Catholic Relief Services

Zimbabwe has among the highest poverty rates in Africa according to a study in 2011/12. Seventy-six percent of rural households live with less than $2.52 per person/day and nearly 23% are extremely poor with less than $1.07.(Source: USAID)

Compounded by the high poverty levels, recurrent droughts, unfavorable economic environment and periodic violent political conflicts, the country is grappling with the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS. The HIV prevalence rate has declined from 20.1 percent in 2005 to 14.3 percent in 2013; this however is one of the highest in the world. The net effects of HIV and AIDS and poverty continue to place a heavy burden on orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and the families taking care of them.

Zimbabwe has an estimated 1.5 million OVC. Of these, only one percent are in institutions, another one percent are on the streets, while the rest are living with relatives and families in communities. But given the prevailing economic situation in Zimbabwe, many families caring for OVC are already impoverished and overextended. Children within these households often face great risk of malnutrition, disease, and limited access to education and health care. The capacity of households to care for OVC in Zimbabwe has declined sharply over the past decade, mostly as a result of the economic collapse and resultant poverty.

CRS Zimbabwe has demonstrated its commitment to work with and for the most underserved populations in Zimbabwe, consistently delivering on promised results through relevant projects. This is enabled by facilitating and promoting the strengthening of partners’ abilities to identify, build on, and address their vulnerabilities, strengths, and specific capacity building needs through a process that leads to sustainability. CRS has developed strong working relationships with local government and a sound understanding of the local settings which enable CRS to scale-up operations in a short period of time. CRS Zimbabwe retains highly qualified staff with programmatic expertise, enabling CRS to deliver consistent and quality programming.

Catholic Relief Services Zimbabwe has built strategic partnerships with more than 7 local organizations, most of whom are development arms of the local Catholic Church, bringing quality humanitarian, recovery and development programming to the country’s urban and rural communities. We regularly collaborate with the government of Zimbabwe to ensure our projects’ strategic direction fills the gaps in services faced by vulnerable populations, builds capacity of partner staff or community volunteers, and monitors and implements project activities.