The project aims to strengthen the capacity of the church at the community, district and provincial levels to contribute to the Devolution and Decentralisation Framework, which has the objective to empower communities to manage their own affairs through participatory and inclusive governance. The church will be capacitated to convene and facilitate safe spaces for fostering community cohesion and constructive, mutually beneficial engagement between communities and duty bearers, as well as informing the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denomination (ZHOCD)’s engagement and evidence-based advocacy at the national level. The church will also disseminate information related to policy, legislative, decision-making and development processes.
The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity and role of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) to promote good governance, social cohesion and civic participation in Midlands, Manicaland, and Masvingo Provinces in the context of Zimbabwe’s ongoing ‘Devolution and Decentralisation Framework’ (2019) through:
- Building the internal capacity and accountability within the church structures
- Building the capacity of the church to convene local dialogues and disseminate information on devolution
- Facilitating citizen-duty bearer platforms and highlighting local needs, priorities and solutions, including for resilience and disaster risk reduction, preparedness and response.
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Achievements to date,
- Appreciation of the active role that the church is playing in facilitating dialogue and awareness platforms for devolution and decentralisation processes
- Increased citizen awareness, knowledge and understanding of devolution.
- Improved accountability and transparency within the church structures
- Increased citizen participation in church led devolution process related activities in the targeted districts
- Women, PWD and young people specific issues are being raised in community meetings and either actioned at the local level or elevated to the provincial and national levels, eg the need to allocate residential stands to PWDs in Nyanga.
- The participation of women, PWDs and youths in devolution processes (Budget consultative meetings, ward and council meetings, and community development meetings/initiatives has increased.
- The church is taking leadership in facilitating dialogue platforms between citizens and duty bearers and such engagements have increased in number.
- Church leaders at provincial and district levels have successfully been trained in corporate governance.
- The church is better coordinated and united at the provincial and district levels.
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