Thank you.
Good evening once again, honourable members. As previously mentioned, my name is Makanaka Kujeke, and I will be presenting on the topic of basic necessities, beginning with the Zimbabwe health care system.
Limited resources have resulted in bed shortages, staff shortages and a lack of urgent care within the Zimbabwean health care system for many years. Staff shortages due to ongoing strikes have resulted in many preventable deaths. Most recently, seven stillborn babies were delivered in one night, following a delay in that urgent care that we discussed.
Health care professionals are protesting their unlawful working conditions, which include lack of PPE, especially during a critical time like the COVID-19 pandemic, and earning below a living wage, being paid approximately $130 U.S. monthly. As a result of strikes, many of the health care workers in Zimbabwe were dismissed by the sitting government and were advised that they could only be reinstated if they joined the national guard or the police force, which of course would mean surrendering their right to protest.
On the next slide you will see a civilian named Esther Zinyoro Gwena. Civilians such as Esther have taken it upon themselves to assist their communities as best as they can. Esther has successfully delivered 250 babies without gloves, equipment or any midwife, free of medical training. Women come to Esther's home, deliver their babies, and recover in her small apartment. They are often sent home the same day to make room for others.
Moving on to the basic necessity of water, Zimbabwe has also been water- and food-insecure for many years. Families are often forced to drink and use sewage water, because water does not flow in their homes. This, of course, results in many water-borne diseases, such cholera and typhoid. Recently in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, a cholera outbreak killed 10 people who consumed contaminated water. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of a reliable water supply has made maintaining preventive hygienic practices extremely difficult for Zimbabweans.
Moving on to food insecurity, at present 2.2 million Zimbabweans are on the brink of starvation due to food insecurity. The UN World Food Programme has forecast that 3.3 million Zimbabweans will be food insecure by March 2021. The food insecurity is the result of climate change in the region, drought, food shortage and the maladministration of resources. Across many regions, food aid is restricted to community members affiliated with certain political parties. Those who choose not to denounce their political affiliations are often threatened and denied access to rations.