dyton mupawaenda
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke in UMGUZA
MORE than 30 000 vulnerable women and girls in eight districts have received services to combat gender-based violence over the past six months.
This was done through the implementation of multi-sectoral interventions meant to safeguard vulnerable populations at a time the country is faced with drought and the resulting domestic tensions.
Through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) programme, which seeks to strengthen gender-based violence services for vulnerable women and girls in Buhera, Chipinge, Mwenezi, Chiredzi, Hwange, Umguza, Beitbridge and Gwanda, the Government and its partners have addressed several social issues, with gender-based violence among the main concerns worsened by the drought, which is affecting most SADC countries.
The six month programme was led by the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Unicef and UN Women.
It is being implemented by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) through Musasa Project.
In Gwanda district, the CERF programme strengthened access to services while also raising awareness on gender-based violence in emergencies and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse.
Through the creation of safe spaces, women in the district were also economically empowered to improve their livelihoods.
Speaking during a high-level field visit to assess the impact of the programme in the district, Mrs Oppah Moyo, a beneficiary of the programme, said through the safe space she could now support her family.
“Before the programme came, we had no idea of what we could do to make an extra income and Musasa taught us how to make detergents and petroleum jelly, among many other skills.
“Life was very difficult before this programme because we had to share the little money that my husband was making and this always created problems as we would fight.
“Now I can make my own money and help to support the family and there is peace in my home,” she said.
In Umguza district, there has been an increase in economic, physical, sexual abuse, rape, child marriages and teenage pregnancies owing to food insecurity, illegal gold mining and inadequate learning facilities.
The CERF programme played a pivotal role in increasing lifesaving gender-based violence services.
Accompanying the responses with strong community engagement made the programme successful, reaching over 4 000 people in the community.
Complementing the safe spaces with livelihoods projects added value to the women’s economic independence and skills set.
Said Mrs Sibusisiwe Phiri, a member of the Masiyephambili safe space in Hope Fountain: “This safe space has really empowered us as women. We are doing chicken rearing, making dish-washing liquid, pine gel and other products.
“This has really helped to reduce the issue of gender-based violence in our community. This area is prone to hunger and we have too many illegal miners so there were a lot of cases of gender-based violence.
“We now have a place where we can run to when we encounter challenges and we also know how we can report such issues. Even when this project ends, we have been given the skills to continue working and this is what is important. We will keep moving forward to ensure that women and girls are safe and empowered.”
The safe space is among four key pillars of the programme, which include a shuttle service for survivors of gender-based violence, to enhance reporting and access to services.
Since January, 5 499 survivors, of which 5 348 are female and 601 are males, have accessed the shuttle service in the eight districts supported by the programme.
Musasa Project executive director, Ms Vimbainashe Mutendereki, said the safe space was a place where women could come together, share their own knowledge and experiences.
It is also a platform for Musasa to provide gender-based violence information for women to know where they could get services and understand what GBV is.
“So they would come together through those safe spaces, do livelihood projects, enhance the work that they’re already doing with their own hands, and the idea is, as women become economically empowered, we are able to reduce incidences of gender-based violence,” she said.
“For us, the nature of this programme being anticipatory, we are able then to say, ‘let’s start equipping communities with important elements’.
“So you will find there’s a bit of strengthening of local structures, which for us is very important as we talk about sustainability. It is really about making sure that the skills are made available within communities.”
Speaking during a close out meeting for the CERF programme with partners in Bulawayo, an officer in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development gender section, Ms Magdalene Chavhunduka, said the project had enhanced the capacity of teams in the districts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in emergencies.
“We understand that not everyone is a specialised actor when responding to gender-based violence, but with a wide range of stakeholders that may need to respond, that may identify cases in their line of work, be it WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), food security, food distribution teams.
“Those are some of the issues that we were trying to capacity build our stakeholders in so that they are aware and sensitive to issues of gender-based violence as we respond to the El Nino induced drought,” she said.
UNFPA programme analyst, Ms Patricia Mujajati, said the programme had come in to ensure mitigation of GBV risk and raise awareness around sexual exploitation and abuse at community level.
“We reached quite a huge number of women and girls and other community members. We have an issue of leaving no one behind, so we also had a particular focus on persons with disability because sometimes during emergencies, they are usually left out.
“But we deliberately targeted them to make sure they know about what is happening, where to go to seek services. You will find that there’s increased knowledge on gender-based violence, there is increased talk, even among the district stakeholders, about gender-based violence and not just for the gender-based violence specialised actors, but also those that really don’t see gender-based violence every day,” she said.
While the programme will end next month, communities have reported increased awareness of prevention services and sparked discussion about gender-based violence, a crucial step towards changing social norms that perpetuate the vice.
Online Reporter