UN, Zimpapers to sign MoU Zimpapers Group Chief Executive Mr Pikirayi Deketeke (left) welcomes United Nations Resident Coordinator Bishow Parajuli to a round-table meeting in Harare yesterday. - (Picture by Tariro Kamangira)

Herald Reporter
Zimpapers and the United Nations in Zimbabwe are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to scale up advocacy efforts on various important issues underpinned in Agenda 2063.

The MoU is expected to be signed before the end of next month focusing on areas that include economic, social and human rights. This came out of a meeting held by Zimpapers management and UN team in Zimbabwe yesterday.

Zimpapers was represented by its chief executive officer Mr Pikirayi Deketeke, while the UN team was led by the organisation’s resident coordinator Mr Bishow Parajuli. In his address at the meeting, Mr Deketeke cherished the role played by UN in Zimbabwe in the country’s development.

Said Mr Deketeke: “National development in line with the SDGs is a key priority for all sectors of Zimbabwean society; perhaps now more than ever before. As we prepare the MoU between Zimpapers and the UN in Zimbabwe, which we hope to sign by the end of March 2018, we factor in all these aspects with the confidence that our alliance is unique and all aspects of it will be tailor-made for this partnership alone.

One such example is that we have tweaked our standard rate card for you in valuing both the nature of UN advocacy and of course our companionship.”

“The already existing relationship between Zimpapers and the UN has seen us working on national advocacy and most emphatically the agenda influenced by the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The number of projects, outreach, capacity building and development that the UN and its agencies in Zimbabwe conduct ought to be given the attention and coverage they so deserve. For Zimbabweans and the world at large to appreciate the impact of the work of the UN in Zimbabwe, every step needs to be measured and accounted for.

This is where the convergence of all the divisions of the Zimpapers Group comes in; newspapers, radio, television, events, print production, online and out-of-home. My team will further unpack these entities for a full appreciation of Zimpapers as a one-stop-shop for all forms of communication.”

In his remarks Mr Parajuli said: “We received excellent cooperation from Government in the past three and half years that I have been here.

“We worked very closely with President Mnangagwa when he was still Vice President, especially on issues of food nutrition. He also eloquently briefed other leaders about our duties in Davos recently and we continue to do that. Our area of interest is what are priorities of the country.”

He said the UN in Zimbabwe was keen to help to promote Zimbabwe’s image to the outside world.

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