The Sunday Mail
AFRICAN Union (AU) Goodwill Ambassador for the Campaign to End Child Marriage Dr Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda (NG) will be completing her tenure with the continental body this month. Our Gender and Community Editor, Fatima Bulla-Musakwa (FBM), spoke to Dr Gumbonzvanda — who is also the founder of Rozaria Memorial Trust, an organisation working with survivors of child sexual abuse and gender-based violence — about her work.
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FBM: What have been the highlights of your tenure as AU goodwill ambassador?
NG: In 2014, when the AU adopted the Campaign to End Child Marriage, the issue was accepted as a priority but there were some pockets of resistance. My highlight is that today we have more than 30 countries in Africa that have launched national action plans on ending child marriages. At the same time, AU Heads of State adopted the Africa Common Position to End Child Marriage in 2015.
The continental commitment at the Heads of State level, including appointment of a presidential champion, was also a major highlight.
I feel we have sustained a public visibility on the issue in a significant way. We have had increased political will and national programmes. A number of countries have adopted laws on ending child marriage. There has been a groundswell in communities doing prevention work; offering legal and social services.
Also, young people, both girls and boys, who experienced child marriage, are speaking out.
FBM: What were your major areas of focus?
NG: I focused on four main areas. First was the clear understanding that the highest number of children at risk are in rural areas. Secondly, I focused on education as a prevention issue, knowing that if girls are educated and go to school, it will offer greater protection and prevention.
The third aspect I looked at is access to legal and healthcare services for survivors of GBV (gender-based violence), because you must deal with the issue of justice.
So, it has been important for me to say, when a child is violated, how are they supported to access justice?
I also focused on their health because I also run a shelter, and I have seen that a number of girls who come to Rozaria Memorial Trust are living with HIV, which they contracted as a result of rape.
The fourth area is supporting girls who experienced child marriage to rebuild their own lives either by going back to school or having livelihoods and skills. Advocacy for going back to school has been a strong area, with technical, vocational and educational training being very important.
FBM: Zimbabwe is grappling with cases of child sexual abuse, please, explain the major causes?
NG: Zimbabwe has a good Constitution and many laws that can protect girls. The greatest challenge that we have had in Zimbabwe is accountability. It’s not that people do not know that it’s wrong to abuse children, but I think there is no respect for the law and, at times, some people might not know the law.
However, even if one does not know the law, people should naturally know that it’s wrong to abuse a child.
So, the greatest challenge is enforcement of existing laws.
The other challenge in communities is that people use traditions and religion to justify child marriage.
It means people might actually know that it is wrong but they try to use religion to justify their actions.
Another challenge is poverty, which is resulting in some children, including girls, dropping out of school. They are lured with very little money or look at marriage as an option out of poverty.
But we know that marriage does not get anybody out of poverty.
It actually creates more poverty. So, if we address the issue of enforcement, negative social norms and the underlying issues of poverty in the context of gender inequalities and disparities between urban and rural areas, it will be very critical in moving the needle and ensure that we make strides in our efforts.
FBM: What have been the greatest challenges you faced in finding solutions?
NG: The greatest challenge in finding solutions is that many people point to what needs to be done and by who, but do not take sufficient action at their own level. For instance, there are those who point out that we need families to change behaviour and yet do not speak out if the abuse is happening in their own family. They want other families to address the issue but would hesitate to call each other out in their own families.
So, personal accountability is one of the challenges that is limiting the progress we want to see.
Second, the local structures that we have, whether for traditional leaders or the victim-friendly unit at district level, are under-resourced. They don’t even have a car; if they have it, they don’t have fuel.
They may have a small number of personnel yet they have to cover long distances for rapid response.
We also need more information and support to young people themselves around sexual health and reproductive rights.
They have to know how to manage relationships so that they are not exploited.
FBM: What is your reaction to the situation of parents/guardians turning perpetrators?
NG: When protectors become perpetrators, it complicates the issues and make them much more difficult to address. Parents and guardians are abusers if they are condoning the practice or accepting lobola.
The first challenge is that the child would hesitate to report the matter because, if he or she reports, there is a risk of being thrown out of the house. I have had many children at my shelter who have run away from their parents or guardians, who were either forcing them or were accomplices. The child becomes more vulnerable and may have nowhere to go. It also complicates investigations because the investigator would need to get the evidence or arrest the same parent or guardian.
So, this is a major issue that we need to address.
And we need to reclaim the role of parents and guardians as protectors, and not as perpetrators.
FBM: How do you feel about your tenure as AU goodwill ambassador?
NG: I feel great that I have made my contribution. I am also grateful to my country, Zimbabwe, other African countries and many partners who have supported this work. I also want to recognise Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who launched the campaign during her term as the first female chairperson of the AU Commission. That was a mark for her — taking up this issue and make it what it is. I feel great, but I also feel outraged that we still have the practice, which is preventable because it’s human behaviour.
FBM: What have you gained from your tenure?
NG: As a goodwill ambassador, it’s hard to put in a single basket what I have gained. This has been a voluntary role; I was not a staff of the UN. Through lending my time and expertise, I have gained some understanding that Africa is not poor at all, yet our children are getting married as a result of poverty.
I have learnt that it’s all about collaboration and partnership for us to end violence against women and child marriages. We need the collaboration of Government, donor communities and individuals in households. I have also learnt that local groups volunteer hundreds of hours to do this work, yet part of that work is unquantified, unrecognised and undervalued.
I have also learnt about diplomacy; negotiation in inter-governmental spaces; and when to be an activist, diplomat, advocate or researcher.
I have learnt that for us to have an impact, we need to work with the rights holders themselves — the children (girls and boys) — not only because their lives are involved, but also because they are the ones who will champion the effort as we move into the future.
I also got to know myself better and gained confidence to do more with Rozaria Memorial Trust. I have cried many times. I have listened to stories of suicide, abortion and of sleeping in the mountains when somebody is running away.
I have come to understand that what we are calling child marriage is rape and abuse.
FBM: What can we expect from you in future?
NG: I just feel what is ending is the formal title of AU goodwill ambassador only. Everything else won’t change because I will continue working towards ending child marriages.
I will scale up my work through Rozaria Memorial Trust. The relationships we have built with partners will continue.
I want to do more on social norms, research on mental health and psychosocial support and economic empowerment.
I will have time to expand Rozaria Memorial Trust so that we can increase the levels of services.
We will also continue to position it as a community-rooted organisation, headquartered in a village, doing global work to end child marriages.
We intend to make it a seven-star organisation and change the thinking that being rural means we remain on the margins.
We can be rooted there but offer cutting-edge knowledge and services not only to our communities but also the world at large.
Just like we see people seeking to go to Bellagio Centre in Italy, while others want to visit the Gates Foundation, we also want people to go to Rozaria Memorial Trust Education and Counselling Centre for its work on child protection, gender equality and ending child marriages.
I think I will also spend time writing, reflecting and sharing.
