Fungai Lupande — The National AIDS Council (NAC) has launched the "Not in-my-village" campaign to tackle teen pregnancies and child marriages using indigenous knowledge and traditional systems.
The campaign aims to engage community leaders, especially chiefs, in efforts to end the practices.
Mashonaland Central, where the campaign is being rolled out, has the highest rate of child marriages, teen pregnancies and gender-based violence.
As part of the campaign, chiefs in Mashonaland Central will be trained and empowered to implement programmes that aim to eradicate the vices, including the creation of by-laws to address them.
Speaking at a provincial inception meeting in Mazowe last Friday, NAC provincial manager, Mr Edgar Muzulu, said chiefs would be equipped to effectively facilitate, mobilise and carry out the campaign's key objectives.
The chiefs will then be responsible for training village heads, headmen and influential community leaders to spearhead initiatives against gender-based violence and underage marriages.
"The by-laws created as part of the campaign will bring about positive changes within these communities," he said.
"These harmful practices are major contributors to HIV infections and sexually transmitted diseases. Marginalised districts, due to their strong traditional systems, have lower HIV prevalence rates.
"However, despite the low HIV prevalence rates in some districts, teenage pregnancies, child marriages and gender-based violence are still prevalent."
Mr Mazulu said Mazowe remained a hotspot in HIV incidence and prevalence rates.
"The lowest is Mbire at 0,6 percent due to their rich cultural values. Their norms and values restrict promiscuity resulting in low-risk sexual behaviours," he said.
"However, teenage pregnancies, child marriages and GBV cases are prevalent in Mbire.
"Although districts in the peripheries might seem unmodernised, they have natural HIV prevention measures.
"We want people to start with what they know as we strengthen prevention and come up with interventions that suit the context of each community."
Mbire district coordinator Mr Richard Maruta said child marriages in the district were unique because both partners are young children.
He attributed this to cultural practices such as "chinamwari", which educates teenagers about sexuality.
Mbire borders Mozambique and Zambia, resulting in intermarriages and cultural exchanges.
"Another challenge is long distances to school, which results in them experimenting along the way.
"We are hopeful that this campaign will assist our community in eradicating child marriages. When the teenagers impregnate each other, the community accepts it and allows them to live together.
"Such marriages don't last and the girl child is the one affected most. The by-laws will come with punitive measures," said Mr Maruta.
The campaign, spearheaded by Mr Luckmore Pamhidzai, the national technical advisor for Young People's Network, is focused on combating child marriages, teen pregnancies, and other health-related issues at a community level.
Growing up in Mt Darwin, Mr Pamhidzai witnessed the detrimental effects of teen pregnancies and child marriages on his peers, which inspired him to develop the campaign.
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"Some of my peers never lived the life we envisaged while playing together as young children.
"The Young People's Network allowed me to come up with ideas that can be implemented to address such issues.
"As a starting point, Chiefs, headmen and village heads will be empowered to champion this campaign. We want them to be at the front, addressing these issues.
"The by-laws will be in line with laws that protect children's rights. We already have districts that have strong traditional systems and sound by-laws that we will leverage."
Provincial Medical Director, Dr Clemence Tshuma, said about 50 percent of expecting mothers in most hospitals are teenagers, leading to a high number of caesarean sections due to complications during delivery.
