Harare, ZIMBABWE, September 9, 2016— For Godfrey Marawanyika, Bloomberg News correspondent a World Bank media workshop was long overdue. “It’s been a long 13 years since I was last invited to a media workshop by the Bank.”
The first of its kind after a significant time lapse the media workshop sought to familiarize stakeholders on Zimbabwe Reconstruction Fund (ZIMREF) and World Bank Operations. Held, last month the workshop brought together journalists and ZIMREF implementing government departments and agencies.
As ZIMREF is a mix of both Bank executed and recipient executed activities, the consensus was that implementing agencies had to participate to ensure their co-operation in responding to media requests. This is in part to the pivotal role played by the media both as a recipient and channel of information.
Having so far received financial commitments and contributions to the amount of US$44million from the European Union, State and Peace Building Fund, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom; ZIMREF has eight activities under four programming windows that encompass the private sector, public expenditure, livelihoods and analytical work.
As successor to the Zimbabwe Analytical Multi Donor Trust Fund (AMDTF), ZIMREF aims to contribute to strengthening Zimbabwe’s systems for reconstruction and development with a focus on stabilization and reform, reconstruction, development and poverty alleviation.
Facilitated by seasoned Malawi Communications Officer, Ms Zeria Banda, the workshop kicked off at nine am on the day to a full house. After the opening remarks from the Country Manager, Ms Banda proceeded to introduce participants to the World Bank, unpacking its history, functions and different arms.
This was done to explain the establishment of the World Bank offices in Zimbabwe and the subsequent operations that has seen the portfolio include ZIMREF as the main financing instrument for Zimbabwe.
“I am very excited to have taken part in this media workshop and I can definitely see how my articles will benefit from what I have learnt. Most of my stories have attributed work to the World Bank only without mentioning ZIMREF, said Ndaka Majaku, a business reporter with a local paper called Daily News.
ZIMREF’s eight activities are in various stages of implementation with one still to kick start which is the Climate Change Technical Assistance Program. These various stages of implementation were broken down to the participants as the World Bank Project Life Cycle from the first stage of identification to the last stage of impact evaluation. ZIMREF became effective in 2015 and will run until 2019.
