Harare, (New Ziana) – The Parliament of Zimbabwe, in partnership with the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS), will on Friday next week launch the second provincial phase of the National Campaign to End Child Abuse, Rape, and Teenage Pregnancies.
The event, to be held at the Mucheke Stadium in Masvingo province, will focus on promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
The inaugural provincial outreach was held in Mashonaland Central, and the focus will shift to Masvingo, a region that has recorded disturbing patterns of child sexual abuse and youth vulnerability
In a statement, the Parliament of Zimbabwe said the campaign arises in direct response to the intensifying national discourse and public outcry over the escalating prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence against children and adolescents, including the deeply troubling surge in teenage pregnancies.
“Against this backdrop, the Parliament of Zimbabwe, leveraging its constitutional oversight mandate and its pivotal role in advancing human rights, has intensified its efforts to mobilize communities and institutional stakeholders to confront these scourges head-on. The SRHR campaign is a flagship intervention under the Parliament’s broader mandate to entrench rights-based approaches to public health, gender justice, and youth empowerment,” it said.
The program is being implemented with support from the Swedish-funded SRHR, HIV and AIDS Governance Project (2019–2023), in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF).
The Parliament of Zimbabwe said the sustained campaign seeks not only to raise awareness and empower survivors, but also to expand access to SRHR services, collect data to inform policy, and foster an inclusive, community-driven dialogue.
In preparation for the event, a series of planning and coordination meetings will be held, involving Members of Parliament, ZPCS officials, civil society organisations, health professionals, traditional leaders, and law enforcement agencies.
The preparatory engagements are designed to ensure alignment of operational logistics, refinement of data tools, mobilisation of key stakeholders and the establishment of referral pathways for survivor support.
Activities during the event will include survivor testimonies, educational performances by youth groups, information booths offering health services and legal aid, as well as the administration of on-site questionnaires to gather qualitative and quantitative data that will inform future legislative interventions.
“Special efforts will be made to amplify the voices of young people and survivors, ensuring a safe, respectful, and empowering environment for open expression and engagement. This campaign is not merely a public awareness drive; it is also a critical instrument of participatory governance and legislative accountability,” the Parliament of Zimbabwe said.
To date, the SADC PF Plenary Assembly has adopted several landmark model laws which serve as legislative templates and normative frameworks for Member Parliaments including the Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children Already in Marriage (2016), adopted at the 39th Plenary Assembly in Ezulwini, Swaziland and The Model Law on Elections (2018), which provides a harmonised framework for democratic electoral governance.
Other model laws include that on Gender-Based Violence (2021), hailed for its comprehensive approach to prevention, protection, and survivor-centred justice, and the Public Financial Management (2022), designed to strengthen fiscal transparency and enhance Parliamentary oversight over public resources, among many others.
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