Participation of rural folk in economic issues to increase Mr Masoka
Mr Masoka

Mr Masoka

Reason Razao Herald Reporter
Government will continue reviewing its strategies periodically to increase the participation of rural communities in economic activities, an official has said. Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare permanent secretary Mr Ngoni Masoka, yesterday said rural communities were characterised by limited economic opportunities hence the need for Government to assist them.

He made the remarks at a forum organised to discuss ways of bringing decent work to rural communities.

“We seek to increase participation of rural communities by introducing Community Trust, Youth Skills Development by engaging all stakeholders including ILO. The promotion of social dialogue is being done through an inclusive approach that accommodates local leadership,” Mr Masoka said.

“Undertaking to tackle rural poverty has always been the country’s priority and it is in line with this spirit that the Government of Zimbabwe has adopted many policies aimed at regulating the labour market in a fair and just way.”

He applauded ILO efforts in bringing together key stakeholders and social partners to discuss and assess challenges and opportunities faced by youths in rural communities.

Mr Masoka said the occasion came at a time when Government’s priority was on devising methods of distributing wealth to benefit everyone with special emphasis placed on rural communities.

“It is against this background that I applaud the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for taking this initiative of bringing to the table key stakeholders and social partners to discuss and unpack the challenges and opportunities of the rural economy,” he said.

He said 70 percent of Zimbabweans resided in rural areas and among them were vulnerable groups.

“Zimbabwe, like many other countries, is implementing the Decent Work Country programme through ILO, reinforcing our commitment to address poverty and decent work deficits abound in most rural communities,” he said.

“Some of the notable successes include creation of decent work opportunities for young people through the rolling out of the ILO Youth Empowerment Support — Jobs for marginalised young people, Skills for Youth Employment and Rural Development Programme and the United Nations Joint Programme for Gender Equality were born out of the Zimbabwe Decent Work Country Programme.”

Mr Masoka said the joint programmes had benefited more than 11 000 men and women.

“The programmes mentioned have greatly contributed to Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) which seeks to accomplish social economic transformation by the year 2018,” he said.

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