The City of Harare's groundbreaking Community Health Equity Fund (CHEF), has elicited a resounding vote of confidence from apex residents' associations, paving the way for the community-powered scheme to rise in leaps and bounds. Speaking on the sidelines of a CHEF High Level Strategic Partnership Review Meeting in Harare yesterday, the Zimbabwe National Organisation of Associations and Residents Trust (ZNOART) National Chairman, Mr Shepherd Shalvar Chikomba, said his organisation supports CHEF, as it presents an important opportunity to improve access to healthcare and funeral cover for residents, promoting social solidarity and ensuring that vulnerable members of communities are not left behind. "We believe CHEF can become an important community-driven initiative if residents understand its purpose, appreciate its benefits and develop confidence in its administration. "Achieving the programme's 100,000-member target requires a coordinated community mobilisation strategy, stronger stakeholder collaboration and continuous engagement with residents," Mr Chikomba said. He pledged his apex organisation's readiness to mobilise its structures in order to accelerate CHEF membership uptake across all wards in Harare. "Our position is that residents' buy-in is critical to the success and sustainability of CHEF. "ZNOART is prepared to mobilise its national structures, provincial leadership, district coordinators and ward-based Area Coordinators to support public awareness, community engagement and enrolment," he said. Mr Chikomba singled out the virtue of entrusting Councillors to spearhead the community health funding model. "One of the encouraging aspects of CHEF is the involvement of Councillors in the programme. "This provides an opportunity to strengthen a bottom-up approach to development, where community needs and priorities inform decision-making and the benefits of the programme reach ordinary residents at grassroots level," he said. The ZNOART Chairman summed up with a strong statement of intent, saying, "Our message is simple: Healthcare is not a privilege; it is an essential component of human dignity. We support CHEF, and we want residents to own it, participate in it and benefit from it." Harare Residents Trust (HRT) Director, Mr Precious Shumba, who also participated in the CHEF progress review meeting, boldly registered his organisation's support for the community-driven scheme. "HRT fully subscribes to CHEF. "It is grounded in the concept of hunhu/ ubuntu, where public health is everyone's responsibility, starting with the vulnerable members of society. "It is always a societal burden when someone dies and the close family members do not have money to buy a coffin, a grave, food, and money to coordinate things. "CHEF, through the ZB Financial Holdings partnership, offers residents an opportunity to join for their family members and receive cash support of US$1,000.00, which covers a significant part of a decent funeral service," said Mr Shumba. Echoing Mr Chikomba's sentiments, Mr Shumba said the HRT believes that engagement with Councillors, residents, and key partners in CHEF will go a long way in encouraging residents to trust the health financing model. The HRT Director commended the City's consultative approach to CHEF, saying, "the programme is a milestone in building a solid foundation for collaboration among key stakeholders in the delivery of public health services. We appreciate the City Health Department and all its partners for putting this together." Given the inclusivity and accessibility of CHEF, the City of Harare has taken practical steps to entrench the ethos of government's National Development Strategy 2, leaving no one and no place behind.
