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Zimbabwe National Strategic Plan for the Education of Girls, Orphans & Other Vulnerable Children 2005-2010
UNICEF-Zimbabwe
October, 2006

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Foreword
The Millennium Development Goal to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015 is a national and global challenge that cannot become yet another unkept promise. Zimbabwe has attained gender parity nationally in primary education and seeks to maintain this achievement while pursuing its goals of Universal Primary completion and the provision of quality basic education.

Over the last few decades, securing universal access to basic education has become one of the universally recognized human rights and a major aspect of the United Nations effort to protect the rights of all children. An educated child is a child with less probability to be exposed to exploitation, violence, and poverty and more likely to succeed socially, economically and politically. In situations of socioeconomic crises, the numbers of girls out of school tend to increase as they become more socially disadvantaged. Educating girls and women is key to breaking the cycle of inter-generational poverty.

Investments in girls' education, particularly those directed to quality of education also benefit boys. The reverse is not always the case. The increasing numbers of orphans resulting from the HIV/AIDS pandemic calls for concerted multi-sectoral efforts to fulfill the rights of all children. The approval of the National Plan of Action for OVC is testimony to Zimbabwe's resolve to protect its children's rights.

Recognizing the fundament return value of education to its national development, Zimbabwe's Ministry of Education allocated a substantial component of its national budget to building sound policy plans and actions for its basic education following independence in 1980. Zimbabwe's basic education system had been celebrated as one of Africa's finest education systems. Such history has put in place an undeniably profound base structure upon which the country can continue to maintain a successful African model for basic education. Despite current economic problems, Zimbabweans have continued to keep their children's education on top of the list of their priorities. This level of commitment must be maintained through dialogue and broad-based partnerships.

To retain the high enrolment rates and address emerging HIV/AIDS-related socio-economic and cultural challenges affecting in particular, girls, orphans and other vulnerable children, the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, in partnership with young boys and girls, national and international NGOs, the parliamentary committee on education have formulated this comprehensive National Plan of Action for the education of girls, orphans and other vulnerable children which seeks to maintain the high enrolment rates while improving completion and quality of education. Through sound policy planning and programmatic actions, and a unique form of partnering with all concerned bodies such as communities, this National Plan is meant to revive and continue a long national history of excellence in providing a quality and fair basic education system for vulnerable children in the context of the new challenges that Zimbabwe is currently facing as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It builds on and expands the education component of the NPA for OVC, ensuring the use of rights based problems to sustain the gains made in the education sector from 1980.

Broad-based partnerships and integrated action will be promoted to support the implementation of the Plan of Action so as to 1) systematically disengage the current challenges that create vulnerabilities among children,
2) holistically overcome the socio-economic and cultural roots of the problems that disrupt girls, orphans and other vulnerable children's access to education. To this end, the plan also offers innovative ways for reaching out to vulnerable children by pulling in the resources of their larger communities when sicknesses and premature deaths drain material and cultural resources that have otherwise sustained livelihoods and maintained surviving mechanisms.

The Plan, to be implemented between 2005-2010 uses a multi-partner mechanism and resources that can be mobilized on an annual basis locally and internationally. Through this Plan, the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture and its UN partners renew their commitment and collective efforts to mobilize broad-based partnerships to ensure that every child, girls, boys alike, especially orphans and other vulnerable children, are able to enroll, complete and realize their full potential in education.

• Dr Festo Kavishe, Permanent Secretary UNICEF
• Dr. S. Mahere, Ministry of Education, Representative Sport and Culture Harare, Zimbabwe

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