We bring you ECOZI’s third quarter newsletter! It gives an overview of the activities and developments in the education sector during the period covered. Read on!
A chance to education for vulnerable adolescents
After losing both her parents who were the source of income, life became very difficult for thirteen-year-old Sipho (Not real name) and her siblings who wanted to further their education but could not due to lack of financial support. She dropped out of school in grade four in 2018 and started helping her grandmother to fend for the family. “As an orphan, l thought the only way to get out of poverty was either getting a job as a maid or getting married, l was hopeless because of what l was experiencing at that time,” said Sipho. In March 2021, Sipho’s grandmother Claire Ndlovu, learnt about an opportunity to alternative learning for out of school girls and boys in Beitbridge district. The community learning opportunity was shared during a community sensitisation meeting held by Forum for African Women Educators – Zimbabwe (FAWEZI) to introduce the Education in Emergencies project in line with the Zimbabwe HIV Care and Treatment Mechanism (ZHCT-M). This project feeds into the DREAMS and is supported by FH1 360.
Climate change and girls education
Education Coalition of Zimbabwe (ECOZI) in partnership with Zimbabwe Climate Change Coalition (ZCCC) and Climate Action Network Zimbabwe (CANZIM) held a symposium virtually on the 19th of August 2021 to deliberate on the impact of climate change on girls and young people’s education under a project funded by Plan International entitled ‘Building Girls and Young People’s Urgency towards Advancing Educational Rights.
This project seeks to amplify young advocates voices and to support young advocates to engage directly with decision makers to influence their policy and financing commitments to girls’ education, girls’ and young people’s leadership and climate justice as well as spearhead collaborative partnership models that furnish girls and young people with information and empower them to engage in key meetings with decision-makers leading to influencing key policy outcome documents to be presented during the G7, GPE Replenishment Conference and COP26.
The Symposium created a platform for girls and young people to influence key policy outcome documents through a ‘Policy Outcome Statement,’ that feeds into the government of Zimbabwe’s commitments during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) which will be held in Glasgow UK on the 31st of October – the 12th November 2021. The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The advocacy Symposium was attended by several government line ministries and young people representatives inclusive of Junior Parliamentarians from different constituencies and they all made their submissions.
Read the full newsletter here (9MB PDF)
Source: ECOZI
