TellZim reporter
Limited resources have been cited as one factor hampering Civic Society Organizations (CSOs) from reaching out to people notably youth in marginalized communities for the purpose of ensuring they access information and services on Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH).
Speaking during a ‘Girls choose’ champions engagement meeting organised by MyAge in Masvingo on November 2, the organisation’s Board Chairperson Angeline Mikiri bemoaned limited resources as the major challenge obstructing the organization from reaching out to marginalized people though the youth there possess much potential as future national leaders.
“When I look at young people, I see people with potential to develop Zimbabwe or even the continent of Africa, but it is very unfortunate that where they spend their time, they do not have opportunities to develop themselves as young people.
“ I feel MyAge as an organization is being limited in terms of resources to reach various areas so that the voices of those marginalized youth can have their voices amplified and be heard by various constituencies that can help them.
“Youth in the remotest parts of Zimbabwe need that conscentization should there be more resources. I have observed that there are so many talented boys and girls out there with potential of greatness out there, but because they are being limited of what they can access in society, our wish is that young leaders in MyAge if capacitated should go to those communities and help develop them,” said Mikiri.
She also said as an organization they are concerned about the increased effects of drugs on young people with some turning fatal.
“Young people are suffering silently from drugs because they do not have anyone to share such problems with like they are neglected and ignored. MyAge is trying to get to the bottom of such problems as we cannot continue losing young people to these societal ills,” she added.
MyAge Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Isheanesu Chigumbo said lack of information access to SRH by People with Disabilities (PWDs) is another cause for concern for the organization.
“One of our projects focused on PwDs after noticing that there is a gap in terms of actual inclusion in service provision and prioritization of such people during Covid-19 era or even SRH. We have noted that in programming people just talk and deliberate on issues of inclusion of such people, but when it comes to the actual practice, those people are left out as the resources allocated for them would be used for the benefit of the other constituency that is not theirs.
“There has been a lack of disability-responsive information and services to Covid-19, SRH, HIV and AIDS targeting young people. All the information was prepared in such a manner that people with visual, speech and hearing impairments could not access it,” she said.
The engagement meeting saw ‘girls choose’ champions sharing experiences on the works they are carrying out in communities notably Masvingo district.
Also in attendance were stakeholders from the media, Women Coalition in Zimbabwe (WCoZ), Ministries of Youth, Women Affairs, Health and Child Care, Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) and SAYWHAT.
