Sexual & Reproductive Health Rights

The new 2030 development agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals calls on all of us to step up our efforts in our areas of work to meet targets set. Meeting these targets and achieving positive outcomes in the area of Sexual Reproductive Health requires huge investment and collaboration by all key stakeholders.

The Zimbabwean context is characterized by stigma, discrimination and marginalization of key populations which creates barriers to access sexual and reproductive health and rights services. These barriers materialise at various levels, including the individual, interpersonal, community and societal levels. Political leaders, state & non-state duty bearers are driven by religious fundamentalism in exercising their mandate, this further hinders key populations from accessing SRHR services. Stigma & socio-cultural values are the leading cause of inadequate comprehensive & contemporary SRH Education in Zimbabwe. This is evident with the high prevalence of HIV transmissions among key populations, this is exacerbated by 50.3% of Key Populations that avoid health care due to stigma & discrimination.

This context is marred by limited safe spaces for Key Populations to organize & build movements for collective advocacy. Key population movements have limited skills, inadequate information, and a lack of access to policy makers & service providers as well as resources for sustained advocacy.

In Zimbabwe the new development agenda presents opportunities for achieving positive SRHR outcomes through empowerment and the provision of sexual and reproductive health and rights information and service referrals.