Mashonaland West Province

Mashonaland Region GBV prevention, services, and response, programs cover 7 Districts of Makonde, Hurungwe, Mbire, Muzarabani, Mt. Darwin, Rushinga, and Shamva. Community interventions included Safe Spaces, GBV community mobilization and sensitization, GBV Surveillance, and Mobile GBV referral pathways through Stop Centres. These programs enhanced community awareness of GBV issues and uptake of services.

Safe Spaces Programming

The Safe Space model in the six districts of Mashonaland West which were funded through the Japanese Embassy, Spotlight Initiative and USAID. They were a critical risk mitigation strategy for youth engagement and GBV risk reduction in the COVID-19 context. It was customized to provide women and youth both boys and girls the opportunities for livelihood and economic empowerment skills development. The core principle of empowerment initiatives within safe spaces was the co-creation concept, where specific livelihood programs were fully designed by members based on their interests and district-specific characteristics. Within the COVID-19 context, safe spaces also became safe hubs for the dissemination of COVID-19 Interpersonal Communication information, SRHR, and maternal health information and referrals. Women and girls were directly engaged in the production of PPE materials such as cloth masks, for sustainable dissemination and utilization within the recipient communities.

Sista2Sista

Through the support of sista2sista mentors (specialized Behaviour Change Facilitators) adolescent girls and young women can enroll in a one-year project of sensitization, including various integrated SRHR/GBV and life skills topics. Using a structured guide, the comprehensive intervention moves from providing information on GBV to providing the young women with life skills covering self, social, and financial awareness and aims at increasing their knowledge and utilization of integrated GBV/SRHR services thereby increasing their agency to make informed choices to protect themselves from harmful practices. The Sista2Sista Program is running in Mt. Darwin and Rushinga Districts.

GBV Shelters

The organization has 3 shelters operational in the Mashonaland Region, that is Hurungwe, Makonde, and Muzarabani. In the period under review, 661 people accessed GBV Shelter services, as walk-in, phone-in, or admitted clients at the Shelter. The services offered at the shelter are mainly counseling with further referrals to health, police, and legal services.Survivors in the shelter participate in various livelihood projects and have access to project starter packs upon discharge.