The human resource implications of improving financial risk protection for mothers and newborns in Zimbabwe

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Secondary schooling and rural youth transitions in Lesotho and Zimbabwe

Based on case studies centred on two rural secondary schools in Lesotho and Zimbabwe, this paper examines the gendered impacts of schooling on young people’s transitions to adulthood. School attendance is shown, first, to disrupt the conventional pathways to adulthood: young people attending school may leave home sooner than they otherwise would, and take responsibility for their day-to-day survival, while marriage and childbearing are often delayed. More significantly, secondary schooling reflects, and contributes to, a growing sense that adulthood itself is not fixed. An alternative version of adulthood is promoted through schools in which formal sector employment is central. Yet while young people are encouraged to opt for, and work towards, this goal, only a minority are able to obtain paid employment. The apparent possibility of determining one’s own lifecourse serves to cast the majority of young people as failures in their transitions to adulthood

Secondary education reform in Lesotho and Zimbabwe and the needs of rural girls: Pronouncements, policy and practice

Analysis of the educational needs of rural girls in Lesotho and Zimbabwe suggests a number of shortcomings in the current form of secondary education, and ways in which it might be modified so as to serve this sizeable group of students better. Several of the shortcomings, notably in relation to curricular irrelevance and excessive focus on examinations, have long been recognised, including by politicians. Yet political pronouncements are seldom translated into policy, and even where policy is formulated, reforms are seldom implemented in schools. This paper makes use of interviews with educational decision-makers in the two southern African countries and a range of documentary sources to explore why, despite the considerable differences between the two contexts, much needed educational reforms have been implemented in neither

The local economic development processes in low-income countries: the case of the metropolis of Chegutu in Zimbabwe

Local authorities are widely regarded as catalysts accelerating localised processes of economic development in industrialised countries but in low-income countries they are perceived as dysfunctional, inefficient and ineffective in meeting and addressing societal demands. This abstract view is however, not grounded in empirical research. As such, utilising the case of the metropolis of Chegutu a survey was designed to empirically explicate the economic processes militating its economic development. The findings are useful to policy-makers, local government authorities and management scholars. The study's unique contribution lies in its examination of the processes of local economic development in a low-income country

Seed system security assessment: Zimbabwe

This report presents the results of a Seed System Security Assessment in Zimbabwe, implemented during July 2009

Transformation in realising women's land rights and access to justice: lessons from the law in action in Tanzania

Women’s land rights have been part of land law reform agendas taking place across Africa since the 1990s. In 1999 Tanzania was at the forefront, enshrining women’s equal rights to land in the country’s Land Acts. Yet how effective has the legislation been for women who claim a right to land in practice? Is an individual able to access justice effectively through the legal system? This paper examines the transformative possibilities and limits of Tanzania’s land law reforms, both within and beyond the walls of the courtroom. It presents an overview of three lessons for policy and practice drawn from in-depth ethnographic research published in the author’s book, Women, Land and Justice in Tanzania (Woodbridge: James Currey, 2015). It is argued, firstly, that an holistic approach to land, marriage and inheritance law reform is needed. Secondly, law reform does not in itself bring about social transformation. An individual’s ability to access justice is significantly affected by key social and political actors within family and community who interact with local courts. Thirdly, courts must ‘ask the woman question’ and recognise the implicit male bias that shapes the production and weight given to certain kinds of evidence in land cases. Gendered norms and social power relations remain critical factors affecting women’s land rights and access to justice in practice

Zimbabwe National Mine Action Strategy 2018-2025

This National Mine Action Strategy, the first of its kind in Zimbabwe, presents the overall vision, mission, goals and objectives of Zimbabwe’s mine action programme for the period 2018-2025. The strategy’s timeline corresponds to Zimbabwe’s Article 5 Extension Request, submitted in March 2017 and its end state is the completion of clearance obligations under Article 5 of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC). Its vision is for a mine/ERW-free Zimbabwe where women, girls, boys and men safely engage in sustainable livelihood activities and where mine/ERW victims are fully integrated into society. While its mission is to develop a sustainable national mine action programme that facilitates effective and efficient survey and clearance activities and addresses the needs of affected communities through well-coordinated activities in accordance with national mine action standards and convention obligations

Explaining inconsistencies between data on condom use and condom sales

BACKGROUND: Several HIV prevention programs use data on condom sales and survey-based data on condom prevalence to monitor progress. However, such indicators are not always consistent. This paper aims to explain these inconsistencies and to assess whether the number of sex acts and the number of condoms used can be estimated from survey data. This would be useful for program managers, as it would enable estimation of the number of condoms needed for different target groups. METHODS: We use data from six Demographic and Health Surveys to estimate the total annual number of sex acts and number of condoms used. Estimates of the number of sex acts are based on self-reported coital frequency, the proportion reporting intercourse the previous day, and survival methods. Estimates of the number of condoms used are based on self-reported frequency of use, the proportion reporting condom use the previous day and in last intercourse. The estimated number of condoms used is then compared with reported data on condom sales and distribution. RESULTS: Analysis of data on the annual number of condoms sold and distributed to the trade reveals very erratic patterns, which reflect stock-ups at various levels in the distribution chain. Consequently, condom sales data are a very poor indicator of the level of condom use. Estimates of both the number of sexual acts and the number of condoms used vary enormously based on the estimation method used. For several surveys, the highest estimate of the annual number of condoms used is tenfold that of the lowest estimate. CONCLUSIONS: Condom sales to the trade are a poor indicator of levels of condom use, and are therefore insufficient to monitor HIV prevention programs. While survey data on condom prevalence allow more detailed monitoring, converting such data to an estimated number of sex acts and condoms used is not straightforward. The estimation methods yield widely different results, and it is impossible to determine which method is most accurate. Until the reliability of these various estimation methods can be established, estimating the annual number of condoms used from survey data will not be feasible. Collecting survey data on the number of sex acts and the number of condoms used in a fixed time period may enable the calculation of more reliable estimates of the number of sex acts and condoms used

Demographic and health survey

"The 2005-2006 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (2005-06 ZDHS) was implemented by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) from August 2005 to March 2006. The 2005-06 ZDHS is one of a series of surveys undertaken by the CSO as part of the Zimbabwe National Household Survey Capability Programme (ZNHSCP). Macro International Inc. provided technical assistance and funding through the MEASURE DHS project, a USAIDfunded project providing support for the implementation of population and health surveys in countries worldwide. The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MOH&CW), the Zimbabwe Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) and the Musasa Project contributed significantly to the design, implementation, and analysis of the ZDHS results. Other agencies and organizations facilitating the successful implementation of the survey through technical and/or financial support include the Government of Zimbabwe, the National Microbiology Reference Laboratory (NMRL), the USAID/Zimbabwe Mission, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID). " - t.p. verso"March 2007."Also available via the World Wide Web.Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-298)