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Betty Makoni scores a first again: Three more awards in three consecutive days
Girl Child Network Trust
June 19, 2007

One great daughter of Zimbabwe Muzvare Princess Betty Makoni will be celebrated by her people from Makoni and some Zimbabweans for her achievements locally, regionally and internationally. As if scooping two Global Awards for the rights of the child in Sweden on 16 April 2007 was not enough she got publicly announced as having been selected for the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship on 14 June 2007, a unique recognition awarded to men and women who are the greatest social investors in the world (www.ashoka.org) On Friday 15 June 2007 the Zimbabwe Institute of Management announced during the Manager of the Year Award Dinner at the Rainbow tours that Betty Makoni is the winner of the contribution to the nation award. On 16 June 2007, the Victim friendly courts followed on with another local national award where Betty Makoni, Justice Uchena, former Judge Jacqueline Pratt and the Bindura Regional Magistrate Courts were honored for outstanding work on child sexual abuse and each of them received a unique sculpture from Dominic Benhura.

About Betty Makoni

Betty Makoni (35) is a gender activist, founder and Director of Girl Child Network an organization that champions the rights of the girl child in Zimbabwe. She is a holder of BA (Gen) (Hons) from the University of Zimbabwe. She is also the Chair of the Women`s Coalition and has assisted thousands of women suffering from domestic violence to reclaim their rights.

Betty serves on the board of US based International Development Exchange who support grassroots organizations. Recently she was appointed to be a member of Oxfam Novib Round Table. She is the Global Campaign Against Poverty Ambassador for Zimbabwe. She has also served on various international boards and serves on boards of at least three community based organizations like Ray of Hope-Network for rape and domestic violence survivors which she co-founded.

Betty Makoni is a beacon of hope and has been featured in many books and documentary films internationally. She is the first woman to break silence on childhood sexual abuse and her personal testimonies inspire millions of women across the Globe daily.

Betty Makoni is married to Engineer Irvine Nyamapfene and she has 3 boys.

Anyone can achieve anything if they have the courage

• 1999 to date Betty Makoni has mobilized financial resources to build 4 Girls Empowerment Villages, a unique model that provides safe shelter, healing, and a future to sexually abused girls.
• She is renowned for her great innovation in designing girl child empowerment proactive and preventative programs which today directly benefit at least 30 000 girls in the whole country. From just one negligible girls club at Zengeza 1 High School, GCN now has 600 girls clubs in at least ten provinces where daily girls are being empowered through various programs.
• Betty Makoni has designed strategies that directly eliminate gender based violence such as harmful cultural practices that fuel the spread of HIV and AIDS among girls and since 1999 over 20 000 girls who have fallen victims to child sexual abuse have been assisted to realize their potential as future women leaders.
• 28 community based organizations in poor high density suburbs are on their way to prosperity through and reaching out to millions of poor people. Betty Makoni's endless efforts to link them to potential funding partners.
• In Zimbabwe and world wide, most organizations have replicated GCN girl child empowerment model and daily, hundreds of visitors locally and internationally throng to learn from Chitsotso Girls Empowerment Village, a unique model that blends positive cultural practices with children and women's rights through the Vazvare Princess concept where the Makoni tribe is a model of women power. The same Girls empowerment Village model is now in Hwange and Chihota and many organizations are setting up similar models in their communities. More and more people have been inspired to help girls who are the most vulnerable in any society
• GCN is the one of the youngest organizations with the best infrastructure demonstrating Betty Makoni's unselfish vision to invest in girls programs
• 5 000 girls are in school and supported to gain something from education
• GCN now has a staff compliment of 52 country wide from one volunteer in 1998
• Betty Makoni being a former beneficiary of a scholarship for disadvantaged girls, has over 5000 girls benefiting from a girls scholarship program.
• Daily sexually abused girls are being rescued from abusive environments and reinstated in school and reunified in with child friendly family members

The local and international Awards and recognition in chronological order

Realizing the great contribution Betty Makoni has made in Zimbabwe to the development of future women, she has been awarded globally in the following ways:

• World Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child awarded Betty Makoni two awards the Global Friends and the World Children's Prize in 2007 in a Global Vote where 12 million in 85 countries in 25 000 schools participated and she had over 5,3 million votes with the two other nominees scoring one million votes each. Her Royal Highness ,Queen Sylvia of Sweden handed the awards to Betty Makoni
• United Nations Red Ribbon Award by Her Royal Highness Princess Matte of Norway -Toronto Canada 2005 during the World Aids International Conference attended by over 25 000 people world wide
• 2007 Small Technical Award for the most innovative Grassroots Communication Community Based Strategy-USA
• Certificate of Honor by Global Philanthropy Forum for being the most Remarkable person, USA 2002
• Hafkin Prize Award Finalist, 2003
• Creativity in Rural Life Award- Women's World Summit Foundation, Switzerland 2003
• Recognition by the Women World Summit and Prize Betty Makoni for Prevention of Child Abuse now renamed Prize for Prevention of Child Abuse Inspired By Betty Makoni celebrated on 19 November annually
• Nominated and Registered Human Right Defender for Women and Children's Rights , Dublin, Ireland -2002
• Zimbabwe Institute of Zimbabwe-Contribution to nation award winner -2007
• Victim Friendly Courts Zimbabwe-Award for outstanding work in child sexual abuse

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