THE NGO NETWORK ALLIANCE PROJECT - an online community for Zimbabwean activists  
 View archive by sector
 
 
    HOME THE PROJECT DIRECTORYJOINARCHIVESEARCH E:ACTIVISMBLOGSMSFREEDOM FONELINKS CONTACT US
 

 


Back to Index

IOM opens youth information centre in Chiredzi
International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
May 14, 2007

IOM's first youth information centre, known as a SAFE ZONE, has been officially opened in Chiredzi, in the South West of Zimbabwe. Chiredzi is also only two hours from the border with South Africa, and is therefore a high sending area for border jumpers and victims of human trafficking.

The concept of the SAFE ZONE is prevention and mitigation: its SAFE LIFE programme aims to reduce the pressure for irregular out-migration, by providing practical assistance and information. With recreation, sport, education and income-generation activities, SAFE ZONE is a place where youth can enjoy themselves and be informed through daily education sessions on safe migration, responsible sexual practices and HIV prevention.
The aim is to provide youth, including deportees who have returned home, with the information they need to make the right choices for a safer future.

"As we open the doors to this youth centre, we turn to youth in the fight against HIV/AIDS, border jumping and human trafficking" said IOM Zimbabwe Chief of Mission, Mohammed Abdiker. "It will take the spirit of youth and strong leadership to defeat these issues."

HIV/AIDs, for one, is an enormous challenge for Zimbabwe. If youth are not empowered in ways of prevention, nor become advocates for behaviour change, then, warns IOM, countless people will die, and much of the tireless developmental work currently being done in Zimbabwe will suffer.

The dangers of irregular migration and the exploitation and abuse of undocumented migrants in host countries are also of great concern to IOM. There is a need to educate all potential migrants, particularly youth, on safe migration.

This SAFE ZONE is a first step in giving youth the platform to learn, to speak, to act and most importantly, to be heard.

It is just one component of IOM's ongoing Safe Journey information campaign, which is nationwide but currently specifically targeting low income Zimbabwean youth (15-24) of both sexes.

A second SAFE ZONE will open in Bulawayo in the next few months, and, funds permitting, several more will follow in other high-sending hot spots of Zimbabwe.

"Youth must be armed to combat their vulnerability to irregular migration and HIV/AIDS," said Abdiker. "This centre will foster the vision and energy needed to best fight these issues."

The first DFID-funded SAFE ZONE partners with Global Fund-funded Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council and UNDP, and the information campaign has ongoing support from the Government of Zimbabwe.

Some statistics on HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe

  • While 99% of youth say they have heard of HIV/AIDS, 28% do not have faith in consistent and correct condom use as a means of avoiding HIV.
  • 24% of youth believe that the virus can be spread through mosquito bites
  • 11% of youth think it can be through sharing a meal with an infected person.
  • 91% of youth claim to have changed their behaviour as a result of knowing about HIV/AIDS - these changes were more often centered on abstinence (58%) and monogamy (18%) than on condom use (10%).
  • Condom use during their last act of sexual intercourse was reported as follows:
    -- 52% for single female youth
    -- 80% for single male youth
    -- 10% married females (aged 15-24)
    -- 7% married males (aged 15-24)

Some statistics on irregular migration in Zimbabwe

  • An average of 14,000 people are deported monthly from South Africa through the Beitbridge border post.
  • 38,000 are annually deported through Plum Tree and adjacent border posts
  • The most commonly reported age of deportees is 21.
  • While 99% of youth know what a passport is, only 6% of youth have a valid passport.
  • Only 1% of youth have ever applied for a visa, and 25% of these stated that their attempts had been unsuccessful.
  • Of those who have not applied for a visa, 28% stated the high cost as a deterrent.
  • 31% think that a visa allows one to legally work in the country for which the visa is valid.
  • 19% think it possible to cross a border legally without a passport, by paying someone.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP