The Republic of Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three official languages: English, Shona and Ndebele.
Zimbabwe began as the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, created from land held by the British South Africa Company.
SAfAIDS, a regional non-profit organisation based in Harare, Zimbabwe, is the co-ordinator of MenEngage Zimbabwe. SAfAIDS’s vision is to ensure that all people in Africa realize their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and are free from the burden of HIV, TB and other related developmental health issues.
In recognition of the role that stigma and discrimination, gender inequality and related social structures and norms play in driving the epidemic and creating barriers to access to services in southern Africa, the organisation works to address gender equality and the rights of women, girls and key population groups, to access sexual reproductive health services and rights by confronting complex issues like culture, human rights and stigma.
Various organizations operating in Zimbabwe are part of the MenEngage country network and these include:
- SAfAIDS, the network coordinator
- MWENGO
- African Fathers Initiative
- Ecumenical Support Services (ESS)
- Zimbabwe African Fathers for Peace
- Students And Youths Working on Reproductive Health Action Team (SAYWHAT)
- ZIYON
What they do
Some of the activities include:
- Engaging men and boys to address issues of male violence against women
- Enhancing the capacity of traditional leaders and religious leaders in strengthening socio-cultural practices that promote gender equality in Zimbabwe
- Carrying out community sensitivity workshops, trainings and dialogues on positive masculinities, male violence against women, sexual reproductive and health rights and HIV.
- Working with young boys through schools programmes in ending violence in schools specifically against girls
- Advocacy programmes through media engagement
- Engaging, partnering and networking with women’s only organisations that work on the areas around women empowerment and gender based violence
- Engaging men to be involved in the prevention of mother to child transmissions of HIV
- Men’s indaba’s
Purpose of the activities
- To strengthen the men’s movement to redefine masculinities
- To promote the transformation of cultural institutions and practices
- To deal with patriarchy, Gender based violence and HIV and AIDS particularly in the rural areas.
- To promote students protection against HIV and AIDS through education on SRHR issues
- To promote gender equal relationships between boys and girls and protection from child-on-child abuse at schools and in home
Target group for activities are:
- Men
- Boys
- Church leaders
- Traditional leaders
- School teachers and headmasters
- Policy makers in government and line government departments
