WUNRN
Zimbabwe - Girl Child Network -
Newsflash November 2008
Girl Child Network Website: http://www.gcn.org.zw/
Girl Child Network Founder & Director
is Betty Makoni
We
bring this In Touch Newsflash because now more than ever, the lives of girls in
Zimbabwe need consistent reportage and monitoring because with the current
hostile political and economic situation, the girls are at greatest risk of
abuse. Girl Child Network being the only organisation working at grassroots
level and targeting the most vulnerable girls in Zimbabwe, brings you news that
you would not normally receive.
Zimbabwe
- Girl Child Network
Girl Child Network In Touch Newsflash
The
news is not consistently covered by mainstream media in
It
must have been a long time since we brought to you this issue of the In Touch
Newsflash and we are back with a bang after pondering on our next step as an
organisation given the general NGO ban in
Zimbabwe
is a country that is emerging from a war like situation and it all happened in
a month or two and we are like
spectators to a fiery tale of ours; political
violence erased that we set up as GCN (girls clubs and their self
confidence) , ban on NGOs ,Global
Political Agreement signed with pomp and fanfair ushering hope and now
unsigned and hanging miserably
and sickish, Power Sharing deal dragged on and on ,SADC Urgent Summits to
resolve the Zimbabwe Crisis all hit a snag, teachers and doctors strikes and subsequent closing of schools and
hospitals in Zimbabwe, slashing of zeros on Zimbabwe currency and the zeros
reconstituting and bouncing back , 250 million percent inflation, dollarization
of the Zimbabwean economy, long queues for cash at banks, rape as a weapon of
war in Zimbabwe, xenophobia in South Africa (running from one lion and falling
into another one), cholera outbreak first in Chitungwiza where Girl Child
Network is located, final disappearance of food and drugs in Zimbabwe shops and
one can surely add on but never subtract from this list . Sometimes the
question that needs to be answered is how much can a normal human being take.
GCN wants to confirm that the rate at which
people in Chitungwiza are dying is worrying.
The situation that obtains on the ground is such that we used to go to
Unit L high density suburb cemetery to bury our loved ones every hour,
but now it's every 20 minutes that families take turns to conduct
burials.
(In picture above a girl aged 15 lost her baby and with her mother in Unit L cemetery in
Chitungwiza. Behind them and covered by grass are thousands of graves of people
stretching kilometers and kilometers)
We bring this In
Touch Newsflash because now more than ever, the lives of girls in Zimbabwe need
consistent reportage and monitoring because with the current hostile political
and economic situation the girls are at greatest risk of abuse .Girl Child
Network being the only organisation working at grassroots level and targeting
the most vulnerable girls in Zimbabwe brings you news that you do not normally
hear
News In
Brief:
v Economic Crisis and Political Violence in Zimbabwe
v Two GCN girl child leaders leave a mark at 2008 AIDS
Conference
v GCN harassed, haunted and affected by the zeros
v GCN winds up 2008 on a more hopeful note
v Leadership transition initially rough and tough but near
norming stage
v GCN employs more female drivers
v GCN to open a Communications and Development Office in
Harare
v Three more funders give GCN a financial boost
v Girls in Zimbabwe
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Economic
Crisis and Political Violence in
The Girls At
Risk Support Unit (GARSU) offers 24 hours emergency services for girls at risk
who want to escape abusive situations. GARSU based at 131 Unit F, Seke
in Chitungwiza reports that ,since March, 2008 ,hundreds of girls have
flocked the emergency centre in search of food, shelter and reunification with
displaced parents and relatives. Most parents and girls escaped from rural
areas severely affected by political
violence since May 2008. Of the 567 most
critical cases that reported at Chitungwiza headquarters, GCN has
managed to assist only 150 families with food, transport and shelter. Thanks to
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) who provided an emergency relief grant.
Thousands of girls have not managed to attend schools as the schools are closed
and teachers have been on strike in
Reports have
been received of girls starving at our Girls Empowerment Villages doorsteps.
Girls are in dire need of medication and so far GCN has been overwhelmed by the
number of girls in need of medical attention.
GCN estimates that at least two girls die daily in Chitungwiza due to
lack of medical care. GCN has made numerous appeals to men and women of
conscience in the world to help in whatever way. For now our efforts are
concentrated in saving lives. One
During
a recent confidence building workshop sponsored by Oxfam Novib, girls reported
cases of girls in mostly rural areas who fell pregnant during the political
violence because of the lawlessness that prevailed during that time. GCN is
working tirelessly to track all the cases and bring perpetrators to book
without fear or favor.
GARSU notes that girls’ lack of basic needs
particularly food is negatively affecting GCN’s empowerment programs. Most
girls are relying on wild fruits which are sometimes poisonous. We have sad
stories of girls eating poisonous wild fruits like forest yams and cooking
staple food sadza with ashes or
cow-dung.
Most girls no longer go to school and are on the
streets selling cell phone air time, tomatoes and freezits which expose them to
sexual abuse. Some extremely poor and very vulnerable girls are even begging
for food and money in the streets while others have resorted to prostitution
and early marriages.
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Two GCN girl child leaders leave a mark at 2008 AIDS
Conference
Lisa
Bonongwe (St David’s Bonda Girls High)
and Stembile Mabhena(Zengeza 1 High School) both former members of the
National Girls Executive Committee now promoted to be GCN girl child representatives on the board were sponsored
to the 2008 Mexico AIDS conference by the Stephen Lewis Foundation. They met
with hundreds of delegates at the conference and shared the Girl Child
Empowerment Model and this left many delegates to the conference perplexed. The
session sponsored by the Stephen Lewis Foundation `Whose
Vulnerability matters, Grassroots organisations celebrate 10 years working in
communities` drew long time GCN
funding partners like Oxfam Novib, Stephen Lewis Foundation and Idex. This was jointly organised by GCN and Groots
International and shared widely how the
GCN Empowerment model works and ways of replicating it at community,
country ,regional and international levels. After this session Lisa and
Stembile cannot contain the number of invitations for them to come and share
the model with other girls world wide. GCN is now trying to work out how best to carry forward
recommendations that GCN model be replicated in other parts of Africa after girls from Malawi and Guatemala
appealed to GCN to help them set up girls clubs strategy
In their own words:
I learnt a lot of
things from this conference. I have already started sharing with GCN staff
and girls in my club and all over Zimbabwe
I am going to share this information with others so that we will make a
better future with girls knowing their rights so as to fight the AIDS
pandemic-Lisa Bonongwe aged 13.
I hope that this
quarter the Girls National Executive Committee will be able to meet so that I
can share all that I learnt with them.
Likewise they can hitherto disseminate the information to girls in their
various areas of operation. Moreover I
am planning to organise an end of year gala where the club members of all
schools in my area will meet and discuss various issues. Hence I hope them to spread the knowledge
that I acquired in Mexico-Stembile Mabhena aged 17
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GCN winds up 2008 on a more hopeful note
GCN
year runs from October to September of every year and recently GCN started an
annual internal evaluation of impact of its programs and came to conclude that
at least amidst the chaotic political and economic situation in
The
SADC Gender protocol is a topical issue and GCN will take the campaign head on
like was the case with the AU protocol on women’s rights which was recently
ratified in
GCN
now works with the world’s biggest advocacy networks that include SOAWAR, AIDS
FREE WORLD, STRONG WOMEN LIST, WURN Women’s News Network, Canadian Crossroads International, Africa
Gender monitor and Amnesty International USA .
Just
recently SOAWAR approved two grants to GCN to popularise AU Protocol on women’s
rights and despite the many challenges
The
Prestigious Ginnetta Sagan Award GCN Director received has made impact both at
personal and organisational level. GCN has been nominated to testify before the
US Senate on the proposed International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) to
provide support for grassroots organisations like GCN with best practices .Now
that the US elections are over GCN Director has sent His Excellency Joe Biden
US Vice President Elect a note to say they still look forward to IVAWA
supported by him . If passed into law
the bill seeks to give protection to women and girls.
The
Global Vote involving over 22 million in over 97 000 schools in the world and
run by World Children’s Prize for the rights of the child is back and Betty
Makoni has been selected to go as a decade’s hero alongside child rights
advocates like Graca Machel. What a great way to celebrate Betty Makoni and GCN
ten years of hard work as coincidentally GCN turns ten at the same time the
Global Vote is conducted. It is promising to be a tight race and Betty Makoni
and girls in
Despite
the fact that the NGO ban derailed most of GCN programs, GCN is catching up and
is nearing clearing a heavy back load of programs. There are many funding
partners who have been patient with reports that are delayed and GCN is ever
grateful for this kind gesture.
Michelene
Risely is almost getting to the finishing touch with what looks to be a big
world documentary film featuring GCN Director Betty Makoni, girls at risk in
GCN `s Empowerment Villages and the amazing work being done by GCN staff and
girls. This is a big achievement on the part of GCN and Michelene. Despite the
recent backlash on GCN Director and the organisation, everyday there are
thousands of great women and men publicising what GCN is doing to improve the
lives of girls in Zimbabwe. The organisation has been hailed as the most
effective in
GCN
has been able to analyse the operating environment and made adjustments to its
systems and programs. .One big achievement is the appointment of an
international Honorary Board to boost fundraising and publicity of GCN programs
world wide.Two of the girl child founder
members in 1998 at Zengeza 1 High have chipped in to give advice and help
maintain original mission and vision of GCN. They have already started giving
ideas on leadership transition that has been initiated with a view of anchoring
GCN on original values and principles. Bill Sparks who is GCN Volunteer
coordinator remains a strategic partner in sharing GCN story and so he has been
invited to the Honorary Board to be finalised at board meeting of 6 December
2008.
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GCN employs more female drivers
In an effort to give a boost to women who have suffered domestic violence to transform from victims to survivors and leaders, GCN now has at least 12 women drivers assisting girls with court escorts and giving driving services for various programs. At least GCN has less headaches having to deal with vehicle abuse and stories of male drivers flirting young girls. Stories of GCN cars being parked outside public drinking places are a thing of the past.
It
is quite evident that most girls who are rape survivors now feel safer to be in
the company of female drivers. GCN continues to equip the female drivers with
other skills such as project management, counselling and empowerment so that
they do not remain vehicle drivers only but also be drivers of girls
empowerment programs.
*********************************************************************************
GCN to open a Communications and Development Office in
Harare
For
GCN staff communicating through email from Chitungwiza through email is a
nightmare. GCN Director mooted an idea that staff set up a satellite office in
*********************************************************************************
Three more
funders give GCN a financial boost
Bernard Van Leer Foundation, US State Department and OSISA have all signed up for partnership with GCN and the three organisations have offered a total of USD322 000 to GCN for year 2009. Bernard Van Leer will support GCN in child sexual abuse care program, US State Department will support GCN survivors of trafficking as well as raising awareness among Zimbabwean girls and communities on the dangers of trafficking.
OSISA
supports GCN legal aid and advocacy program and this will ensure that girls who
have suffered rape and justice delayed will be assisted. A team of young female
lawyers will be entrusted to this program and it is hoped the backlog on rape
cases will be cleared and communities will not harbour rapists for the safety
of women and girls.
GCN
warmly welcomes the three funders and invite them to visit and contact us any
time and to help us cement our new partnership for the sake of thousands of
girls who need the support in
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World’s Children Prize for the Rights of
the Child (WCPRC) Special
Girl Child Network
Director for Child Rights Heroes Decade Award
Magnus Bergmar Chief Executive of WCPRC) wrote to Betty Makoni as
follows,
Re. The World’s
Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child (WCPRC) 2009
A different
World Children’s Prize
The WCPRC 2009
will be different to the previous years. It is WCPRC’s 10th year, and also the
UN Child Convention’s 20th year. The WCPRC period will start 15 April and end
15 October. This gives a longer period for the process in the schools. There
will be a “Decade Global Vote” in which the children decide who will become
their “Decade
Child Rights Hero”. All 14 people or organisations who have received either the voting children’s award (Global Friends’ Award) or the jury children’s award (World’s Children’s Prize) will be part of the “Decade Global Vote”. You are one of the 14.There will be no award ceremony in April 2009 and the Decade Hero will receive his/her award in April 2010.
A Children’s
Child Rights TV Evening
Children all
over the world will on 20 November 2009, the 20th anniversary of the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, announce who the children’s Decade Hero
is. We want this to happen on television in as many countries as possible. We
will also promote a “The Children’s Evening for the Rights of the Child” on
national television on 20 November 2009 in many countries. We will prepare a
proposal for an about 3-4 hours TV Evening to be led by children, including
great programs for about half of this time. We will supply global videos about the
WCPRC and about the Global, as well as a
couple of short
documentary films about children and the rights of the child, and about the
children’s Decade Hero. National TV should follow up with the Global Vote in
your country, children’s voices on rights to education, not to be abused,
against corporal punishment, etc. Your country’s best young artists, who are
under the age of 18, should perform this evening. A “Children ask” on the theme
“Respect our Rights!” should be included in the evening (not for more than 30
minutes), in which a couple of children put very tuff and critical questions to
the President/Prime minister, Minister of
Children and Minister of Education. These children should have gone through a preparatory process so that they have full knowledge about the most common violations of the rights of the child in your country, and are empowered to dare to pressure the politicians. We are eager to know how you think that “The Children’s TV Evening for the Rights of the Child” can come true 20 November 2009 in your country. Please wait to contact the TV-station until we have sent a formal project presentation.
The WCPRC today
The WCPRC has
since year 2000 grown into the world's largest annual educational activity for
children’s empowerment and growth to global citizens, based on respect for
children’s and human rights, democracy, the environment, global friendship and
peace. As part of this process, the children award their prestigious prizes for
outstanding contributions to the rights of the child. The prize money helps
thousands of the world's poorest and most disadvantaged children to a better
life.
WCPRC is open
to all schools. There are today close to 47.000 schools with more than 21,3
million students in 94 countries involved with the WCPRC. Millions of them are
vulnerable children, including former child soldiers, refugees and children in
conflict zones, children who are orphans because of AIDS, genocide or the
Tsunami, former child labourers, debt slaves and children who have been living
on the streets, and children under dictatorship. Theses children, through the
WCPRC, often
for the first
time learn about children’s/human rights and democracy, after which they feel
hope and empowered. WCPRC is implemented world wide through cooperation between
close to 500 local NGOs, departments of education, companies and media projects
(Times of India’s Newspaper in Education being one of them) and through the
involvement of tens of thousands of teachers. South Africa’sMinister of
Education, Ms Naledi Pandor, writes in her annual letter to the country’s
principals:
"My goal
is that one day all
Prize).... The
WCPRC offers each learner the opportunity to explore the process of democracy
in the
context of
their own rights, as well as the rights of children all over the world.... It
is a powerful
opportunity for
learners to experience their rights to practice and prepare for responsible
citizenship
of
The WCPRC
primarily grows and scales its impact through cooperation with and between
local NGOs and departments of education, family and children. The WCPRC
supplies centrally what is needed for the educational process in each country,
but the dynamic of participation is built locally, where the growth may be very
rapid.
The patrons of
the WCPRC include Mr Nelson Mandela; HRM Queen Silvia of
WCPRC’s
partners include AstraZeneca, Abraxis Bio Science, eWork, Banco Fonder, Altor,
The Surve Family Trust and Save the Children Sweden. WCPRC receives funds from
Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency).June 23 2008 the
WCPRC was in
International
Association of Business Communicators as The most
important communication initiative on the planet.
The World’s
Children’s Prize process in short
The WCPRC
process starts by exploring the children's own situation and the general situation
in termsof rights in their country (a fact sheet is supplied for each country).
Many children learn for the firsttime from the annual prize magazine and/or
prize web (both now in ten languages), that they do have rights. They feel hope
and are empowered when they find out that they have the right to voice their
opinion and to demand that their rights are respected. With the help of the
prize magazine the children
move on to look
at the rights of the child globally, and through stories they experience the
work of the three prize candidates and the life experiences of the children for
whose rights the candidates fight. The life story of each member of the
International Child Jury teaches the children about a different aspect of
children's rights. The children also read in the prize magazine about how
children all over the world arrange their local part of the Global Vote,
helping to decide which of the candidates is to receive the prize from millions
of voting children. The children discuss democracy and arrange their own
genuinely democratic vote, with all that goes with it: voting registers and
supervisors, voting booths, ballot boxes and more. By awarding the prize sum,
the children help some of the most vulnerable children in the world to a better
life. The local media communicates information on children's rights, on the
children's demands for these rights to be respected, and on the Global Vote and
the great work of the candidates,
to an adult audience. The participating children continue to be a force for rights, democracy, respect for the environment and peace. When they become adults themselves they will have more respect for their own children's rights, make better use of their democratic right to vote, and show more respect for the environment. Perhaps while their own children participate in the World's Children's Prize....
With very best
wishes,
prize@childrensworld.org
www.childrensworld.org
CEO, World’s
Children’s Prize and Children’s World
magnus.bergmar@worldschildrensprize.org
Programs Update
Girl Child Network’s programs section has been fully packed with programs and activities meant to develop and empower the girl child and also the communities to ensure that they also respond to the plight of the girl child. Below are the major highlights of some of the programs undertaken
Girls
Empowerment Clubs Training Unit
The department has been rolling out a number of Oxfam Novib sponsored confidence building workshops just to try and instill confidence in girls especially now more than ever girls were traumatized by the political violence and the current crisis. Oxfam Novib financially supported at least 4 workshops in Harare and Hwange which saw close to a thousand girls working out ways of reconstituting into their clubs and meet more regularly to debrief on issues affecting them .GCN realised that lady teachers need to go through the same processes and so organized two debriefing camps .A total of 967 girls and 100 club coordinators have since gone through confidence building and a lot acquired skills on counseling and discussed coping strategies .During the confidence building and debriefing sessions many girls reported that during political violence many girls were raped and many girls got pregnant. GCN is reaching out to all girls who suffered rape with the hope that they get medical attention and justice
Girls
Empowerment Clubs-Management and Administration
During this period the officer in charge of girls clubs conducted a survey to ascertain how many club coordinators are still conducting club business and how many clubs are still active. The situation so far is disturbing as most schools have been closed and most teachers left the country when political violence was at its peak. Also because there was an NGO ban on field trips the officer has not been able to reach out to as many clubs as we would have wished to
Advocacy and Lobby
GCN partnered with SOAWAR on advocacy and
Lobby around the AU protocol on women’s rights. The good news is that the AU
Protocol on women’s rights has been ratified in
GCN continues its campaign on violence
against women and girls and GCN became the first organisation to send out an
appeal to all women in the world to stop advocate to AU and UN for violence to
stop in
Information, Documentation and dissemination program
A total of 20 000 pamphlets and girls newsflash were widely distributed in the whole country so that girls get as much information on rape and other forms of abuse suspected then were rampant due to political violence. A freepost service has enabled a lot of girls to reach GCN and ask for help .Girls are now able to send their letters from outside and then later a rescue mission is sent to help them
Community Development and Empowerment Program
The program that has been successfully rolled out is the anti trafficking in humans where many communities are being made aware. GCN also scored a first in supporting 10 Community Based organizations to apply for funding. For instance both Ray of Hope –a network of domestic violence survivors and Mbuya Kadzunge Kind Hearted Organisation have received funding from GCN long term partners like Global Fund for women and Firelight Foundation. GCN believes that community based organisations if wholly supported can take off some work from GCN and reach to intended beneficiaries faster and so our commitment to helping them set up strong organisations
GCN helped a children
shelter to procure foodstuffs to feed children from
Girls at
Risk Support Unit (GARSU)
At least 21 girls have been assisted through the
Daily girls are being assisted to get justice
through the courts. Cases of rape have increased from 5 per day to 10 and so
one more lawyer has been deployed to the Girls At Risk centre to assist girls
at the courts .Many cases of girls starving at our doorsteps continue to receive
urgent attention through foodstuffs purchased from
Despite all that GCN has done to support the
education of girls, the most disappointing thing is that this whole year, no
child has continuously attended school
and so GCN has joined other organisations like UNICEF in coming up with a plan
on how best Zimbabwe education system can help the girls to attain education
However, the department has also some positive
news as many girls on our scholarships have excelled in their studies and one
in particular has been accepted on the
News from Girls Empowerment Villages
All Girls Empowerment Villages are up and running and continue to admit girls at risk for a period of time pending successful rehabilitation. Chitsotso had 18 girls and about 8 have been reunified with families. Just recently Rotary Club of Canada and Artists International made a generous donation to the village and this really assisted a lot of girls. Egmont Trust has also been there with a grant that has changed the lives of girls
On a sad note Chief Naboth Makoni who is architect of Girls Empowerment Villages is no more but this is still a closely kept secret by the tribe of Makoni because his death will be officially announced next year as per customary procedures. Girls are really sad about his sudden death and more and more girls are flocking the Girls Empowerment Villages to pay their last tribute but all this is done privately until the official announcement of his death in September 2009
Hwange is host to a young mother of 18 who has triplets and so far the triplets who had suffered measles are healthy looking and have received all the attention from GCN .At least our service at the Girls Empowerment Villages is to ensure no life gets lost.
Chihota under the
leadership of Elizabeth Kamoto has turned out to be a shining example of Girls
Empowerment Villages. They have taken a dual approach where all girls close to
the
Realizing that all Girls
Empowerment Villages are filled to capacity, GCN Director has facilitated the
procurement of foodstuffs from
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