Assessing the advancement of socio-economic rights in the 2022 National Budget
The failure by the government to prioritise funding for social services in the 2022 budget is a violation of the socio-economic rights of citizens as entrenched in the Constitution of Zimbabwe, SDGs as well as the regional and international human rights instruments.
In a country such as Zimbabwe where many are deprived of opportunities and resources owing in part to the economic meltdown, the protection of socio-economic rights is of the outmost importance. Socio-economic rights are entrenched in the Constitution of Zimbabwe, regional and international human rights instruments that the country has ratified such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter). In terms of these human rights instruments, socio-economic rights are the indispensable and inalienable rights of all human beings.
On the 25th of November 2021, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube delivered the 2022 Budget speech in the National Assembly. In his presentation the Minister highlighted that the 2022 Budget theme is “Building Resilience and Sustainable Economic Recovery” which speaks to economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has wreaked havoc in the country since March 2020. The speech that was presented by the Minister was a summary of the detailed 2022 National Budget Statement which the Minister then tabled in the National Assembly after his speech.
The statement comes at a time when citizens especially women are struggling to make ends meet due to the continued devaluing of incomes and wages alongside the high inflation which stands at 58%. The country is also facing shortfalls in social services funding including water, food, education and healthcare which is a violation of the basic human rights of the citizens of Zimbabwe. The 2022 national budget allocations for social services are pegged way below the recommended targets such as the 20% for education as set out in the Dakar Declaration 2020, 15% for healthcare as set out in the Abuja Declaration, 9.6 % for housing as set out in the African Union Social Protection as well as 4.5% for Social Welfare as stipulated in the Social Policy for Africa.
These targets were drafted so as to provide minimum standards for countries in ensuring that social services are prioritised towards ending poverty and inequalities especially amongst vulnerable groups such as women, children and persons with disabilities. The failure by the Government of Zimbabwe to meet these minimum standards in allocating funds for social services in the 2022 national budget further perpetuates the vicious cycle of poverty and inequality which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Women especially in the informal sector have experienced massive loss of income and livelihoods due to the COVID-19 lockdown regulations which deemed their businesses non-essential leading to their closure for prolonged periods of time.
After the Minister’s speech the National Assembly adjourned until Tuesday 7th December, when the Budget debate on the speech will resume. The Senate also adjourned and will resume sitting on Tuesday 14th December. This programme is designed to allow Members of Parliament time to digest and analyse the Budget before the resumption of the Budget debate on 7th December.
Summary of the 2022 budget allocations relating to social services
At least ZWL$2.1 billion has been allocated for water in local authorities and ZWL$1.9 billion for rural water, sanitation and hygiene. ZWL$22.4 billion has been allocated for dam construction, notably Gwayi-Shangani, Chivhu, Kunzvi, Bindura, Dande and Semwa dams. ZWL$1.1 billion has been allocated to the health sector for the rehabilitation of hospitals, delivery of ambulances, introduction of a National Health Equipment Maintenance Plan as well as continuation of COVID-19 vaccination programs. ZWL$4.4 billion has been allocated for the second education project targeting 200 schools. ZWL$4.1 billion has been allocated towards BEAM covering tuition, uniforms and stationery for vulnerable children. ZWL$3.4 billion has been allocated for the rehabilitation of Higher and Tertiary institutions, notably the resumption of work at Bindura Female Hostel as well as rehabilitation of Gwanda University, NUST, and Midlands State University.
ZWL$2 billion has been allocated towards social protection for grain procurement and cash for grains to labour constrained households, including people with disabilities, child headed families; food distribution on rural areas targeting 1.1 million food insecure beneficiaries. ZWL$160 million has been allocated to support income generating activities for poor households, ZWL$2.2 billion for cash transfers to 97 000 labour constrained households, ZWL$270 million for child protection services and ZWL$220 million for social protection programmes benefiting people with disabilities.
ZWL$29 billion for housing delivery has been allocated for rehabilitation and upgrading of existing housing facilities for public servants and capitalisation of the civil service housing scheme. ZWL$43.9 billion has been allocated for roads development programme, with a target of 200 km for Harare-Beitbridge Road. ZWL$2.5 billion has been allocated for the modernization of border posts and ZWL$16.9 billion for the emergency road rehabilitation programme for maintenance and re-gravelling. ZWL$3 billion has been allocated for rural road infrastructure. ZWL$42.5 billion has been allocated for inter-governmental fiscal transfer to local authorities and ZWL$825 million for disaster risk management. ZWL$3.7 billion has been allocated for the Urban mass transport system.