A new report has revealed how the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened poverty levels in the country while inhibiting access to health services by marginalized groups.
According to Zimbabwe’s Second Voluntary National Review (VNR) 2021, COVID-19 affected the country’s capacity to offer social protection to the vulnerable people.
“The limited social protection in the country has affected the capacity of the Government to effectively address chronic poverty (by helping the poor households) as well as the capacity to mitigate the socio-economic shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic,” read the report.
According to the 2019 Labour Force and Child Labour Survey (LFCLS), about 249,000 persons, which is approximately 2% of the population, were receiving a monthly pension or any social security fund or both.
“With respect to medical insurance, about 984,000 persons, representing about 7% of the population, were members of a medical aid scheme. Covid19 also exacerbated poverty among people with disabilities. Most people with disabilities, more than 70%, are unemployed and run informal businesses. During the lockdown, informal businesses were shut down and this reduced income for people with disabilities. The COVID19 grant was not availed to everyone, as the database was not comprehensive enough, leave out some people with disabilities without support. The amount being given were insufficient to sustain beneficiaries during the lockdown period,” reads the report.
The report further noted that COVID-19 acted as risk-multiplier especially to those with little resources.
“The COVID 19 induced shocks acted as risk-multipliers that most impact those with the fewest resources to respond, particularly women and marginalized groups,” further reads the report.
Lockdowns also restricted access to health facilities by non COVID 19 patients.
COVID 19 also had differential impacts on migrants in the diaspora due loss of jobs induced by the pandemic including lack of access to solidarity funds in countries of destination and also limited in-country capacity to provide return and reintegration assistance.
