16 July 2021
Lack of security in maternity homes
concerns CYDT
CYDT has demanded tightened security for maternity homes in the
aftermath of multiple rape cases involving pregnant women in Matobo
District Hospital and Manama Mission Hospital. Pregnant women got
attacked by men who easily got access to their maternity premises as
they were not well guarded.
CYDT condemns these violent acts on pregnant women and believes it
within women’s Sexual Reproductive Health Rights, to demand improved
security to prevent them from being sexually abused.
As enshrined in the Zimbabwe Constitution of Zimbabwe Section 76
which states that every citizen of Zimbabwe has the right to sexual health
care services, and in tandem with Sustainable Development Goals Number 3,
4, 10 and 16 (Good Health and Wellbeing, Gender equality, Reduced
Inequalities, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), it is imperative that all
relevant stakeholders prioritize the issue and come out with the best short
term and long term strategies that will enhance the protection of pregnant
women.
Improved and tightened security at local maternity homes will bring
physical, psychological and emotional relief to pregnant women who many
of them might be afraid to reside in these maternity homes after these attacks.
In addition, thorough investigations by the police will ensure that the rapists
are brought to book, hence bringing closure for the affected victims.
While pregnant women continue facing different challenges that include
and are not limited to the lack of health infrastructure, lack of services like
clean water and sanitation, lack of transportation, unavailability of essential
medicines and the lack of community support as most community elders are
strong believers of traditional ways of taking care of pregnancies, it is
imperative to appreciate the work being done by the few existing local health
centres that have created facilities for housing pregnant women who are close
to delivering their babies for instance Maphisa District Hospital and Manama
Mission Hospital. More support is needed for these hospitals so they can
develop and renovate its facilities for better service delivery.
Developing story: Woman raped near Maphisa GMB
While still reeling from the raping of pregnant women in Maphisa
District Hospital, a woman has allegedly been raped in Maphisa District,
raising concerns that the district is now filled with rapists.
A member of Matobo Youth Development Initiative, Descent Dube
wrote on his twitter account, “Maphisa is becoming a dangerous place for
women. Another sister has been raped near Maphisa GMB this morning. This
follows after two pregnant women were raped at Maphisa Hospital’s
maternity home last Wednesday. Sokulabobhinya eMaphisa!”.
These are extremely disturbing developments and CYDT demands a
collective reaction from the police, local leaders and other stakeholders. The
Sexual Reproductive Health Rights of women extremely matters during this
pandemic as abusers take advantage of less movements to rape women.
‘lets adhere to COVID 19 protocols’
Nonkwane Village youths in Umzingwane Districts have encouraged other villagers to
continue masking up, social distancing and washing hands with sanitizers when
entering public platforms as COVID 19 cases continue to soar.
“We need to be united and strict amongst ourselves. For instance, we can encourage
each other to wear masks, tell those who are not wearing masks properly to correct that error.
We shouldn’t let our guard down as the pandemic is still raging and killing our friends and
families,” a concerned youth from Umzingwane said.
The youth also challenged essential public services like clinics and shops to be strict in
their entrances as in some shops they are allowing people to enter without sanitizing. “In
some public spaces, sanitisers are just a formality to trick authorities like the police instead
of making sure that people wash their hands before entering. Attitude change will save us
all,” said the youth..
Young people bemoaned the lack of testing and vaccines in Umzingwane District. One
youth alleged that, “on Wednesday, Nswazi Clinic was focusing on Nonkwane Village in
Ward 6 that has more than 1000 people, but only 11 people were vaccinated. After that they
were told the vaccine was no longer available.”
$120 million loan made available for youths
EMPOWERBANK has launched a $120 million youth loan designed to help youths
aspiring to be entrepreneurs with much needed start-up capital. In Matabeleland
South, young people face different challenges mainly rooted on unemployment and lack
of capital to start of their careers.
The situation has been further exacerbated by the prevailing COVID 19 conditions that
have made youth survival difficult. Majority are unemployed while others survive on
artisanal mining. Many are still under parental care despite having good skills and ideas to
pursue their own businesses.
The recent launching of the EMPOWERBANK’s $120 million Youth Business Starter
Packs (YBSP) programme could significantly help Mat South youths with the potential to
become future business moguls especially in a province with rich mineral resources.
When launching the YBSP programme, the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and
Recreation Dr Kirsty Coventry said young people must feel free to access
EMPOWERBANK loan as it is youth friendly and would contribute to achieving a stable
economy as reported by the Herald (16 June 2021).
While the role out of the YBSP programme is not yet clear, it is important to appreciate
EMPOWERBANK for realising youth potential in the development of the country
economically. CYDT prays that money will be transparently managed and benefits the
youths. The organisation will be following up on the matter to ensure that Mat South youth
are not left behind.
CYDT Activities
CYDT conducted a young women leadership training which was held virtually on
ZOOM. Gwanda youths participated in this meeting. The training was held to
motivate young women to aspire to represent fellow women in public offices.
An Anti-Corruption forum was also held on zoom , where we had artisanal and
small scale miners from Umzingwane, Matobo and Gwanda sharing their
testimonials on how they have been prejudiced in their operations in the mining
sector. ZACC representatives also took part in this meeting. A case from
Umzingwane revealed that they had been illegally allocated mining claims for
women empowerment, were they were later extorted of their funds which they had
been advised to pay in the process and some of the mining equipment they had
purchased to operate in those illegal claims. ZACC who had been engaged by
CYDT advised the whistleblower to compile names, contacts and evidence of the
people who were organizing these allocations of illegal mining activities for further probing.
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