Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) Acting Chairperson, Professor Stanzia Moyo has hailed the transformative impact of the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) in Zimbabwe, highlighting significant achievements in family planning and sexual reproductive health services.
In her address at the closing ceremony of the International Conference on South to South and Triangular Cooperation in Population Development held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Professor Moyo, emphasized the profound impact of the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) on Zimbabwe’s approach to addressing the links between population, poverty reduction, and sustainable development.
“The ICPD Programme of Action has transformed the way in which the linkages between population, poverty reduction, and sustainable development are addressed in Zimbabwe by putting the rights, needs, and aspirations of individual human beings at the center of sustainable development,” stated Professor Moyo.
Professor Moyo shed light on the pivotal role played by ZNFPC in coordinating and providing technical leadership in the provision of quality integrated family planning and sexual reproductive health services. Additionally, ZNFPC serves as the secretariat for the Zimbabwe National ICPD Taskforce, tasked with monitoring the implementation of ICPD25 commitments.
“The Contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) increased from 59% in 2010/11 to 68% in 2022, one of the highest CPR rates in the region,” Professor Moyo announced.
She added that the unmet need for family planning declined from 13% to 10% in the past decade, although challenges remain.
“Notwithstanding our achievements, the country is not an exception to the global challenges affecting each one of us here. The country is experiencing a skills gap due to high staff attrition. Programmatically, it is still a challenge to achieve the last mile due to limited resources,” Professor Moyo explained.
Professor Moyo expressed gratitude for the positive results derived from skills exchange programs facilitated by South-South Triangular cooperation.
“Our programmatic indicators reflect the commitment by the government through its agency ZNFPC in achieving the ICPD commitments and SDGs,” Professor Moyo concluded.
