Today, ATHENA is pleased to announce a new project in Zimbabwe, in partnership with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Zimbabwe Young Positives. READY to Lead is an exciting young women’s leadership project in Zimbabwe, funded by Comic Relief.
Through READY to Lead, young women will hone their leadership skills via training and mentorship. They will learn how to effectively gather evidence from their peers and advocate on issues that affect their sexual and reproductive health and rights in local, national and global arenas. As the project progresses, their mentees will also grow into mentors to create a sustainable model of young female leadership.
Ebony Johnson, Young Women’s Leadership Advisor at ATHENA Initiative, said “Young women must lead with new ideas, new interventions and new strategies to lead to safe, healthy and equitable societies. READY to Lead enables this by resourcing and creating space to build and expand new leadership, and by supporting young women to lead change from their communities.”
READY to Lead will work closely with READY+ in Zimbabwe, another project under the READY portfolio. Young women living with HIV from READY+ who are working with adolescent girls and young women living with HIV to support adherence and psychosocial support, will have an opportunity to join READY to Lead and develop their leadership and advocacy skills.
In a recent video to celebrate SheDecides Day, Christine Stegling, Executive Director, International HIV/AIDS Alliance reflected on urgent concerns around sexual harassment and the impact of gender-based violence on girls and young women in their communities: “This is the point where we have to give real space for women to take leadership and to make [gender equality] happen”.
Annah Sango, Advocacy Officer at Zimbabwe Young Positives, tells us why this project is critical for young women in her country: “Young women are more than receptors for biomedical responses: we need to be seen as agents in our own health care. We are equally responsible for our health, safety and well-being and that means we get to have a say over our bodies. When we have the skills, capacity, knowledge and mentorship, we are better positioned to lead and decide for our lives.”
ATHENA will shortly begin recruitment for two new team members in Zimbabwe to support READY to Lead.