Tag: ZIMBABWE

Women’s Groups Demand Independent Oversight as Digital Violence Surges

Healthtimes

By Health Times Correspondent Women’s rights groups have urged the government to establish independent commissions to monitor and evaluate the implementation of gender policies amid a rise in gender-based violence (GBV) cases. The country recently joined the global campaign for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, which emphasizes preventing violence against women and girls. The theme for the 2025 16 Days of Activism is “Unite to End Digital Violence against all Women and Girls.” The campaign highlights the growing threat of online abuse and harassment, calling for collective…

Read More

An HIV Wave Hitting Only One Side of the Market: Women in Mat South Are Bearing the Brunt

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Mat South In Matabeleland South, the burden of new HIV infections falls almost exclusively on women. The numbers are more than statistics; they depict a crisis where mothers and daughters are diagnosed one after the other, while men’s rates lag behind. This imbalance is shrinking families, disrupting livelihoods, and leaving communities to pick up the pieces. Data from the 2022 National Housing and Population Census shows that Matabeleland South has an estimated population of 760,000 people. Of these, the National AIDS Council (NAC) estimates that 93,000…

Read More

Why Reforming the Termination of Pregnancy Act Can No Longer Wait

Michael Gwarisa

By Edinah Masiyiwa I have been closely following recent developments on access to safe abortion for women and girls in Zimbabwe. As I reflect on the Women’s Action Group’s (WAG) campaign on safe abortion in the early 1990s, I am encouraged by how far the country has come on this issue. When WAG advocated for access to safe abortion then, the organisation faced intense opposition that ultimately silenced the public campaign. Quiet, behind-the-scenes advocacy continued, eventually resulting in post-abortion care being adopted as a key component of reproductive health services—an…

Read More

Inside Binga’s Herbal Sex Boosters: The Man Behind the Popular Guchu Remedy

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa  Deep in the heart of Binga, in the midst of thick forests and scorching heat, the name Siposami Chuma is synonymous with the word saviour in some circles owing to his mastery of herbs. These are not ordinary herbs but Guchu, a mixture of roots and plants ground together to form a powder he claims can turn a man into a beast in the bedroom. At least that is what he says. If there is anything African men fear the most, it is discovering that their sexual…

Read More

Young Zimbabwean Selected as United Nations Young Leader

Michael Gwarisa

By Staff Reporter The United Nations has selected 26-year-old Tanatswa Amanda Chikura as a Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The announcement was made on United Nations Day on 24 October, which marks the date when the United Nations officially came into being. Tanatswa, who is a Hughes Hall PhD candidate, is also the Founder and Director of the Ndinewe Foundation, a mental health organisation in Zimbabwe. In an article published by Hughes Hall University, Tanatswa said: “Young people are everywhere and sometimes it takes a fellow youth…

Read More

Health Ministry enforces 75% Local Quota in Nursing Schools

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Following concerns from Parliamentarians that many students were failing to secure places in nursing schools, a top Health Ministry official says a quota system has been introduced. Under the system, 75 percent of recruited students must come from the district or province where the training school is located. This policy is part of the decentralization of nurse training in Zimbabwe, which began last year. In an interview with HealthTimes, the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Hon. Sleiman Kwidini, said implementation of the quota system started…

Read More

How a Community Seed Bank is Helping Binga Villagers Beat Drought

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Binga Just like most parts of the country, Binga villages are preparing their land for the forthcoming 2025/26 agricultural season. The clanging of hoes against dry earth echoes across the fields as farmers race the sun to prepare their land. At one homestead, Vivian Saba greets us with a warm smile, accompanied by her mother. Vivian volunteers as treasurer of the community seed bank, an innovative seed preservation facility designed to ensure farmers have access the best-suited seeds for their environment. A few minutes later, she…

Read More

Funding Cuts Push Zimbabwe to Consider Reusable Circumcision Kits

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is exploring the use of reusable circumcision kits to sustain voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services amid declining international funding and the gradual withdrawal of donor support. VMMC has been a key HIV prevention tool in Zimbabwe, credited with significantly reducing new HIV infections since the program’s launch in 2009. At its peak in 2012, the program recorded over 1.1 million circumcisions, contributing to the national goal of achieving 80% coverage among adult males and newborns. In the long term, Zimbabwe aimed to maintain around 150,000…

Read More

Zimbabwe to Prioritise Local Funding in New HIV Strategy

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is set to begin developing its fifth Zimbabwe National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan (ZNASP V), which will guide the country’s HIV response from 2026 to 2030. The forthcoming strategy follows the successful implementation of ZNASP IV, which runs until 2025 and has seen major progress in the fight against HIV. Under ZNASP IV, Zimbabwe achieved remarkable milestones, including meeting the global 95-95-95 targets — where 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those diagnosed are on treatment, and 95% of those…

Read More

Minister Mombeshora Commends TB Progress, Calls for Innovation and Local Funding

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere With several donors pulling out of tuberculosis (TB) programs, Zimbabwe’s dwindling funding base has renewed calls for sustainable domestic financing to keep the disease under control. Officiating the three-day National TB Conference in Harare, Minister of Health and Child Care Dr. Douglas Mombeshora commended healthcare workers for their efforts in helping Zimbabwe exit the World Health Organization (WHO) list of the top 30 high-burden TB countries. “We meet at a moment when we can reflect with confidence on how far we have come. In 2021, Zimbabwe reached…

Read More