Psychosocial Support as a Critical Enabler for
Empowering Healthy Women and Girls:
Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda
Love, care and protection
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REPSSI Forum 2015
Context
The personal is political, it informs perspectives, attitudes,
stereotypes and world view, and defines our work.
• war experiences, death, family separation,
imprisonment: Some experience carry life long trauma
• humanitarian assistance i.e. queuing for beans, cooking
oil and those small blankets (emuto wenyemba).
Surviving with indignity
• rural poverty, translates to inequalities, work, limited
opportunities. Poverty is not equal to lack of knowledge
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Cont….
• Out of school, YES school dropped us all loss, frustration, emptiness, effort . Learning
does not stop with being out of school
• Health Challenges: My intimate family has a
good and rich history of mental health and
HIV. Caring for loved ones reveals the true
meaning of love
• Forced and Child Marriage. Multi dimensional
protection needs
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The World YWCA
• 120 countries, 22 000 local association,
25 million reach
• violence against women and girls:
shelter, counselling, legal, policy.
• health, especially SRHR and HIV: the
intimacy, personal, private yet huge
impacts
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World YWCA…Lessons
• Education (early child development, formal
education, vocational schools, non formal
education: learning beyond a.b.c
• digital space and technology: the new
frontier in psychosocial support.
• economic wellbeing and health outcomes:
Addressing the fundamentals
• Our Safe Spaces Model for Young women
and girls
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Child, Early and Forced
“Marriage”
• global statistics
– 39000 each day, 15 million each year
• the child in “marriage”.
– Causes and consequences
– Child sexual Abuse clothed as love, care and
protection
– Married, single moms, divorced, widowed children
– legal and social issues
• Psychosocial support, the “missing” critical enable
for prevention, and for married girls, teen moms and
girls at risk
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Global and Regional Policy
Space
• global human rights normative agenda.
– Treaty bodies work on CRC, CEDAW etc
• global development agenda and SDGs
– Strong content on children and adolescent and
not clear commitment PSS
– Global Strategy on Women, Children and
Adolescent Health
– UNAIDS New Strategy
• The Global Resourcing or Financing Framework
• Regional AU Frameworks and Agenda 2063
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Key Recommendations –
How PSS Can be a Critical Enabler
• Shifting the conceptual framework and prioritisation
of PSS an enabler for development and rights
• linkages and networks, across sectors ie women
and rights movement
• education and economy: Building the foundation
• culture and faith
• emerging role of technology
• going to scale
• debunking the tyranny of numbers
• Changing form and norms about family, community
• Engage with Patriarchy
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An invitation
1. Join World YWCA’s by “2035, 100
million young women and girls
commitment”
– “We can not bring change by scaling up status quo.
We must be bold, daring and transformative”
2. join the campaign to end, early and
forced child Africa marriage. Resource
this unstoppable movement with your best
resources, ie. Psychosocial support expertise,
networks, service and advice
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Address
World YWCA
16 Ancienne Route
1218 Grand Saconnex
Geneva Switzerland
Social Media
Facebook.com/WorldYWCA
Twitter @worldywca
Youtube.com/WorldYWCA
worldoffice@worldywca.org
Tel: +41229296046
www.worldywca.org