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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

ZIMBABWE comes under the spotlight this week as the country hosts more than 3 000 delegates from Africa and beyond for the 6th session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (AFRFSD).

The four-day summit, which will focus on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), starts today and will be officially opened by President Mnangagwa tomorrow.

Top officials from the United Nations and African Union arrived in Victoria Falls on Saturday and held a series of side meetings yesterday.

Briefing journalists soon after a closed door meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Ms Vera Songwe yesterday, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul Mavima said Zimbabwe has made huge strides in implementing the 17 SDGs as the country forges ahead with efforts to improve citizens’ standard of living.

He said Zimbabwe is excited to be hosting the summit. “We were meeting to assess the state of preparedness and we are happy about what has been done so far in preparing for this conference. This is a very important meeting which puts Zimbabwe in the spotlight,” said Prof Mavima.

He said the forum will discuss what Zimbabwe and other countries have achieved in terms of implementing SDGs.

Prof Mavima said the country will also present its challenges to the world body with a view to attracting some help. “This meeting is going to talk about where Africa is in terms of implementing SDGs. In Zimbabwe as in Africa, there are a number of issues we should worry about but we have made very huge strides. We however, have to make sure that we are looking at the areas where we are falling short so that we pull our socks and get the necessary assistance in order to meet the targets,” he said.

Prof Mavima said discussions will focus on achievements and areas where countries have fallen short as well as risk areas such as climate change, conflict, poverty, hunger and others.

“Initially 1 500 people were going to attend but now indications are that we could reach about 3 000 and we are very happy about that interest which is not just about the forum and SDGs but also interest in Zimbabwe by the world,” he said.

Ms Vera said the huge turnout for the forum is confirmation of Zimbabwe’s hospitality.

She commended the country for its policies especially on information communication technologies saying this will create sustainable jobs.

“This is one of our major events and we are priviledged to have the Government of Zimbabwe hosting us. The main reason why we are here is to launch the UN Decade of Action from 2020 to 2030,” Ms Vera said.

“We would like to see that no African is left behind as we try to develop and ensure that there is prosperity for all. Prosperity means that we create jobs and develop skills hence we hope our discussions will address these issues.”

The regional forum is an intergovernmental platform convened by UNECA in collaboration with the AU Commission, AfDB and the UN system to review progress, share experiences and lessons learned towards attaining the continent’s Agenda 2063.

It will run under the theme: “2020-2030: A Decade to Deliver a Transformed and Prosperous Africa through the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.” 

Among key topics for discussion will be the 2020 AU theme of year on, “Silencing the Guns” in the context of the “Decade of Action”, the data gateway and the role of youth in realising the two Agendas. — @ncubeleon