The Safeguarding and Sustainable Livelihoods pillar continue to reach out to Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), adolescents, youth and their families in Zimbabwe with programmes that seek to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS by providing a comprehensive and sustainable continuum of services. The pillar is implementing a five-year-long program (2022-2027), titled the DREAMS- Support, Maintain, Advocate, reduce Risk and Transform (SMART) Girls which is a follow-on program after the DREAMS initiative (2016-2022).
For the next five years, DREAMS SMART Girls program is a partnership to reduce new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women in Zimbabwe. DREAMS aims to help girls develop into Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe women. DREAMS SMART-Girls has already reached more than 59,000 adolescent girls and young women and SPACE for OVC will reach 70,000 most vulnerable orphans and vulnerable children, in just the first year.
The DREAMS SMART Girls program continues to provide socio-economic interventions that reduce vulnerability to HIV and AIDS, contributing to HIV epidemic control in Zimbabwe. On the other hand, the DREAMS- SMART Girls program is designed to ensure girls develop into Determined Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe women towards the realization of the 95-95-95 World Health Organization targets towards HIV epidemic control in Zimbabwe.
DREAMS SMART-Girls Objectives:
- Increase Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) access to high-impact HIV prevention services and activities according to the DREAMS package.
- Strengthen the capacity of families and communities to provide a safe and supportive environment for AGYW; and
- Strengthen systems for planning, coordinating, monitoring and assuring the quality of programs for AGYW.