Tag: PLAN INTERNATIONAL

UNDP Facilitates Construction of Low Cost Boarding Facilities To Reduce HIV Vulnerability In Adolescent School Girls

Michael Gwarisa

Following the death of her mother, 15 year old Grace Mwamuka* now stays with her father and two minor siblings. She is from Ndima Village in Chimanimani. Throughout the year 2022, she would walk three hours to and from school daily. By Michael Gwarisa Every morning, she would wake up as early as 4:00 AM to clean the house and prepare food for her young siblings before departing for school. After school, she would rush home to clean the house and prepare dinner. This was taking a toll on her…

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UNFPA Zimbabwe calls for support to ensure young people reach their full potential

Michael Gwarisa

Harare, 12 August, 2022 – On the International Youth Day the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Zimbabwe and partners have called for greater support to ensure young people reach their full potential by making critical investments in their health, education and well-being. By Staff Reporter The theme for this year’s International Youth Day is Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages. In Zimbabwe, adolescents and youth are experiencing adverse life outcomes, including unintended early or teenage pregnancy, child marriage, and school dropouts. Early and teenage pregnancy have major…

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Hitting Three Birds with One Stone: Low Cost Boarding Facilities to Address Teen Pregnancies, Early Marriages and New HIV Infections in Chimanimani Adolescent Girls

Michael Gwarisa

HILDER Muwani* (16) is doing Form 3 at Mhakwe Secondary school in Chimanimani. Every day, she walks 30 kilometers to and from school. She at some point contemplated moving to a bush boarding or renting a room near the school just to cut on the distance, but her parents would have none of it. They feared she would mix with the wrong crowd, fall pregnant and end up dropping out of school as has become the fate of many girls in Chimanimani. By Michael Gwarisa recently in Chimanimani The risk…

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Disabled & HIV Positive Chiredzi 24-Year-Old Retired Sex Worker Speaks Out

Michael Gwarisa

RODHA (24) (real name protected) is a young girl living with a disability of the limbs. She has Locomotor Disability, a form of disability which affects the limbs and hinders one’s movement from point A to B. She has been walking on Clutches since she was a little girl.  In 2013, Rodha fled her rural home in Chivi where she lived with her uncle and his wife. By Michael Gwarisa recently in Chiredzi Despite her condition, she says her uncle would verbally and physically abuse her, accusing her of philandering…

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Disabled Young People Struggle To Navigate SRH Social Spaces During Lockdown

Michael Gwarisa

YOUNG people with disabilities are finding it difficult to access sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services during the prevailing lockdown period due to a myriad of factors, chief among them being failure to participate in social spaces where SRHR information is provided. By Michael Gwarisa Speaking during a virtual meeting on ending teenage pregnancies which was hosted by Plan International Zimbabwe under the theme “Unraveling the thread of teenage pregnancies during COVID 19,” Social Worker with JF Kapnek, Adam Mukushi said the COVID-19 had presented numerous challenges for…

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Comprehensive Sexuality Education Is Not Sex Education Says Experts

Michael Gwarisa

SEXUAL and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) experts have reiterated that Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)  was key to empowering young people in and out of out school to make informed decisions about their life choices.   By Michael Gwarisa Speaking during a virtual discussion that was organised by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and Right Here Right Now (RHRN), Mr Sendisa Ndlovu, the Programs Officer for SAYWHAT said CSE was not about sex education but embraces the aspects of children’s rights and empowerment which in turn prevent them…

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Plan International Launches New Zim Country Strategy

Michael Gwarisa

PLAN International has launched its 2019-2024 country strategy that will act as a  yardstick to track and monitor progress and shortcomings the organization could have made in the advancing girls, children and young people’s sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR). By Michael Gwarisa Speaking a the launch, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Ms. Maria Ribeiro said the country strategy would allow Plan International Zimbabwe and its partners to reflect on key achievements of the previous strategy. The challenge on child protection particularly that of the girl child in Zimbabwe is…

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Plan International Releases Guide On Embracing Positive Masculinity In Boys

Michael Gwarisa

LEADING girls’ rights agency Plan International Australia has today launched a guide for parents to help boys embrace healthy, positive masculinity. The guide contains nine evidence-based tips, informed by global experts at Plan International, together with Promundo, a global leader in engaging men and boys in promoting gender equality and preventing violence, and Jesuit Social Services, a social change organisation. The guide offers parents simple, practical tips to talk to their sons about healthy masculinity, and encourage positive beliefs and behaviours from an early age, including: how parents can use…

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