Category: SRHR

Youth Engage takes global AIDS strategy to grassroots

Healthtimes

Youth Engage Zimbabwe, a  grassroots youth organization that advocates for the health, well-being and human rights of all young people  with the support of UNAIDS, has embarked on country-wide youth dialogues in an effort to  prompt the policy makers to do well on their promise in terms of health service delivery, allocation of funds and prioritization of beneficiaries. By Patricia Mashiri The dialogues are focusing on building evidence-based submissions on key asks, solutions, and priorities that will address gaps at a local grassroots level on HIV/ AIDS, Sexual Gender Based…

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UNESCO Sets Eyes on Tertiary Education Students with New O3PLUS programme

Michael Gwarisa

THE United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), has introduced the Our Rights, Our Lives Our Future Plus (O3 PLUS) programme, an initiative that aims to ensure young people in higher and tertiary education institutions (HTEIs) realize positive health, education, and gender equality outcomes. By Michael Gwarisa in South Africa Implementation of the O3PLUS programme follows the successful execution of the O3 programme, UNESCO’s flagship initiative which was launched three years ago. Unlike the general belief that students or learners in higher and tertiary education settings have reached the…

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O3 Annual Review Meeting kicks Off In South Africa

Michael Gwarisa

UNESCO’s flagship Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future (O3) programme Annual Review Meeting (ARM)  commenced in Johannesburg , South Africa on Wednesday, May 5 2021. By Michael Gwarisa in South Africa The O3 review meeting will be running for three days where UNESCO and its partners will review O3’s transformative results focusing on children, adolescents and young people. The O3 Programme which is being run in partnership with ministries of education and health, across 33 countries in sub-Saharan Africa has already made significant strides despite its Compressive Sexuality Education (CSE)…

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UNESCO’s flagship O3 Programme Empowers 30 million learners to prevent HIV, reduce EUPs and eliminate GBV

Michael Gwarisa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 4 Mai 2022 — UNESCO’s flagship Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future (O 3) Programme is holding its Annual Review and Partners’ Meeting from 4 to 6 May 2022 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The meeting will be opened by the Honorable Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education in South Africa. The O 3 Programme, run in partnership with ministries of education and health, supports 33 countries across sub-Saharan Africa to work towards a region where adolescents and young people are empowered, healthy and resilient and have the…

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Inconsistencies Surround Zimbabwe’s US$12.4 Million Free Sanitary Wear Initiative

Michael Gwarisa

…Rural School Girls Receive Panty Liners Instead of Sanitary Pads …Ministry of Primary Education Says There Is Nothing Sinister   THE ministry of primary and secondary education (MoPSE) has come under fire from Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) experts after it  emerged that there have been gross irregularities in the distribution of sanitary products under the Free Sanitary Wear Initiative that was launched by government in 2020. By Michael Gwarisa The Free Sanitary Wear initiative was announced by Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube in his 2020…

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Girls Share First Time Menstruation Experiences

Michael Gwarisa

ONE way in which women graduate from girlhood into womanhood is through menstruation or having a period. A period is normal vaginal bleeding that occurs as part of a woman’s monthly cycle. Every month, a woman’s body prepares for pregnancy. If no pregnancy occurs, the uterus, or womb, sheds its lining. The menstrual blood is partly blood and partly tissue from inside the uterus. By Michael Gwarisa A girl’s first period is a major milestone in her life and girls should celebrate this monthly natural occurrence as it’s just proof…

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Japan commits almost half a million United States dollars for increased access to GBV and SRH Services For Women And Young People

Michael Gwarisa

The Government of Japan has committed US$ 462,962 to strengthen Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) mitigation and response for vulnerable women and girls in the districts of Mbire and Shamva in Mashonaland Central Province, in a partnership with the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Health agency. Staff Reporter Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a multi-hazard humanitarian crisis where a protracted climate change crisis has been further exacerbated by economic instability and the COVID-19 pandemic, among many other factors. The multi-hazard nature of this…

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From Heaven To Hell In 12 Months: A GBV Survivor’s Story

Michael Gwarisa

NOMAGUGU Hurumba (22) is an orphan and a single mother to a three year old son. Growing up in Chiredzi, especially after the demise of her parents was never easy. To compound her woes, when she was in Form 3, Noma had to drop out of school after her siblings had indicated that they were no longer able to shoulder her school fees burden. By Michael Gwarisa recently in Chipinge She moved from Chiredzi to stay with her sister in Chipinge. However, persistent economic hardships in the  country pushed her…

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SAT Launches Workplace 50:50 Policy

Healthtimes

IN a move that was meant to achieve gender equality at the places of work SRHR Africa Trust(SAT)  together with Sex Rights Africa,a global organization that advocates for equality and equity at work place   has launched the 50:50 workplace policy at regional level. By Patricia Mashiri The policy is aimed at encouraging commitment for addressing gender inequality at workplace which is urgent given the extent of sexual harassment in the workplace. Speaking during the launch, the guest of honor Commissioner  Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe, the Chairperson for the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC)…

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Manicaland Child Marriage Survivors Find Solace In Economic Strengthening Programs

Michael Gwarisa

DUE to economic hardships and prolonged schools closure at the back of recurrent COVID-19 induced lockdowns, Marvelous Tsambe* (16) from Chikore Village in Chimanimani entered into an early child marriage at the age 14 as an escape from the challenges back home. However, to her surprise, marriage did not bring the much anticipated economic escape. By Michael Gwarisa in Manicaland  Just like most girls her age in her area, Marvelous fell for Majoni-Joni or those young men who illegally cross the border to work in South Africa. Whenever they return…

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