DAPP Zimbabwe has launched an emergency program focused on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and multi-purpose cash transfers to address the effects of the El Nino-induced drought in Epworth District, Harare Metropolitan Province. The program, titled Humanitarian Action to Mitigate the Effects of El Nino-Induced Drought (HAMED), will run for seven months from the 1st of March 2025 to the 30th of September 2025 funded by Humana Portugal through FPP Spain for the Funding support. The program aims to improve food security for 1,585 individuals affected by the drought (equivalent to 317 households) through mobile multi-purpose cash transfers in wards 3, 6, and 7. Additionally, it will enhance WASH infrastructure benefiting at least 12,000 people across wards 1 to 7 in the Epworth District.
This program came about after Zimbabwe in 2024 experienced severe El Niño-induced drought resulting in widespread crop failure, water resource depletion and stress on pastures. The most affected areas include peri-urban regions, home to almost half of the population with over 40% of them experiencing food insecurity. The President of Zimbabwe had to declare the El Niño-induced drought a National Disaster calling for emergency aid. Additionally, the existing social assistance programs have limited coverage and effectiveness hindering their ability to mitigate the impact of such shocks. Therefore, it is from this background that the HAMED project was launched as an emergency program.
For Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), the program aims to solarize and equip at least six boreholes, as well as train water point committees and borehole pump minders. Additionally, small vegetable gardens will be established at the boreholes to improve household nutrition. A total of 317 households will benefit from receiving two water buckets each for storing clean drinking water. The project will also conduct health and hygiene campaigns to reduce the risk of cholera outbreaks. Beneficiaries will receive mobile multi-purpose cash transfers from May 2025 to August 2025. Furthermore, the program will assist cash transfer beneficiaries in establishing Internal Savings and Lending (ISAL) groups while existing ISAL groups will be strengthened.
To achieve the set goals and objectives, the program will primarily collaborate with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, the Epworth Local Board and other key stakeholders during implementation.
Each year, the 24th of March marks World Tuberculosis Day. TB continues to be a global health threat despite progress, and multiple challenges make it difficult to end TB by 2030.
TB is more than a health issue; it is a developmental issue, and children suffer the most in the face of TB. Finding undetected TB cases is key in the fight against TB; when people come together, they can prevent TB from spreading further within communities and reduce its global burden.
The emerging drug-resistant strains of TB, rising co-infection, climate change, malnutrition, stigma and discrimination threaten to reverse the gains made over the years. Ending TB requires an inclusive, sustainable and effective response by including TB-affected communities to be heard, supported, and participate towards achieving the Global End TB 2030 Strategy.
“For the first time in the history of tuberculosis, we have treatment regimens that are just 6 months long – for both so-called “regular” TB and drug-resistant TB. Just imagine – we can confirm a diagnosis of TB and drug resistance within hours and start treatment at once. A few years ago, we probably wouldn’t have thought this possible”, says- Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
Over the past 15 years, Humana People to People members have carried out TB projects impacting over 18.5 million people. We have built community-based networks of passionate local volunteers who are at the centre of bringing TB services to the people at the community level. We have given emotional and nutritional support to people taking daily TB medication and given them funds to meet transport costs related to accessing services. We have worked with health facilities and staff to provide health services. We are proud of our impact across diverse communities, countries and continents.
Development Aid from People to People in Zimbabwe (DAPP), one of the Humana People to People Movement members, prioritises sustainable community TB response through the Total Control of TB Makoni project. The project is aligned with Zimbabwe’s National TB Strategic Plan (2021-2025) to reduce TB incidence and attain the UNAIDS HIV 95-95-95 targets.
The project reduces the burden of HIV and, AIDS, and TB by addressing stigma and discrimination through raising awareness and improving diagnosis and treatment services in 59 health facilities. Communities, together with the project, take the lead in reducing new infections, increasing case finding and testing, and providing appropriate packages of treatment, care and support to HIV and TB-infected people in the community.
The project supports people affected by TB by forming TRIOs for treatment adherence. Each TRIO consists of a person suffering from TB and two supporters who provide daily encouragement and assistance, significantly improving the likelihood of treatment completion. The project prioritises nutrition by supporting TB-affected families in establishing nutrition gardens and training them on local climate adaptation strategies and savings clubs to strengthen their income.
The project provided a GeneXpert machine and X-ray cartridges to the Makoni district hospital to improve TB diagnosis. In the past seven years, the project has reached more than 100,000 people with HIV and TB messages, tested 10,240 presumptive cases, and diagnosed 412 people with TB.
We recognise the unified global efforts to end TB, and there is hope for a future where TB will no longer be a public health threat. It takes sustained political will to continue funding TB programmes, strengthening health systems and community engagement to work towards achieving the goal of ending TB and saving millions of lives by 2030.
Humana People to People, together with its members, is committed to ending TB by carrying out sustainable community TB programmes in TB-affected communities. At the centre of our TB programmes are our people to people approaches, which have proven that when people come together and take a stand to face challenges collectively, they can overcome and thrive, leaving no one behind.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day on the 8th of March, the world is facing a gender inequality crisis. The trend put the hard-won gains at risk, despite substantive progress made towards achieving gender equality.
According to the United Nations Development 2024 report, 80% of food production in developing countries is done by women, however, less than 1 in 5 smallholder farmers owning land are women [UNDP 2024].
This year’s theme, “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment”, calls for inclusive conversation to confront gender equality challenges and pave the way forward to deliver permanent acceleration towards equal opportunities and rights for women and girls.
It is impossible to achieve sustainable development when women’s potential remains constrained by inequality and discrimination. Increasing access to education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and decision-making power gives women the bargaining power to practice their agency and thrive in society. Women’s contributions are essential to creating a sustainable future for everyone, thus, investing in women and girls remains the best investment.
Since 1980, DAPP Zimbabwe has collaborated with the government to foster a more equitable society, promoting women’s and girls’ access to education, economic empowerment, safe working environments, and civic participation.
One success story of the Tamuka Internal Savings and Lending group from Ward 16, Sikero Village, Musiiwa in Shamva! Which started in 2022. This group of 18 members contributes $10 monthly, pooling their resources to save. They also lend each other the money at a 20% interest rate, repayable within an agreed-upon timeframe. At the end of the 2024, the group combines their savings and accrued interest to purchase essential items such as agricultural inputs, food items and educational materials worth USD $4,320. These items are then shared equally among the members.
DAPP’s initiatives have a broad reach, spanning multiple projects. In our agricultural projects, women are empowered through active participation in farming and Internal Savings and Lending Schemes (ISALS), acquiring new skills that enhance their household income and decision-making power. Through collaboration with the Ministry of Women Affairs, DAPP addresses persistent disparities affecting women, youth and persons with disabilities, striving to improve their socio-economic status.
Furthermore, DAPP’s vocational skills training programs at Ponesai Vanhu Technical College (PVTC) offers young women, including adolescent girls and persons with disabilities, a pathway to education and economic independence, enabling them to build sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their families.
