Challenges at Community Level

Women for Change’s operational areas experience a number of  serious constraints, which tend to frustrate the progress of the groups with whom the organisation works. Some if these constraints are outlined below:

-     Increasing poverty levels, resulting in the majority I the rural communities living on less than US$1 per day. This has resulted in group members spending more time looking for other means of livelihoods, which consequently has affected group development and cohesion.

-     Increasing vulnerability due to food insecurity and HIV/AIDS. The chronic food insecurity is evident in the high rates of malnutrition, while the HIV/AIDS pandemic has led to an increase in poverty levels and higher household medical burdens. This has also affected the participation of group members in community development activities.

-     Entrenched negative cultural practices, customs and traditions, which affect gender relations in the community e.g. spouse inheritance, sexual cleansing, and domestic violence to name but a few.

-     Lack of social services like schools, health facilities, road infrastructure etc.

-     Lack of clean and safe drinking water exposes people to diseases, which in turn retard productivity, as the group members have to spend a lot of time seeking medical attention and fetching safe drinking water

-     The high cost of farming inputs like fertiliser, seed and chemicals, where available coupled with the low prices for agricultural and other off-farm products from rural areas. This means that rural people do not realise the economic value from their effort

-     Low literacy levels, especially amongst rural women, which affects people’s capacity to receive and internalise or apply new ideas, information as well as insulate themselves from manipulation with the latter being rife during election years.

OrgOrganisational Challenges

Like many organisations, Women for Change has been facing many challenges in the implementation of its activities. Some of these challenges are:

-     the ever increasing poverty levels, especially in the rural areas

-     the HIV/AIDS pandemic

-     the high demand for Women for Change services in non-operational areas

-     the slow disbursement of funds and inadequate resources

-     declining levels of voluntarism among group members.