SIMBARASHE MTEMBO
MIRROR REPORTER

MASVINGO – Pangaea Zimbabwe, a local nonprofit organisation working to improve the health and well-being of people in Zimbabwe has trained Health Centre Committees (HCC) and Community Health Rights Champions (CHRC) in Masvingo district.
The trainings lasted a week from last Monday and ended on Tuesday. The trainings are part of the Zimbabwe Accountability and Citizen Engagement (ZIMACE) programme.
The yearlong programme running from June 2024 – May 2025 is being implemented at four clinics under Masvingo City Council and 14 rural clinics.
ZIMACE main objective is to improve access to health services for women and girls in their diversity, while strengthening their voice and agency.
The project addresses immediate health access rights challenges while contributing to broader national, regional and international health agendas aimed at achieving equitable access to healthcare and improving health outcomes for all.
HCC are groups of individuals elected from communities to represent community interests at primary health care level. They encourage direct engagement of communities in health facility activities and are a means through which community participation can be integral to achieve a sustainable people centered health system.
Pangaea Zimbabwe Programs Manager, Enock Musungwini said the ZIMECA program has three main objectives and its expected impact is increased multi-level engagement and influence by women and girls.
He emphasized that this includes those with disabilities and key populations in gender health service delivery and wellness.
The project is funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) through the Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI).
“We have three main objectives, enhancing community engagement, women’s rights and built trust. Our second objective is to increase voice and participation of women and girls’ health delivery issues. The final objective is to foster multi stakeholder engagement on health service delivery and rights realization for women and girls in Masvingo.
“HCC’s are one of the vehicles we are utilizing to realise our expected project outputs, expected project outcomes and expected project impact. We will be working closely with HCC’s at local level, district health executives and other health focused Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and partners at district level and the provincial health executive and other provincial level partners involved in and supporting health programs,” he said.
The HCC will be trained on professionalism, safeguarding vulnerable groups in the community and best practices in informing and educating community members on health delivery services, procurement and accountability among other topics.
The program has short term goals (12 months), medium (12-24 months) and long term goals (24 months +).
One short term goal is to include strong collaborative linkages with other ZIMACE work stream partners in particular ZIMCODD on public finance management and budget monitoring and WICOZ on access to documentation for women and girls.