Empowering the voiceless in Zimbabwe: the Girl Child Network

While Betty Makoni is today an award-winning advocate for childrens’ rights in her home country of Zimbabwe, 30 years ago she was a vulnerable child herself – one of 10 young girls violated by a local shop owner. With little family or community support, she committed herself to working to earn money for school fees and to study. But when she became a teacher at age 24, she saw that things were still no better for the girls she worked with than they had been for her at that age.

Girls must drop out of school for various reasons, including early marriages, sexual abuse, insufficient resources for education (coupled with preference given to educating male children), and being forced to take charge of child-headed households or provide home based care to sick relatives. The Girl Child Network of Zimbabwe grew out of informal discussions between Betty and some of her students in 1998 which provided a safe space for girls to talk freely about their problems and find possible solutions.

Slowly the group grew into what became the first girls’ empowerment club in Zimbabwe, located at Zengeza 1 High. As the word spread, neighboring schools adopted the idea and began forming their own clubs to provide a safe forum where girls could meet, discuss challenges, offer each other support and devise solutions to their problems.

The organization was formally established in March 1999 with a specific mandate to be a voice for school-aged girls between the ages of 0 – 16 years. It set out not only to advocate on their behalf, but also to empower the girls to speak out for themselves when their rights were being threatened. The forgotten girl child found a channel to highlight her plight, interests, to voice sensitive issues like rape, HIV and AIDS, forced marriages and premarital sex, and communicate her aspirations and hopes in an effective manner.

By end of 1999, there were at least 10 active clubs in Chitungwiza. In 2000, GCN began building Girls Empowerment Villages, which served as ‘safe houses’ where survivors of rape and sexual abuse could seek refuge and rehabilitation. The founder members, together with and five hundred girls and some men, women and boys undertook a seventeen day 150 kilometer march against child sexual abuse from Chitungwiza to Mutare, establishing the organisation as a champion of girls` issues.

By July 2006, more than 30,000 girls belonged to some 500 GCN clubs in Zimbabwe, spread over 35 of Zimbabwe’s 58 districts. There are now three Girls Empowerment Villages, located in Rusape, Hwange and Chihota.

In March 2007, 5.2 million children at 25,000 schools in 85 countries voted to award Betty Makoni the prestigious World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child. It was one of eight local, regional and international awards won by GCN in 2007. GCN was also featured in the book, “Women who light the dark”, and Betty Makoni was chosen as an Ashoka Fellow. 

This story was compiled from information about the Girl Child Network on its website, and from an article about Betty Makoni distributed by OneWorld.net. Contact information for the Girl Child Network is: 131 Duri Road, Unit F, Seke, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. Email.

For more stories relating to girls education, see:

Gift of a goat from US schoolchildren leads to Ugandan village’s first college graduate

Bangladesh program to enhance girls' access to education inspires other countries

One man's promise brings hope to remote Central Asian villages

First female governor brings attention to women, children in Madagascar

Affordable menstrual pads keep girls in school, create jobs