violation of people’s rights. The articles that come out in the daily press the previous weeks on how health service were to be privatized , and the government had to come up with a press statement noting that they will not let the public health services be privatized. This just shows how the state is failing to provide the basic health services , which would lead to a situation where the rich would only afford to get the best health services at the private owned health institutions whilst the poor would be unable to get the health services leaving them into deep poverty. If health services are commercialized and are controlled by private companies, this would mean that the general public will not have access to basic health services and the main victims are women and children thus reversing Goal 6, of combating HIV& AIDS, Malaria and other diseases. The question that does come into my mind is whether the civil society is being vigilant of the latest social developments taking place, for, if the society lets eh public social services go into the hands of private transnational companies, people’s lives will be at stake, and some of our services have been already under the control of private transnational companies, especially in the tourism, banking, telecommunication services, media among others. In the tourism sector, for example, the indigenous communities would be displaced from their environment, as private companies are in pursuit of profits, at the cots of people’s livelihoods.

I could go on and on, describing the effects of letting transnational companies take control of basic social services, which should be the responsibility of the state, and how this would affect women who are the main providers of their families. The point I am trying to drive home is that it’s high time the city could rectify the situation of poor service delivery, before many people become ill and more vulnerable to many diseases, thus reversing the gains that had been made to ensure that people have access to basic and quality health and are living in a clean environment. In that manner, poverty can be reduced and the society tends to live in a healthy environment. It’s a call for everyone to ensure that women, the main home providers, are able to live in a clean and healthy environment, which would ensure good health for their families. However such a call needs concerted effort from the civil society, government and the private sector. Who says such a task in impossible? I think not! What this calls for is joint co-operation among various stakeholders, political will, and indeed, at the end of the day, poverty can be made history, not only in Zimbabwe but in the African region and globally.

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