Action for Better Governance 

The 'Action for Better Governance' project will enable ordinary Zimbabweans to make concrete advances in their livelihoods, not through aid handouts, but by influencing local and provincial government.
 
Progressio’s advocacy specialist will train local partner staff at the Zimbabwe Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJPZ) who in turn will train women and men from the local community in setting up and running Parish Advocacy committees.
 

The aim is to tackle one of the root causes of poverty – a lack of power over decisions that affect citizens’ lives – and improve local governance so that it is: 

  • informed about and more responsive to the greatest needs of its citizens, like access to clean water for drinking and for growing food to improve diet and livelihoods;
  • held accountable to the people for its local budget decisions and actions;
  • participatory - listens to the voices of women as well as men and takes account of the priority needs of the whole community regardless of faith and gender.

In short, our aim is to help ordinary Zimbabweans create more democratic structures that address poverty and injustice.

The pilot was externally independently evaluated and recommended the successful approach is replicated in other areas.  Initial improvements included local government decisions that made a real lasting difference to poor communities.

Amplifying the voices of people affected by HIV in Zimbabwe

This three-year project aims to increase uptake of HIV services among poor and at-risk-groups, specifically employees of medium and small enterprises and in the informal sector, truck drivers, prisoners and children vulnerable to HIV and AIDS. It also seeks to improve advocacy for HIV policy and practice that benefits the target groups as well as enhance and sustain livelihoods for prisoners and ex-offenders living with HIV. 

Main activities: 

  • Train peer educators. Peer educators will train peers on HIV issues, prevention and care services.
  • Mobile VCT services will be piloted for informal sector workers with limited/no access to HIV services.
  • Workplace wellness days conducted in order to increase information and access to HIV prevention and care services for employees.
  • Support 170 new organisations to establish workplace HIV policies and committees in response to continuing high demand.
  • Establish support groups and livelihoods training for 360 prisoners and replicate the successful pilot of livelihoods inputs for 15 new released prisoners.
  • Increase the capacity of the local implementing partners to improve their response to the needs of PLHIV and those most vulnerable to HIV.
  • Update and distribute handbook on child friendly HIV programming to relevant organisations, networks and ministries, especially targeting those with limited internet access.

 

Start date: 1 August 2015

End date: 30 July 2018

Partner organisations:

Zimbabwe Association of Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO)

Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children (ZNCWC)

Zimbabwe AIDS Prevention and Support Organisation (ZAPSO)

National Employment Council for the Transport Operating Industry (NECTOI)

Locations: Nationwide

Funded by Comic Relief 

 

International Citizen Service (ICS) programme

Progressio Zimbabwe participates in the ICS programme, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development. Progressio ICS places UK volunteers aged 18-25 years with local organisations where they work alongside local young volunteers on community, education, livelihoods or environmental projects.

From January 2014, Progressio ICS volunteers in Zimbabwe will be working with the partner organisations DOMCAP and Simukai child protection programme.

You can read more about Progressio ICS in Zimbabwe here.

Recently completed projects 

Click here to find out more about our previous work in Zimbabwe.