Year: 2016

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Curse of living with disability

Curse of living with disability

HARARE - Shunned because of the physical deformities they were either born with or acquired later in life, people with disabilities are often forgotten and ridiculed.
Loreen Chikoto was born with dwarfism, a genetic defect that makes her smaller than the average person.
When she started dating, people found it odd and when she got pregnant the comments and taunts were even worse.
“Often, I would hear people saying ‘ndiani akashinga kurara nekamunhu aka, haanzwewo tsitsi here? (who was courageous enough to sleep with such a person, do they not have any mercy for her?). Unbeknown to them is that I am married and was simply doing what most married people do,” she said.
According to Section 22 of the Constitution, the State, all institutions and government agencies must recognise the rights of persons with disabilities and must afford them the respect and dignity they deserve.
Section 83 also mandates the State to ensure that people with disabilities realise their full mental and physical potential through provision of State funded education, access to medical treatment and protection from abuse.
In September 2013, Zimbabwe ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
Among some of the provisions of the Convention is the right to access justice, freedom from exploitation violence and abuse and protecting the integrity of the person.
Recently, government through the ministries of Social Welfare, Justice, and Women Affairs held consultations to align the Disabled Persons Act to the Constitution.
The exercise was aimed at mainstreaming disability issues as an integral part of the relevant strategies of sustainable development.
During the outreach programmes, some of the persons with disabilities complained that they are judged when seeking medical treatment for sexually transmitted diseases(STIs).
They said they are frowned upon and asked how they contracted the STIs when they visit clinics or hospitals.
Others explained how children with disabilities are deprived of education and often end up dropping out of school.
“Some parents with physically challenged children hide them from society, deprive them of education and infringe on their rights to associate with others,” said one woman.
Senator Anna Shiri told the Daily News on Sunday that there was a serious need for extensive advocacy on the rights and needs of people with disabilities.
She said very few people know how to handle or approach people with disabilities, prompting society to shun or ignore them in key decision areas.
Shiri said issues to do with people with disabilities are no longer a welfare issue but a human rights concern as such people do not require handouts anymore but need to be economically empowered to take care of themselves.
The senator said employment issues are very important as people with disabilities are not seriously considered for employment regardless of their qualifications.
“There is very little awareness on issues concerning people with disabilities. People think they will be a burden when they employ them despite being able to perform the tasks. In Senate, there are only two people representing people living with disabilities while in the Lower House there is none.
“People with disabilities find it very hard to get jobs because of the attitude society has,” she said.
Shiri added that people with disabilities often face the challenge of being wrongly diagnosed because of poor communication between the patient and doctor or nurse.
She said there are no information pamphlets in braille which can be used by the visually impaired or sign language interpretation often leaving these people in the dark on health related matters.
“Many public facilities are not friendly to people living with disabilities. Hospitals, schools and even churches are not accessible to people with disabilities.
“Toilets meant for these people are not one size fits all. Just because it can fit a wheelchair does not mean it was done properly.
“Different disabilities require different adjustments hence the need for specialist architects to build proper structures that can accommodate all.”
“There is need to mainstream disabilities because the Sustainable Development Goals clearly state that no one should be left behind.
“All developmental concerns should include people with disabilities. In 2015, only one disabled person in the whole country benefitted from the revolving loan fund and that is deplorable,” she said.
Shiri said people with disabilities are being abused everyday but their cases are not reported because society does not respect them as human beings.
She said people with disabilities should be self-represented and not have others assume what challenges they face.
The senator, representing people living with disabilities, said only if the UNCRPD is domesticated will the rights of persons with disabilities be upheld and respected.
“The entire legal process is traumatising to a person with a disability. For example, reporting a case can be a task for someone using sign language because a police officer does not understand sign language and when it finally goes to court, interpreters are not readily available,” Shiri said.
She said the National Disability Board members were not part of the government consultation process making it flawed.
Executive director for Community Working Group Itai Rusike said it is unfortunate that people living with disabilities still continue to experience shame, stigma and discrimination.
Rusike said as people living with disabilities constitute 10 percent of the population, the resource allocation to the sector does not reflect their growing need to be fully supported.
He added that people with disabilities are also sexual beings like able bodied people and must have access to information and resources to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health.
“The Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) of persons with disabilities are often overlooked by the communities and service providers yet they have the same needs for SRHR services as everyone else.”
“People with disabilities actually have greater needs for SRHR education and care due to their vulnerability to abuse, yet the country has not done enough to popularise and translate policy documents including IEC materials into the relevant materials understood by people living with various forms of disabilities,” he said.
Rusike also said the training curriculum for health personnel needs to have a human rights approach for people living with disabilities and must also include basic training in sign language, braille and provision of disability-friendly facilities in all our health centres.

Helen Kadirire • 18 September 2016
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Towards community centred health care

June 5, 2014 Musah Gwaunza

Health Centre Committees are a mechanism through which community participation can be effectively integrated to achieve a sustainable people-centred health system at the primary care level. In recent years there has been a shift from centralised management of government structures towards more devolved models that have seen community members being empowered to contribute to the development of their communities.

More recently, the community share ownership schemes have seen community members being active in decision-making in
line with resource allocation on development issues that affect them.

Although more still needs to be done, the trend has also shifted in development partners that have over the years been dictating projects in communities, without being sensitive to community needs and priorities.

One such community empowerment initiative is the Health Centre Committee (HCCs) introduced by Government to ensure that health facilities are sensitive to the needs of communities, including contribution by community members themselves to management of these facilities at primary level.

The Primary Health Care (PHC) provides the first point of contact between the community, village health workers and the
formal health delivery system, hence becoming the most important level in the health delivery system in any country.

Zimbabwe’s National Health Policy commits the Government to ensure that communities are empowered to take responsibility for their own health and well-being, and to participate actively in the management of their local health services.

The PHC approach that was adopted by the Government in 1980 seeks to build and depends on high level of ownership and
participation by the affected communities. HCCs are a mechanism through which community participation can be effectively integrated to achieve a sustainable people-centred health system at the primary care level.

They complement vital community level initiatives like community health workers, and mechanisms for public participation at all levels of the health system.

In Zimbabwe, HCCs were originally proposed by the
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare in the early 1980s to assist
communities to identify their priority health problems, plan how to
raise their own resources, organise and manage community contributions,
and tap available resources for community development.

The
Community Working Group on Health defines a Health Centre Committee as a
joint community–community health service structure at the primary care
level of the system covering the catchment area of that primary care
facility (usually a clinic). It usually covers a ward, but may be more
or less than a ward and constituting 11-15 people.

Although ward
health teams exist at local government level in both urban and rural
areas, the health centre committee exists to provide for participation
in the functioning of the health centre and the PHC activities in its
catchment area, clarifies the Community Working Group on Health.

Mr
Itai Rusike, Community Working Group on Health director, indicated that
about 80 percent of health centres in the country have constituted HCCs
although many only exist on paper.

He said: “Despite setting their roles and functions as early as the 1980s,
HCCs still do not yet have a statutory instrument that specifically
governs their roles and functions.

This is a gap in the formal
provisions on how communities should organise on health and PHC at
primary care (health centre) level. While PHC is not only an issue for
the health sector, and is thus taken up by more general local government
structures, it is necessary that mechanisms exist within the health
sector to align the health system to PHC and community issues, as well
as to link and give leadership input to these more general structures.”

The
Ministry of Health and Child Care 2009-2013 National Health Strategy
that has now been extended to 2015 recognised this gap and made specific
note of the importance of establishing health centre committees within
the health system.

The strategy identifies that “ . . . during the
next three years, communities, through health centre committees or
community health councils, will be actively involved in the
identification of health needs, setting priorities and managing and
mobilising local resources for health.”

In 2013, according to the
Community Working Group on Health, Health Centre Committees in two
districts in Mashonaland East province collaborated with village health
workers to mobilize expectant mothers to deliver at health facilities
nearest to them, contributing to improving maternal and neonatal
survival.

Other areas where the HCCs have made a difference in
health delivery in their committees include Chikwaka community in
Goromonzi district.

According to Mr Rusike, the HCC in this
community has from 2012 until today taken the lead in mobilizing
financial and material resources – bricks, quarry, river, pit sand and
labour – to construct a maternity waiting home at a primary care
facility in their ward. The developments in these and many other
communities are crystal clear examples of how HCCs are able to organise,
identify local health problems, tap into their own available resources
and take action for community development.

Apart from improved
service delivery, a 2012 Community Working Group on Health assessment on
PHC found HCCs being associated with higher levels of satisfaction with
services, attributed to the communication, improved understanding and
support for morale that they build between communities and health
workers.

“HCCs ensure the proper planning and implementation of
primary health care in coordinated efforts with other relevant sectors.
In doing this, they promote health as an indispensable contribution to
the improvement of the quality of life of every individual, family and
community as part of overall socio-economic development,” indicated the
Community Working Group on Health.

The Community Working Group on
Health has been working with the Ministry of Health to develop and
promote the adoption of training and guidelines for HCCs. The recently
enacted constitution now includes the right to health, which gives
greater leeway to push for legal recognition of HCCs.

While
community participation demands much more than HCCs, institutionalising
and giving a formal mandate to HCCs is critical and key to achieving a
sustainable people-centred health system in Zimbabwe.

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Primary health care concerns mount

Primary health care concerns mount

November 27, 2011 

Speaking at CWGH’s 18th national meeting last week, the organisation’s executive director Itai Rusike said there was potential for rebuilding Zimbabwe’s health system from the bottom up.

“Putting in place a national PHC strategy, backed by clear service entitlements, with resources effectively applied to community and primary care levels of the health system could be an entry point to wider PHC oriented changes,” said Rusike.

“And for the communities and local health workers, it’s a matter of common sense to address health where it matters most — as close to the people as possible.”

Rusike noted that health delivery has been undermined by HIV and Aids, poverty and economic decline, social inequalities and political discord.

“As a result, despite stated policy commitments to health, communities have experienced outbreaks of epidemics and falling service quality,” he said. “At independence, the country founded its interventions in the health sector on policies of equity in health and PHC.

“This meant that not only would attention be given to treating illness, but also to promoting health, and ensuring that people do not get ill.”

Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health chairperson Blessing Chebundo (pictured) said the participation of communities was vital in improving the country’s health outcomes and systems.

“Despite this, participation is still loosely designed policy wise and hardly evaluated for its contribution to health outcomes,” he said.
He said there are currently 17 pieces of health legislation in Zimbabwe, some of them which have become outdated.

Delegates at the meeting recommended that the country should invest in community health workers for improved health outcomes at grassroots level regarding such issues as immunisation and enforcement of public health law.

Among their recommendations, they called for the production of a simplified booklet to popularise public health law information to communities and vulnerable social groups, for example people living with disabilities.

Delegates also recommended that legislation on access to free public user friendly toilets, particularly for the disabled, should be enforced while privatisation of public services and social amenities should be challenged.

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Cancer advocacy budget wins plaudits

Cancer advocacy budget wins plaudits

 Wendy Muperi • 9 January 2014

HARARE - Government has won plaudits for allocating funds for cancer advocacy in the 2014 National Budget.
Itai Rusike, Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) executive director, said the allocation was a positive development.
“A new line item, Cancer Advocacy has been allocated $500 000,” Rusike said in a post-budget analysis, describing it as a positive development in government’s latest financial plan.
Junior Mavu, Cancer Association of Zimbabwe (Caz) general manager, said the country will have to maintain the momentum in the fight against cancer.
“It is a good start for the country,” Mavu said.
“Cancer is killing a lot of people. We however, hope more funds will continue to be availed in the future.”
Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa, in his 2014 budget, allocated $337 million to the Health and Child Care portfolio, and a separate envelope for $500 000 for Cancer Advocacy.
According to the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry, at least 5 000 people are diagnosed with general cancer every year while cervical cancer accounted for 15 percent of all cancer deaths in 2010.
Despite the ravaging effects of cancer in a country where treatment costs are a top-line ripple for most patients, stakeholders felt the scourge was not being given the attention it deserved.
Mavu said 100 percent decentralisation of services was the best way to curb the disease.
“We applaud government for embarking on decentralising cancer services,” she said.
“We do not want a situation where we celebrate Harare successes while a lot of people in other cities and rural areas are suffering.
“Total decentralisation of testing services will help a lot in early diagnosis and treatment.”
She said the Harare population was responding laudably to cancer screening, evidence that awareness campaigns were being received well.
“Since Caz started screening cervical and prostate cancer in May and July last year respectively, the turn up of people has been very good. Our 10 slots per day are normally fully booked.
“Though the cases testing positive are lesser in percentage than negative ones, they are more than enough to worry the country,” she said.
Cancer causing factors include polluted air, dirty drinking water, alcohol and tobacco.
Chemotherapy costs from $100 and $1 000 per cycle depending on the cancer stage while every patient may need a minimum of six cycles and a maximum of 12. Radiotherapy costs between $3 000 and $4 000.

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‘Health centre shortage affects reproductive health’

Pregnant women walk to a health centre in this file photo

‘Health centre shortage affects reproductive health’

June 12, 2015 Shingirai Huni Local News

Gender Reporter
Long distances to health centres continue to be a major impediment to the full enjoyment of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights by communities in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.
This was raised by participants at a workshop organised by the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) in conjunction with Oxfam.
The two-day workshop which was held in Bulawayo recently, was meant to strengthen the capacity of the organisation’s partners in their response to sexual and reproductive health rights issues in communities in which they operate.
Representatives from different HIV/Aids grassroots based organisations and local authorities in Midlands and Matabeleland attended the workshop.
Some of the organisations represented at the workshop include, the Umzingwane Aids Network (UAN), Midlands Aids Caring Organisation (MACO), Hope for a Child in Christ and Youth for Today and Tomorrow (YTT).
“Failure to access sexual and reproductive health services facilities and archaic traditional practices, are some of the major barriers affecting the attainment of sexual and reproductive health rights in our communities.
“In most instances, people in Matabeleland and Midlands regions endure gruelling long distances travelling to health centres” said Nonjabulo Mahlangu (CWGH) Project Team Leader.
Mahlangu said what also clearly emerged from the workshop was that communities lack important information and knowledge on sexual and reproductive health issues.
“There’s clearly limited knowledge among communities on sexual and reproductive health issues. There’s a need to engage all stakeholders including Parliament to raise awareness on the issue” she said.
Mahlangu said her organisation will in future sponsor representatives of the organisations to meet MPs in Harare to discuss challenges they were facing.
She also encouraged the organisations to work closely with the government and local authorities in their programmes.
Most participants at the workshop also bemoaned the shortage of HIV viral load testing machines at government hospitals in Bulawayo.
“I think a lot more needs to be done in the provision of HIV testing machines. The whole of Bulawayo province is being serviced by one machine which is at Mpilo Central Hospital. The machine often breaks down thereby risking the lives of HIV positive people”, said one participant.

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Health literacy changes lives in Goromonzi

Health literacy changes lives in Goromonzi

March 5, 2015 in News

HEALTH literacy has helped improve standards of health in the Chikwaka rural area in Goromonzi district where community health workers (CHWs) are playing a leading role in encouraging locals to embrace best health care practices.

By Caiphas Chimhete

As a result of health literacy offered by CHWs such as villages health workers (VHWs), health literacy facilitators (HLFs) and health centre committees (HCCs), community participation in health programmes has also increased in the area.

Even the relationship between the community and staff at Mwanza rural health centre has greatly improved leading to an upsurge of the number of people seeking health services at the clinic.The clinic now attends to between 500 and 650 patients per month up from an average of 350 patients per month two years ago.

Unlike before, pregnant mothers now prefer to give birth at the health centre.

The local community, with the help from the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH), is currently building a waiting mothers’ shelter at the clinic to ensure that pregnant women nearing full term from the catchment can stay at the home while waiting to give birthin a clean and safe environment with aid of a skilled birth attendant.

The Mwanza Clinic waiting mothers’ home, an initiative of the community, is expected to open its doors to pregnant women this year.

Mwanza Clinic nurse-in-charge, Francis Nyakani said home deliveries in the area had significantly gone down as a direct result of intensive sensitisation efforts by CHWs on the importance of giving birth at a health centre. Presently, the clinic handles about 24 deliveries up from average of 15 deliveries per month two years ago.

“There has been a big improvement on health seeking behavior because of sensitisation efforts by community health workers,” said Nyakani. “Most women are now informed about the importance of delivering at a health centre and we give credit to our HCC members.”

He added that people living with HIV/Aids were no longer afraid of revealing their status because the community now treats the disease like any other illness.

“People living with HIV speak openly about their status in this community and they also have forums where they teach others about the importance of things like abstinence and protection,” he said.

Goromonzi is one of the districts where CWGH and Save the Children in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Care are implementing the three-year Strengthening Community Participation in Health programme.

The programme, which is being implemented in eight provinces in Zimbabwe, is designed to strengthen community participation in health for improved Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) outcomes by raising community’s awareness about their health entitlements.

“It is now easy to address our problems as a community because we were trained as HCC members starting in 2010 by CWGH,” said Mwanza Clinic HCC chairman Everisto Mupambawatye. “Ican safely say we have successful changed the people’s mindset in the surrounding communities. Pregnant mothers used to shun this clinic preferring to deliver at home but not now. Every pregnant mother is coming here.”

Most members of the community can make salt and sugar solution, they fetch water for drinking from safe sources such as boreholes, they have pit toilets at their homesand they are also aware of the “three delays”.

These are the delay in deciding to seek care, the delay in reaching a health facility and the delay in receiving appropriate care.

“Here pregnant women are registering before three months because we taught them the importance of doing so and we continue to encourage them to follow all the necessary steps until even after birth,” said Anna Takaendesa, chairperson of CWGH in Chikwaka. “Very soon pregnant women will come and wait to delivery in the waiting mothers’ shelter built by the community.”

However, the country’s maternal and child mortality rates remain worrying.

It is estimated that 10 women and 100 children die every day due to largely preventable causes. Health experts say lack of information and awareness on maternal and child also contribute to the deaths.

Mupambawatye said religious objectors still remain an impediment as they discourage pregnant women from seeking medical attention or deliver safely at a health centre.

CWGH executive director Itai Rusike said Goromonzi was one of the districts where the people are enjoying the fruits of community participation in health.He said there was evidence that community-based approaches are effective in improving the health of individuals and communities at large.

“The state of primary health care has greatly improved here as direct result of community participation and health education. People here value their health,” Rusike told a meeting of HCC members at Mwanza Clinic recently.

The concept of community participation is increasingly being recognised as essential for realising the right to health. It entails that communities are no longer inactive recipients of health care but participants in the creation of health care systems that serve their specific needs.

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A Study To Enhance Transparency And Accountability In The Management Of Health Related Issues In The Extractive Industries

A Study To Enhance Transparency And Accountability In The Management Of Health Related Issues In The Extractive Industries

CWGH with support from OSISA is undertaking this study in order to describe the current mining practices in Southern Africa including, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambiuque, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia with a special focus on community participation in mining. In this work, CWGH seeks to conduct a review of the use of health, social and environmental responsibility approaches to promote health-related actions in the operations of extractive industries – particularly relating to the health status of communities affected by the extractive industry. The review includes the effect of extractive industries on the health of surrounding communities, people employed in the industry and direct investment by extractive industries in health infrastructure and services for the communities they operate in through corporate responsibility.
The objectives of this work are:
I. To identify and analyse tools or mechanisms that are used to monitor the health impact of the mining sector in Zimbabwe.
II. To identify organizations which are directly or indirectly involved in the monitoring of health issues in the mining industries.
III. To propose areas for further research in an effort to understand the extent to which mining activities impact on the health of workers and communities.

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Accountability Loop Budget Advocacy (ALBA) Programme

Accountability Loop Budget Advocacy – Pushing Zimbabwe’s Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) agenda forward
ALBA is being implemented through a partnership that includes Community Working Group on Health (CWGH), Actionaid and Save the Children with support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The aim of the Accountability Loop Budget Advocacy is to ensure that pregnant women and children under 5 years old in Zimbabwe have access to free healthcare services through budget advocacy.
The project seeks to add value to the on-going national advocacy and media strategies of improving MNCH services in Zimbabwe. All activities are geared towards building momentum for the implementation of relevant national health policies and strategies such as the National Health Strategy of Zimbabwe, fulfillment of the 15% Abuja target and also advocating for incremental MNCH budget allocation for 2016.

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Promoting Sexual Reproductive Health Rights for Young People

Promoting Sexual Reproductive Health Rights for Young People

Background

The CWGH Youth Programme was initiated in 2004 to equip young people with information and skills to address reproductive health issues affecting them.  The programme is being implemented in 10 of the CWGH areas namely: Tsholotsho, Gweru, Plumtree, Bulawayo, Arcturus, Hwange, Vic Falls, Mutare, Filabusi and Chiredzi. Young people are trained as peer educators and peer counsellors and equipped with knowledge and skills to enable them to disseminate information to their peers in a youth friendly environment.  Each area works closely with the CWGH committee and has an adult patron who is also a member of the committee.  
Presently only two areas, namely Bulawayo and Plumtree are funded. There are funded by TDH Germany and TDH Swiss respectively in partnership with the local authority. The remaining eight areas are still active but are mobilising resources locally to hold their activities.  
Each area`s activities are coordinated by an Executive Committee whose representatives make up the Youth Programme Executive, which meet every quarter to share and document best practices, review activities implemented and chart a way forward.  The Chairperson of this committee is represented at the CWGH Annual Meetings and ensures that there youth participation and input in the broader CWGH activities.  Most of the youths in the different areas are involved in other CWGH programmes hence there is an element of the youth programme in all of the CWGH work.  

Aim of the programme

The project aims to improve the Sexual and Reproductive Health Status of Young People by using of a three pronged strategy that ensures that youths attain Sexual Reproductive Health. Youths are also equipped with information, education and life-skills that will enable them to adopt and maintain positive health behaviours.  The programme builds the capacity of the community to provide life-skills and mentoring to youths through the inclusion of adults and representatives of community structures such as Child Protection Committees, Home Based Care Workers, Village Health Workers, the local and traditional leadership in all activities implemented.  The programme also empowers youths to make use of spaces and platforms to increase their participation in decision-making processes to influence change for positive health outcomes for youths and communities at large.

Project objectives

1.    To improve the Sexual and Reproductive Health Status of young people aged between 15 and 24 years.
2.    To strengthen the capacity of youths aged between 15 and 24 years to attain sexual reproductive health and psychosocial well-being through capacity development and participation.
3.    To equip youth with information, education and life skills on HIV/AIDS and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) for the adoption and maintenance of positive health behaviours.
4.    To strengthen the capacity of the community to provide life-skills and psycho-social care and support to youths, children and the community.
5.    To create Platforms for youths to discuss SRH issues and identify areas of concern that will influence SRH programming and policy formulation in responding to their needs.
6.    To increase young people`s self sufficiency and self-relieance by establishing nutritional gardens

Activities

The programme uses participatory methodologies such as Peer Education, Auntie Stella Toolkit, Join in Circuit, Use of Psychosocial Support Tools e.g. Memory Work, Journey of Life, Tre of Life etc.  The programme trains peer educators in SRH, HIV, STIs, basic counselling, child abuse so they are able to assist their peers to make informed decisions.  Peer educators man youth corners where sport, theatre, drama, talkshows, debated and focus group discussions are used to disseminate information to young people in a frienldy and relaxed atmosphere.  Youths also conduct basic counselling sessions but work closely with youth leaders, adult patrons, community structures, health centers and the ZRP, Victim Friendly Unit where they refer cases for further assistance.   Trained youths hold communinty health actions to address prioritised health challenges they face.  The health actions are supported by the office although some are funded by locally mobilised resources.  

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Strengthening Social Accountability Monitoring and Responsiveness to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights

Strengthening Social Accountability Monitoring and Responsiveness to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights

The Strengthening Social Accountability Monitoring and Responsiveness to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) is an Oxfam-funded project under the Securing Rights in the context of HIV and AIDS Programme (SRP).  The SRP initiative aims to mitigate the spread of HIV and AIDS and uphold the rights of people infected and affected by the epidemic, especially women and girls, persons with disabilities, young people, in particular those born and living with HIV and mobile populations to exercise their rights to prevention, quality treatment and care, and sustainable livelihoods.

The CWGH project mentors and supports five of the SRP partners in Matabeleland and Midlands region namely Youth for Today and Tomorrow (YTT), Umzingwane Aids Network (UAN), Hope for a Child in Christ (HOCIC), Midlands Aids Caring Organisation (MACO) and Million Memory Programmes Zimbabwe Trust (MMPZT) to strengthen their community monitoring mechanisms for health, particularly for HIV/AIDS resources and services. The project strengthens the capacity of the five CSOs to gather evidence on access to SHR and HIV services and resources and engage relevant authorities to demand for improved quality service provision and better equitable allocation of resources.

A bottom-up approach in influencing processes from local to national level is promoted through the use of available spaces such as community dialogues, pre and post budget meetings, Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health meetings. The mentorship process includes supporting CSOs to attend national advocacy meetings such as the CWGH National Conference as well as pre and post budget meetings. These provide the CSOs with an opportunity to engage different health authorities and policy makers to deliberate on and address problems faced by communities in accessing SRH and HIV services.  The advocacy actions are aimed pushing for the State`s social accountability and responsiveness to ensure that individuals have access to SRH, HIV and health services which are affordable, available and of high quality.  Accountability of the State is essential in ensuring equitable resource allocation and effective service delivery.

The media plays a pivotal role in this project by amplifying community voices for greater State responsiveness to the access of SRH, HIV and AIDS resources and services.  Positive reporting of health related stories has been adopted by journalists as evidenced by the number of articles published in the newspapers.  The project has also assists CSOs to get their community stories published through the Ministry Health and Child Care (MoHCC)’s Health Matters Magazine, which is distributed country wide.