Zimbabwe CSO’s SDGs Voluntary National Review Spotlight Report

The Government of Zimbabwe will be presenting its second Voluntary National Review (VNR) report at the High-Level Political Forum in July 2021. To review the country’s progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Zim CSOs Reference Group on the Sustainable Development Goals1 put together its observations through the use of the People’s Score Card. The main objectives of the CSOs SDGs Reference group are to:  To provide a platform for CSOs to engage in a coordinated manner in critical dialogue and contribution towards the SDGs implementation.  To influence national policy making with a view to creating an enabling and inclusive environment for SDGs implementation in Zimbabwe.  To promote innovative approaches and initiatives for realizing the SDGs in all the three dimensions: social, economic and environmental. Government involved the Zimbabwe CSOs SDG Reference Group on SDGs and other stakeholders from the initial 2021 VNR Inception meeting through to the Validation meeting of the draft 2021 VNR. Government also requested stakeholder views towards the 2021 VNR through the SDGs coordinating Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Consultant engaged to draft the VNR. As part of its mandate the Reference Group met virtually on 23 February 2021 to discuss the approach for the 2021 HLPF submissions to the government. The meeting agreed to adopt the People’s Scorecard as a tool for evaluating