By Michael Gwarisa
As the world marks 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, women’s rights organizations in Zimbabwe are urging the government to honor its pledge to improve healthcare access for women and girls.
This call follows tragic reports that Zimbabwe has lost approximately 54 women to maternal deaths and 299 babies during childbirth since the beginning of 2025.
Speaking at a multi-stakeholder meeting in Harare on “Beijing +30: Women and Girls’ Access to Health Services in Zimbabwe,” hosted by the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ), Prisca Dube, Projects Officer at the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), lamented the country’s inadequate domestic healthcare funding, which she blamed for the dire state of healthcare services.
If you look at where we are coming from as a country, last year, our national budget allocation for health was 10.2%. This year, it’s at 10%,” said Dube.
“We need to undertake gender-sensitive initiatives that address sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, and sexual and reproductive health issues. Reading about 299 babies and 54 women dying during childbirth was heartbreaking. This is happening 30 years after Beijing! That headline alone was numbing for me.”
She emphasized that when the “Women and Health” pillar was flagged as a key area in 1995, the goal was to address existing inequalities, improve healthcare systems, and ensure equal access to health services for women globally.
Dube highlighted five key areas that must be prioritized to guarantee every woman access to quality healthcare services, regardless of background.
“We need to increase women’s access throughout their lifecycle to appropriate, affordable, quality healthcare, information, and related services. We also need to strengthen preventive programs that promote women’s health. In Zimbabwe, we have made some strides in this regard,” she added.
Dube also noted that Zimbabwe has several laws and a legal framework that support healthcare rights.
“One thing people often misunderstand is that all other rights are meaningless if the right to health is not guaranteed. Health is the overarching right that must be upheld for individuals to claim other rights. Without the right to health, all other rights are nullified,” she said.
The Beijing Platform for Action affirmed principles that continue to guide global and national efforts, leading countries like Zimbabwe to conduct cyclical five-year reviews to assess progress in women’s health.
The adoption of the Beijing Declaration was a major milestone in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The “Women and Health” pillar underscores the importance of comprehensive healthcare access, including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), while addressing the broader social determinants of health.
Hamida Ismael Mauto, Country Operations Manager for SAT Zimbabwe, criticized the slow disbursement of allocated healthcare funds by the Zimbabwean Treasury.
“Our concern is around the disbursement and utilization of funds. In 2024, the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) received only 52% of the 10.4% allocated to healthcare, and out of that, they utilized just 29%. There is a major issue with both disbursement and utilization,” she said.
She also raised concerns about the high attrition rate in the healthcare sector, which has been severely impacted by the loss of approximately 4,500 health workers since 2019.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s HIV response faces a major threat following the suspension of USAID funding in the country and the potential shutdown of PEPFAR programs in the near future.
