The Sunday Mail
Tadiwa Nyatanga-Pfupa
FOLLOWING the recent appointment of Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Her Excellency, Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa as Vice President of the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), a stakeholder consultation meeting on the Draft Framework for Engagement of the Office of the First Lady was held on July 12 in Harare.
OAFLAD developed a strategy for the organisation. Zimbabwe will be guided by this strategy in coming up with a localised version that suits us as a nation. The Draft Framework is on HIV, Health and Development for the period 2019 to 2023 and is being led by a consultant, Dr Brian Maguranyanga.
The meeting was attended by participants from the UN family, civil society organisations, National AIDS Council, the Ministry of Health and Child Care and other line ministries.
The First Lady has been commended for her passion about health and the welfare of vulnerable members of the society, including those in hard to reach areas.
Highlighted below are some of the issues that Amai Mnangagwa touched on:
There has been a lot of talk about gender-based violence and very little action. She appealed to UN agencies to assist technically and financially in this regard. She is keen to see health institutions having wards, specifically for survivors of GBV and rape, especially young children.
She encouraged stakeholders to be all embracing as no one should be left behind in programming. There are plans to engage community leaders, among them chiefs’ wives, to assist in the removal of harmful cultural practices that impede on interventions to reduce HIV transmission.
There will be a men’s conference in the near future so that men are involved in issues concerning gender-based violence, early child marriages and other pertinent issues as men are not participating in individual and community health issues.
