On October 16, 2023, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), and the Zimbabwe Environmental Law (ZELA) Association facilitated a Youth Symposium held under the theme “A Just Energy Transition: Situating the Role of Young People in Zimbabwe.”

The youth who attended the symposium made the following submissions:

A just energy transition:

• We call on the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Climate to establish the School of Renewable Energy and allocate grants to the youth to conduct research and innovation to position the country as a key player in the just energy transition.
• Finance and Investment Promotion should broaden contracts with international investors to include training opportunities for local communities and local companies in the processing of raw minerals. These operations must hinge on sustainable investment practices.
• We urge the government to formulate a devolution and decentralization policy to allow communities to enjoy their natural resources. CSOs should also speak and act with one voice to support a just transition that is equitable to the needs of stakeholders and communities.

Domestic Resource Mobilization

• A just energy transition in Zimbabwe must be funded through domestic resource mobilization to reduce the burden on citizens since the country is failing to service its huge debt to the IMF and World Bank. For example, the corporate income tax needs to go back to pre-pandemic levels of 25%.
• The government should desist from entering into resource-backed loans because this continues to perpetuate the cycle of poverty, thus affecting the future of the present and future generations.

Mining and mining communities

• As youths, we are concerned by the lack of transparency in the mining sector and ask for increased transparency and accountability by mining companies and government ministries. Contract transparency will enhance community oversight of natural resources while ensuring community ownership of mining projects.
• The legal framework should provide a framework for respecting communal land rights, mining-induced displacements, and fair, adequate, and timely compensation.
• The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill must have provisions that mandate adequate and fair corporate social responsibility to address the challenges faced in mining communities.
• The Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Climate, working closely with other key ministries, must mandate mining companies to have a sustainability plan that will be executed after their mining operations are done. The sustainability plan should include social, environmental, and economic recovery aspects for the affected mining community.
• We strongly urge every registered mining company, including small-scale miners, to have risk assessment and management teams in place at their workstations to reduce the extent of mining disasters and accidents.
• The Ministry of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare must step up efforts in enforcing labor laws in the country and stamp their authority on those investors accused of violating the Labour Act. This includes child labor, unfair working hours, terrible living conditions for workers, and unfair dismissals.

Youth representation and inclusion

• Youth representation and participation should be encouraged in every mining body governing mining affairs in the country. This includes the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) and the Chamber of Mines Zimbabwe.
• The aspirations, challenges, and other issues affecting youth in mining are pertinent to making the mining sector more inclusive and sensitive to young people, hence the need to set up a Youth in Mining Desk at national and provincial headquarters for youths in Zimbabwe.
• The youths demand the formation of a body that will look at the welfare of female miners and women and girls living in the mining operations. This comes amidst sexual, physical, and economic violence that continues to manifest itself in the sector.

The Environment

• The Environmental Management Agency must ensure that the Environmental Act is enforced in its entirety to reduce the extreme effects of irresponsible mining, which sometimes affect the environmental, economic, social, and cultural rights of communities.
• Administration in the mining sector must be decentralized, specifically in the administration of critical minerals to power the energy transition.