Zimbabwe: Championing Inclusion, Dignity, and Women’s Empowerment in Mt Darwin District

Anna Mapurazi is a Councilor and Gender Champion under Pfura Rural District Council in Mt Darwin District, Zimbabwe. She is also a certified hairdresser with a passion for helping young women become financially independent by working with their own hands. Her journey into leadership and community empowerment began with her work at Young Africa, where she mentored and trained young women to become hairdressers. Over time, her mission expanded to empowering women, promoting the education of the girl child, and advocating for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities (PWDs). What makes her work unique is her ability to stand firmly in two worlds that is, as a policy influencer at council level and as a community mobiliser who ensures that change is felt where people live. 

Councilor Anna realized that many women and girls in Mt Darwin lived in silence amid widespread Gender-based violence cases, early marriages, and survivors had limited access to support services. Further, persons with disabilities faced chronic exclusion and were unable to access public buildings or participate in community development planning. Anna realized that meaningful empowerment required inclusive voices and collective action. This inspired her to build partnerships with organizations such as Musasa Project, Young Africa, the Women’s Coalition, and schools across the district, championing campaigns to address gender inequality, GBV, early marriage, and disability rights. 

Through the councilors induction workshop organized by Gender Links Zimbabwe and other leadership trainings offered by the Women’s Coalition and other organizations, Anna strengthened her communication and stakeholder engagement skills. She learnt the importance of a multi-sectoral approach bringing together women, PWDs, youth, schools, churches, traditional leaders, and community structures to address shared challenges. With support from the District Gender Focal Person, she coordinated community dialogues and interventions that began reshaping the social fabric of Mt Darwin. 

The changes unfolding today in the district are profound. Women are now participating in council dialogues and leadership spaces; survivors of violence are receiving help through mobile one-stop centers and PWDs can finally enter public buildings with dignity thanks to improved accessibility infrastructure. The once marginalized women who once felt powerless now lead income-generating projects and the survivors of gender based violence were trained in hairdressing and mushroom farming are now able to support themselves and their children. 

Through the collaboration with Musasa project, Zimbabwe Republic Police and the traditional leadership awareness campaigns had children of school going age being spared from early marriage and abuse. Anna visited various government departments responsible for social welfare, small to medium enterprises and Agritex advocating for a dignified support to the Persons with disabilities and wheelchairs and crutches have been placed in public offices, enabling independent access to essential services, support for market spaces and technical support for agricultural projects. 

One community member, Eliza Mpofu, shared her relief, saying: “Now we can enter some of the important offices with ease for essential services like everyone else, we no longer have to receive assistance from the window.” The district has also begun discussions to develop a Persons with Disabilities Draft Policy Document evidence that inclusion is becoming part of formal planning. A GBV survivor reached by the mobile one-stop centre, Tatenda Chigango, expressed her gratitude: 
“I was reaching a breaking point, but the mobile one-stop centre gave me life again, I now know my rights and I am also protecting my children from what I faced.” 

Councilor Anna organized some stakeholder meetings at district level creating platforms for discussing child rights and developing joint strategies. There was close collaboration between village heads, the non-governmental organization and chairpersons of various committees to mobilize women for the mobile one stop centers. ZRP victim friendly unit and the department of social development were engaged to educate students on gender based violence and their rights. As a councilor, Anna led efforts to ensure council offices were accessible, advocating for ramps and mobility aids, which were supplied by donor partners. 

Councilor Anna initiated the drafting of the proposed Pfura RDC Persons with Disabilities Policy Document which is aiming to institutionalize disability inclusion across all departments. In addition, a children’s home is under construction in Ward 23 that will provide protection, education support, rehabilitation, and reintegration for vulnerable children. The establishment of Schools youth clubs are expected to champion early marriage prevention. The Gender Champion and Gender Focal Person are working to train more female and male councilors in wards to help fight against GBV and early marriage. Community-driven campaigns such as “Not in My Village” are strengthening local accountability and youth participation. 

Evidence of progress is everywhere as public offices are now equipped with assistive devices, increased uptake of GBV services, reduced child marriages, improved school attendance among girls and active participation of women council meetings. The ongoing drafting of the Pfura RDC Persons with Disabilities Policy Document further solidifies the commitment to inclusion. Photos show Anna receiving disability-friendly devices with government stakeholders, speaking to women with disabilities in Tsakare Village about GBV and financial independence, and educating Grade 7 students at Darwin Primary School about abuse prevention and the importance of staying in school. 

Anna Mapurazi’s journey reflects a community that has chosen hope, dignity, and empowerment. The change in Mt Darwin is real, it is visible, and it continues to grow driven by the belief that no one and no place should ever be left behind. 

By Anna Mapurazi, Zimbabwe