By ZLHR
ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) joins the world in commemorating World Day of Social Justice and implores government to accelerate efforts to eliminate social injustice and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals, which are a universal agenda.
In Zimbabwe, the outbreak of COVID19 has exposed flaws in social protections and the effects of this unprecedented pandemic on health, livelihoods, employment, income generation, gender, equality and democracy are all the more catastrophic because of pre-existing gaps in our social safety nets.
The absence of social safety nets to cushion people against the ravages of an under-performing economy and the fear that their aspirations will remain unfulfilled is a powerful force driving people’s anxieties and feeding uncertainty and therefore widening the
social injustice gap.
As an organisation which puts the pursuit of social justice for all at the core of its interventions to promote development and human dignity, ZLHR believes that promoting human rights, eradicating artificial social barriers and standing up for the rights of the
minority, the less privileged people, the disabled, children and the elderly will enhance the drive to realise social justice.
ZLHR calls upon government;
• to establish and strengthen social security and social protection schemes;
• to reflect and to implement measures and actions to overcome the
digital divide;
• implement decent work opportunities and protect labour and human
rights in the modern era of digital technologies.
