Call for collaboration to address social and economic challenges of families

Harare (New Ziana) – The government is committed to protecting and developing the family unit, a cabinet minister has said.

Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni said this in a speech to mark International Day of Families.

She said any development plans and interventions should be formulated with the needs of families in mind.

“Given the critical role that viable family units play in the sustainable development of communities, peoples and nations, it therefore stands to reason that any development plan and intervention keeps at its core the needs of the family unit,” she said.

The impact that any development program was expected to have depended on the extent to which it positively influenced the lived experiences of the family unit and its members, she explained.

“Development cannot be said to be holistically successful if it does not take into cognisance the social costs and gains that it can have on the family unit,” she said.

Nyoni encouraged stakeholders to devise responses that were tailored to demographic conditions in order to resolve social and economic hardships that families experienced in both rural and urban areas of the country.

“Families across the rural and urban divide in the country are facing a number of social and economic challenges that can be traced back to family fabric disintegration and poverty. Child prostitution, early marriages, drug abuse and domestic violence are now rampant. This results in challenges that need to be tackled head on by all stakeholders who need to make their interventions adaptive to the demographic realities on the ground.” she said.

“The key constituencies that my Ministry is mandated to look over which include women, communities, SMES and Cooperatives are not spared the reality of the impact of ever-changing demographic trends on their daily existence and economic activities.”

She said her Ministry was committed to ensuring that programs developed for its key clients took into consideration the welfare, promotion and protection of the family unit in line with real demographic influences.

“This will be critical in sustaining the family unit through positive development interventions, thereby ensuring that the core of the nation remains strong over time,” she said.

Nyoni highlighted that this year International Family Day would be held on the 19th of May in Ward 14, Gwanda district in Matabeleland South province which would herald the holding of provincial, district and ward celebrations across the country.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 15 May as the International Day of Families on 20 September 1993, and it has been celebrated every year since 1994.

New Ziana