In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the Graça Machel Trust (GMT) has launched the Ilizwi (the voice): African Women and Children shaping policy discourse of the COVID-19 pandemic response. The initiative is driven by a growing need to have context-specific responses in order to mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic and to inform policymakers, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the private sector on effective pathways to socio-economic recovery.
Through ilizwi (the voice), GMT will implement a communications push that collates and amplifies the shared experiences of women and children at the forefront of the discourse. The initiative will in addition document the various government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, from which we will put forward our five (5) policy asks to state, regional institutions, and key stakeholders, to ensure that the immediate, short-term responses and re-investments, are responsive to the needs of women and children in the economy, and repositions for the advancement of gender equality and the contributions of women in economic development.
The activities under ilizwi (the voice) will build into GMTâs Expanding Equality Initiative, which is a platform to showcase and build momentum across Africa and across sectors over the next decade, so that every institution, every organization, and individual can play a part in building communities where everyone has the potential to thrive. It is a platform geared to amplify and promote collective policy actions that tackle the root causes of inequality, drive womenâs economic advancement and holistic development of girls in Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic emboldens the ambitions of the Expanding Equality Initiative, and while the dominant responses promote social distancing as a key prevention strategy against the spread of the virus, the strategies undertaken magnifies the interconnectedness of global economies and policy responses required not only to fight the pandemic, but looking to the future, to meeting both continental and global developmental frameworks, i.e. The African Unionâs Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting childrenâs rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Childrenâs Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescentsâ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trustâs goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a motherâs health and social economic conditions, the early years of a childâs life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.