Musasa project

Project: Increasing organisational capacity to support domestic violence survivors

Location: Zimbabwe

Partner: Musasa Project

The situation

Violence against women is widely accepted in Zimbabwe. 1 out of every 3 women will experience domestic violence at least once in their life time. The government has passed the Domestic Violence Act but it is not fully implemented; the police and courts have limited resources and many women do not know about the law.

Musasa has been providing counselling and temporary shelter to women survivors of domestic violence. The organisation was appointed to sit on the Domestic Violence Council which was established under the Domestic Violence Act to provide advice to government on implementing the Act. Musasa needs to remain strong so that it can support women survivors in Zimbabwe’s harsh economic and political situation.

What Womankind is doing

Womankind is supporting Musasa to increase its organisational capacity and staff skills so that they can continue to provide appropriate services for women survivors and influence government policies on violence.

We are:

• Supporting Musasa to identify priority areas for women survivors to be included in the organisation’s strategic plan
• Training staff in report writing, planning and financial management
• Supporting the organisation to review its policies and procedures
• Supporting Musasa to develop and implement its fundraising strategy and plan

What we have achieved so far

• Musasa successfully developed its 5 year strategic plan in consultations with staff, Board of Trustees, its beneficiaries and partners
• The Finance and Programmes staff have increased their financial management skills following training and will be able to increase resource efficiency and provide good donor reports
• Musasa has developed an advocacy strategy which shows how the organisation will influence policy makers and government departments to implement the Domestic Violence Act