Trymore Tagwirei
MIRROR REPORTER

MASVINGO – People with disabilities from Masvingo province were part of the Voluntary National Review (VNR) of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) held at Chevron, a Regency Group hotel in Masvingo last week.
The meeting placed on spotlight the challenges and opportunities which people are facing on SDGs implementation.
VNR allow people to take stock of SDGs implementation progress, identify gaps, opportunities as well as challenges on the implementation of SDGs.
The event was also attended by chiefs, civil society, PWDs and people from various Government Ministries.
The process is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
Deputy Director on SDGs Unit in the Ministry of Public Service, Sylocious Chaturuka said she was happy because of the inclusivity of the workshop and people from various areas in Masvingo attended the event.
“We are happy because everyone attended and all groups are represented including PWDs.
“We had a balanced drafting team on SDGs and we included PWDs on our team. We have so far covered nine provinces in the country and tomorrow we will be finalizing our consultations in Mutare,” she said.
Chaturuka mentioned droughts, cyclones, global financial crisis, population growth, low levels of awareness on SDGs and sanctions as challenges on SDGs implementation.
SDGs were adopted by United Nations member states in 2015 with the aim of implementing them by the year 2030. The 17 SDGs mainly focuses on economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.
Chaturuka said only 15% of the SDGs are implemented correctly globally and the VNR process will also create an opportunity for Government to consolidate all contributions from the people through the VNR report. The Government will gear up for recommendations to accelerate SDGs implementation.
John Ndoro who live with disability said he was happy to attend the consultation.
“I am very happy because we are invited to contribute our ideas towards nation building and as People With Disabilities we want to thank all people who organized this event because we were left out in many national events,” he said.
The report on SDGs implementation will be presented in New York this year.