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Girls Pulse June 2023 Edition
From the Editor’s Desk
Hello Shamwari!
Welcome to yet another edition of the Girls Pulse. The month of June was filled with so much activity, as we engaged with girls through different initiatives in their communities.
In June, Shamwari Yemwanasikana was running the child marriages, and the drug and substance abuse campaigns, which will continue running throughout the 3rd quarter of 2023
Our World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child program is booming, and we are engaging with thousands of children, teaching them about their rights. We commend government efforts to pass the Children’s Amendment Bill, which sees to it that child rights violators are brought to book. This was one of the key highlights for the month of June.
Thank you all for support, there is no Shamwari Yemwanasikana without you
Do not forget to subscribe to our social media pages to receive daily updates on SYS activities.Let’s see what June had for us…
Children’s Amendment Bill
When children’s matters take priority, we as Shamwari dzevana (exclusive friends of children) are happy. We applaud the Parliament of Zimbabwe for passing the Children’s Amendment Bill. The bill aims to strengthen child protection by aligning the existing Children’s Act with the Constitution and International conventions.
Some important points to note include:- Removing the distinction between children and young persons and calling everyone under the age of 18 a child.
- Changing the designation of “child in need of care” to include children at risk of being unlawfully married or pledged in marriage, pregnant children, and unaccompanied children. The definition of “parent” to include biological parents, whether they are married or not.
- In addition, the Bill establishes the Child Protection and Welfare Council, which will have additional functions, including preparing a national action plan every five years to protect vulnerable children and promoting children’s rights.
The passing of this Bill marks a crucial milestone in Zimbabwe’s commitment to upholding the rights and wellbeing of children. Aligning legislation with our constitutional provisions and national standards shows that the government is taking decisive action towards ensuring a safer and more secure environment of our children.
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Girls Pulse February Edition 2023
FEBRUARY 2023
Let’s take a glimpse of February.
Our Campaigns
Drug and substance abuseChurch engagement on drugs and substance abuse. On Sunday the 12th of February our Development and Partnerships Manager, Lisa Bonongwe and Communications Officer, Tapiwanashe Chifamba visited the United Methodist Church in Mabelreign for a church engagement with the teen church.
The purpose of the talk was to engage with the teenagers on substance abuse, and possible ways to deal with the problem in their communities.
The facilitators engaged with the youth on what they think are the determinants of drug and substance abuse in their society, and what they think should be done to address it. The teenagers also shared their experiences with drugs, and what they are experiencing at school, home, and community. The facilitator led the discussion on what support they need from their parents, and the society for them to be safe from substance use.
The engagement ended with short video interviews of the teenagers saying what they think about drugs and substance use.
Community Development Committees (CDCs)
Our CDCs have been running campaigns in their different areas of operation. They recently carried out awareness on drug and substance abuse in Harare and Mashonaland East respectively. They have been sharing on the ground experiences on the vice. informing us about how the issue of drug and substance abuse is mainly affecting the communities they come from, the cases that they come across as well as the damage being caused by such.
Read more on February Newsletter
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GIRLS PULSE APRIL 2023EDITION
April 2023
Let’s take a look at what transpired in the month
of April
What a great month we had! This is a special edition as we celebrate our wins and take time to reflect on the gaps within the girls’ movement development.
We have been running campaigns on drug and substance abuse, human trafficking and period poverty. As a community we have been working towards combating all challenges and problems arising as a result of unforeseen consequences of drug and substance abuse, and period poverty.
I would like to commend the dedication and support of our Shamwari Yemwanasikana community, we appreciate you. Our Community Development Committees (CDCs), men’s and boys’ forums, and local churches have been actively involved in campaigns in the community. We are also proud of our girls that are making waves in the leadership spaces in their schools, well done champions.
Ekenia T. Chifamba
Executive Director (Shamwari Yemwanasikana)Shamwari Yemwanasikana with support from the ZRP Victim Friendly Unit engaged in an information on-wheels awareness campaign in Mbare community, where we were raising awareness on drug and substance abuse and its effects on families, communities, and the drug users’ lives.
The objectives of the on-wheels campaign was to raise awareness on the effects of drug and substance abuse, to identify the specific drugs and other child and adolescent problems in the community causing drug abuse, and to assess the level of risk of drug abuse among the youth and the relationship between drug abuse and mental health.
Partnerships in the fight against human trafficking.
The action plan is a celebrated milestone, as Shamwari Yemwansikana with support from Nottingham University, Childline, Bindura University of Science Education, and Chinhoyi University of Technology is currently implementing an initiative towards curbing trafficking in persons in Zimbabwe, and through this initiative, they participated in the drafting of this national action planRead more on April Newsletter
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GIRLS PULSE MAY 2023 EDITION
May 2023
Let us look into what happened in May
Projects are mere temporary endeavours meant to address needs. However, the fruits of the Borehole diaries project continue to be long-lived way after the project termination. Borehole Diaries sought to engage community members on cases of Gender Based Violence cases at water collation points. We witnessed the project in action past its lifeline when we visited a water collection point in Unit A. Like any water collection day, a group had come to fetch water. One woman who had her 6 buckets spoke to us expressing gratitude to the borehole committee.
Fighting GBV is not an event but a continuous commitment. Shamwari Yemwanasikana attended the Spotlight Initiative #ShakeoffGBV event at National Arts Gallery where we had a Zumba session led by Zorro Trained.
The University of Zimbabwe Open Day Facility Visit
Shamwari Yemwanasikana attended the Open Day Facility Visit at The University of Zimbabwe organized by the Department of Creative Media Communications. Present were the department 4th year students, ZBC Creative Manager, Herald Manager, WISSPAS and SYS, and the theme for the day was “Industry meets Academia”.
Students from the Department of Creative Media and Communications exhibited their projects. From Fine Arts, there were portraits and canvas paintings, TV and Film displayed their documentaries and movie available on YouTube. There was also a stand on university newspapers.
Mr Mhandu, the guest of Honour who is the Creative Manager for ZBC gave a word of advice for students to be competent if they want to make it in the media industry. They need to have interest. He gave expectations for the radio and TV industry, which is grooming and etiquette, confidence, good communication and interpersonal skills etc. He said branding is key in creative work for any industry. SYS gave insights into the role of the media department and shared best practices on dissemination of information, as well as the role of communication and media in advancing girls’ rights advocacy, fundraising and awareness raising were some of the shared roles. SYS also, highlighted some of the work aligned to the department, which can be harnessed into partnership through documentaries, newspaper articles, radio session, TV sessions, murals, jingles, music, poems and social media engagements.
