Zimbabwe Association of University Women
Scholarship Programme for Girls

The political, economic and social situation in Zimbabwe has had a dramatic effect on the education of girls and young women. The AIDS/HIV pandemic has meant that many girls are taken out of school prematurely to look after sick parents or to fend for orphaned siblings. In addition, there is massive unemployment particularly among those parents/guardians who work on the land.

The National Scholarship Fund of the Zimbabwe Association of University Women aims to assist girls whose families cannot afford to continue to keep them at school for one reason or another. On average around 20 girls benefit from the scholarships programme each year, and many are sponsored to take advanced studies such as “O” and “A” level examinations, which enable them to go onto university or tertiary studies.  

However, the administration of this Scholarship Programme continues to be a struggle as the administrators battle against rapidly rising school fees, and inflation.  High fuel costs make it difficult for the scholarship conveners to travel to rural schools to meet the girls, and high postage costs mean that it is difficult for recipients of awards to send regular reports on their progress.

In 2006, the Zimbabwe Association was able to assist with the school fees of 12 girls.