WoMandla Foundation, a women led, women serving and women focused organization operating in Zvishavane, Midlands province  has embarked on an initiative to have girls and young women participate in pre-budget consultative meetings ahead of the forthcoming 2022 Zimbabwe National Budget presentation.

By Michael Gwarisa

Through a campaign dubbed the Show Us the Money for Health, WoMandla Foundation is sensitizing girls in Zvishavane,Mberengwa, Mashava, Shurugwi and Masvingo on the current state of healthcare domestic financing in Zimbabwe and why there is need to meet the Abuja Declaration target of allocating at least 15% of the national budget to the health care sector.

In an interview with HealthTimes on the sidelines of a Pasi-Pemuti (Under the Tree) gathering in Zvishavane, WoMandla Foundation Executive Director, Tadiwanashe Burukai-Matutu said young girls and women need to be actively involved in making decisions that affect their Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).

We were holding this Pasi-pemuti talk with adolescent girls and young women in Zvishavane. Our conversation was surrounding and building up to the work the work we are doing under the Show Us the Money for Health Campaign. The work that we are doing under the show us the money for health campaign is work towards ensuring that the government of Zimbabwe abides by the Abuja Declaration of 2001,” said Matutu.

She added that the Show Us the Money campaign was being done in collaboration with the Development Agenda of Girls and Women in Africa (DAWA) and is being supported by the AIDS Rights Alliance in Southern Africa (ARASA).

“Under the Show us the money, we are mobilizing adolescent girls and young women in Zimbabwe to ensure that they participate during the 2022 national budget consultative sessions that are happening. We have been able to train 60 adolescent girls and young women who in turn are going to mobilize and reach to about a 1000 t0 1500 young girls and women themselves too.

“We have supported them to be able to attend the budget consultative sessions that were hosted by the Parliament in Bulawayo, Harare, Plumtree and in Masvingo. They have been able to attend there and speak around how they want Zimbabwe to honor the pledge of ensuring that 15% of the national budget is indeed allocated to the health sector.”

She also said the Pasi-Pemuti talk provided them with a face-to-face interaction with the girls so as to hear their mind in a free and non restrictive environment.

“The work that we are doing under the Pasi-Pemuti talks is to ensure that we mobilise girls and women and sit down with them as well as talk to them on what the whole purposes of show us the money campaign is and also what the needs of of girls and women are and how they want the government to ensure that much of the national budget allocation goes towards health.

“For today, we were able to reach out to around 26 girls and had an intense conversation and we were happy that the conversation was also honored by guests from the media. Some of the key issues that arose were issues of free access to sanitary wear, period medication and support kits, rape kits and mental healthcare given to Gender Based Violence (GBV) Survivors,” she said.

Meanwhile, WoMandla Foundation is doing data collection and gathering information that they will later share with their consultant who will then develop a position paper which will be presented to parliament and different portfolio committees and the ministry of finance.