Junior Achievement Zimbabwe is an NGO located in Harare, Zimbabwe, that is dedicated to youth, education and economic development. For the last 21 years, they have worked to foster social mobility and financial inclusion among Zimbabwean youth through financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. They are focused on improving resource mobilisation and resource management through the strengthening of family structure and capacity. Their programmes are set to raise awareness on social status and upwards mobility from as early as 10 years of age.  They have implemented group savings projects and are excited about the progress they have made in creating accessibility to financial literacy.  

Partnership with Aflatoun 

JA Zimbabwe has been Aflatoun’s partner since 2009. A staff member shared the motivation behind the partnership: “Aflatoun brings the savings component that was missing in our curriculum.” They use Aflatoun curricula to discuss the inner workings of the financial enterprise sector with their students, which offers them relevant tools they will need in order to successfully and independently navigate future markets. Like Aflatoun International, JA Zimbabwe are passionate about the importance of social and financial education. A co-worker emphasised its importance and impact on Zimbabwean communities: “social and economic education is meant to capacitate our young people with relevant economic skills to ensure high, accelerated, inclusive and sustainable economic growth. As well as socio economic transformation in development as the country moves towards an upper-middle income society by 2030.” 

Success Story 

JA Zimbabwe takes pride in their belief in the boundless potential of young people and respect for the talent, creativity, perspectives and backgrounds of all individuals. This has been exemplified through their launching of financial enterprises lead by children with hearing impairments at Makwasa Primary School. The club started a poultry keeping enterprise as well as a banana plantation where they were harvesting an average of 1 tonne bananas for sale. A JA Zimbabwe employee shared with us that: “The school became a spark for enterprise development to the extent that Plan International supported the school and electrified it it, all in an effort to improve the rights of members with hearing impairments, and allow them to become more autonomous members of the community.” 

Inclusion and adaptability to the varying needs to students is the key to creating impactful education systems that positively shape the lives of empowered children and young people.  

#16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence 

 Wednesday, 25 November 2020 was International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, marking the beginning of 16 days of global activism against gender-based violence (GBV). Throughout the 16 days, people all over the world mobilised themselves to raise awareness about gender-based issues faced by people worldwide. This year’s theme was: “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!“ which created a platform for people to discuss and raise money to combat gender-based violence within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Junior Achievement Zimbabwe, chose to contribute to the 16 days of activism by combating GBV through education and training: They integrated the Aflateen+ programme into their ongoing s training project to highlight the complexities of gender-based issues in a proactive way. 

Together with Aflatoun International, JA Zimbabwe and other partners are using different methods to empower children and young people through social and financial education. Find out more by reading other Partner of the Week blogs.