Stop Child Marriages Today in Africa

Dear Supporters,

In Zimbabwe, 32% of girls get married before the age of 18, that is more than every third woman you interact with. Zimbabwe has one of the highest rates in Africa, costing the nation hundreds of thousands of dollars every year in lost economic activity. To address this, and to give women who have been falling victims of child marriages a chance to become economically empowered, the GVI Trust has sponsored 10 early mothers with vocational training.

In the last quarter, the GVI Trust has collaborated with local grassroots organisations in respons to increased cases of child marriage and exploitation of young women in the identified communities in Norton’s rural community. The project in Norton rural wards of Chegutu District is designed to empower vulnerable and marginalised young people with education and training that would enable them to acquire skills, competencies and the qualification needed to start their own small businesses and provide basic needs for their families. This will be achieved through the provision of market informed vocational skills. Market informed vocational skills is the idea that the training provided is based on the products and services requested in the community, to ensure that the training will result in sales and therefore a secure income. In this case, the market informed vocational skills is cosmetology, in particular hair weaving, hairdressing and braiding. 

By collaborating with local authorities, such as the social welfare department, rural communities and beneficiaries has been identified. After an informal information session about the program, young mothers in the age 18-24 expressed interest, and were selected to be sponsored to undergo the training which started in December 2019. The program was designed to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote

lifelong learning opportunities for all as defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Number 4. The beneficiaries will continue to receive training that would enable them to gain significant skills and qualifications that they can use to start and run their own businesses. We are curious to see the result as 2020 is taking off. 

In the end of 2019 our vocational training kicked off in rural Norton to provide the skills and qualifications needed for young mothers to get the opportunity to become economically independent. Economic independence is an essential part of women empowerment, to recover from a generation of poverty and get the confidence to tackle issues of gendered violence. By giving 10 victims of child marriage the chance to learn how the trade of cosmotology the GVI Trust, our donors, fundraisers and supporters are not simply cahnging the life of 10 women, but also their familise and most importantly their children. 

Thank you to our donors, fundraisers and supporters!

With Gratitude,

Zimbabwe Child Marriages