The Director of Social Services in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Sydney Mhishi, said there was a need to increase support to orphaned and vulnerable children through financial assistance.
One such cash transfer programme is the Basic Education Assistance Module that the government and supporters like Unicef have used for several years to ensure OVCs are kept in school. Last year the harmonized programme benefited more than 23,000 children.
Chris Mukaka, an economist, described the cash transfer programme as a positive initiative. “This is one of the best methods to try and curb poverty in the country,’’ he said. Social transfers can take the form of cash, food, agricultural inputs seeds, fertilizer, assets livestock, tools, or a combina-tion of these. They can be short-, medium- or long-term, depending on prevailing needs.
Humanitarian organisations operating in Zimbabwe, among them the UN World Food Programme, are also using cash transfers to alleviate hunger and poverty.
Post published in: News