We are strengthening the struggles of women and young people in the strongly male-dominated country. We help local women to overcome widespread violence and frequent abuses and ensure access to necessities of life such as clean water.
Population: 14.2 million inhabitants
4 out of 5 live for less than 7 kroner a day.
9 out of 10 can read and write:
Life expectancy: Women 57.5 years. Men: 56.4 years.
Location measured by prosperity and development: No. 155 of 188 countries
President: Emmerson Mnangagwa since 2017
From driver’s position to bottom position. This is how things have gone for Zimbabwe in Africa . In the 1980s and early 1990s, the country was rich and could export food to other countries, but the incumbent president for 27 years, Robert Mugabe, has ruled the country towards the abyss and uses his government army to keep the poor people in an iron grip. .
See also: Doubtful victory for Mugabe
The opportunity for citizens to express themselves freely is almost non-existent. Our work is hampered by the authorities, who keep civil society organizations like us on a short leash because we are often perceived as supporting the political winds that demand reforms and decentralization of power.
According to A2zgov, Zimbabwe’s new constitution, adopted in a referendum in March 2013, provides new opportunities for citizens to hold government accountable. The Constitution contains a so-called ‘Bill of Rights’ with more democratic rights for the citizens and increased decentralization. Such constitutional rights give civil society a foothold to work from when citizens’ rights are violated or directly violated
WOMEN IN ZIMBABWE
Domestic violence is part of everyday life for more than a third of women in Zimbabwe , and it is estimated that more than one in five women has been raped.
Although women perform 70 percent of the work in agriculture and are in charge of the day-to-day running and household, they are not allowed to buy farmland, and they are not allowed to inherit their husband’s land if he dies first. She must therefore leave the land if she becomes a widow. This means that women find it difficult to borrow money for, for example, new machines or seeds, for new livestock or for investments in small businesses that process agricultural products.
Until the education system came to a complete standstill, up to 90 percent of the girls and women managed to get a good education. But only a few of them use this education in a formal job, and very few have an impact on economic and political life. As the businesswoman and the politically conscious Rose Jena says, all women have become finance and food ministers in their own family because the money is small and the mouths are full.
Among other things, MS supports women in the slums in improving conditions in the local area by entering into dialogue with the local authorities. It is about demanding their right to, for example, access to water and about providing street lighting so that it becomes safer for women to move around in the area in the evening.
YOUNG PEOPLE IN ZIMBABWE
Young people in Zimbabwe are severely affected by unemployment, and many choose to travel to South Africa to try their luck there. Once the level of education in Zimbabwe was high, but today it is in decline.
The young people are spoken of as a “lost generation” – a lost generation – who have not received an education and now have to fight for a place in society despite lack of qualifications. That, combined with the fact that the country’s companies and industry are on their knees, does not provide many opportunities for the unskilled and young.
Fortunately, Zimbabwe has a strong civil society and a committed youth that embraces democratic values.
On top of the high unemployment and hopelessness, Zimbabwe’s young people are also struggling with HIV / AIDS. Zimbabwe is plagued by disease; among the 15-49 year olds, every fourth has HIV or AIDS.
That is why several of our partners teach young people so-called ‘lifeskills’, ie basic skills, where young people learn about how to protect themselves against HIV and avoid spreading the disease, or how they can earn money for a living so that they can manage. self.
