By Wilma Mavhengere
Mutasa, Mancicaland – Mutasa district in partnership with Unicef, the ministry of public service and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDCA), has launched a series of impactful community awareness campaigns to combat child marriages and protect vulnerable children.
The initiative focuses on equipping traditional leaders and Community Care Workers (CCWs), with the tools to address child injustices, advocate for children’s rights, and mobilize community support for lasting change.
Historically plagued by early marriages, child abuse, neglect, and labour, Mutasa district is now witnessing a transformative shift.
Micheck Nyazika, a CCW from Ward 24, Mutasa district in an interview lamented that prior to the community awareness campaigns child marriages and access to identity documentation dogged the area.
“The biggest challenge we aim to fight is child marriage. Parents are engineering these child marriages.
“Children are being forced to drop out of school as a result of child marriages,” Micheck Nyazika, a community care worker in Ward 24, Mutasa District,” said Nyazika.
“Vulnerable children were facing challenges in accessing birth certificates.
“The issue of early child marriages has seriously affected our community,” he added.
Nyazika however, expressed optimism about the progress made by the community awareness campaigns crediting Unicef’s interventions for driving significant change in the community.
“This exposes vulnerable children, especially the girl child, to death risks during birth but through training from Unicef there is now a great change,” he said.
CCWs like Maria Gondwe and Leonard Gohwa have vowed to be at the forefront of championing children’s rights and welfare.
Gondwe emphasized the importance of imparting parents the value of empowering children with education and empowering victims of early child marriages with sustainable projects.
“Since this program came, we have been engaging parents, equipping them with knowledge on the importance of educating children.
“We are also empowering victims of early child marriages with projects to help them sustain a livelihood.
We are also playing the role of foster mothers for abused and neglected children,” she said.
Gohwa in an interview emphasized that collaborating with law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable is a crucial and positive step forward.
“We inspect the community for vulnerable children whom we assist with resources to help fund their education.
We also work with the police force to arrest those promoting early child marriages,” said Gohwa
Despite these strides, the community calls for more workshops and resources to sustain the momentum.
The collective effort reflects a shared commitment to creating a safer, more supportive environment for children.
With these initiatives, Mutasa district is paving the way for a brighter future, where every child can thrive free from exploitation and harm.
