OUR WORK IN ZIMBABWE
Save the Children works to address the complex and interconnected causes of illness, malnutrition, and mortality among mothers, newborns, and young children, with the goal of ensuring that no child dies from preventable causes before their fifth birthday. Through its health and nutrition programming, the organisation supports the delivery of proven, high-impact maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition interventions, contributing to universal health coverage and improved wellbeing for vulnerable populations across Zimbabwe.
Building on a strong track record in health systems strengthening, Save the Children supports resilient, community-centred health service delivery aligned with national priorities and global standards for maternal, newborn, child health, nutrition, and sexual and reproductive health. Through flagship programmes such as the Maternal and Child Health Integrated Programme, the Zimbabwe Assistance Programme on Malaria, Strengthening Community Participation in Health, and the Community Accountability for Zimbabwe Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Programme, Save the Children has strengthened health workforce capacity, referral systems, community–facility linkages, and the use of routine health data. These investments have improved the quality, accountability, and continuity of health services, particularly for rural and hard-to-reach communities.
To ensure sustainable delivery of essential health and nutrition services, Save the Children works closely with communities, children, government ministries, local and international partners, donors, and other stakeholders to identify and address both supply- and demand-side barriers in humanitarian and development settings. The organisation also integrates health, nutrition, and WASH interventions during emergencies and disease outbreaks, leading and supporting responses to cholera, COVID-19, measles, mpox, and malaria. In addition, innovative initiatives such as the Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition (HBCC), research on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E), and primary health care advocacy have strengthened behaviour change, digital learning, and policy influence, contributing to lasting improvements in health and nutrition outcomes for children and families across Zimbabwe.
Thematic Areas of Work
Maternal, Newborn and Reproductive Health
NUTRITION
Save the Children's nutrition programs focus on the delivery of evidence-based nutrition interventions during the "first 1000 days," the period between pregnancy and a child's second birthday.
Our programmes support efforts to ensure adequate food and nutrient intake in pregnant women and young children, effective infant and child feeding and care practices, and protection against infectious diseases. Social change, behaviour change and communication approaches form the foundation of Save the Children's nutrition programming in stable contexts.
ADOLESCENT SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH (ASRH)
Save the Children uses proven approaches such as peer-to-peer counselling to empower adolescents on their sexual reproductive health choices.
We work with families and communities to increase the availability, accessibility and quality of reproductive health services across the adolescent lifespan, with particular attention to the needs of "very young adolescents" (10- to 14-year-olds) who are often overlooked during program design.
CHILD HEALTH
Save the Children's child health programs focus on empowering frontline health workers and others to deliver these low-cost, proven interventions.
Priority programme areas include the following: Integrated community case management of childhood illness (iCCM); Community and facility based integrated management of neonatal and childhood illnesses (IMNCI).
Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
While WASH cuts across Save the Children's breakthroughs, work under this subtheme, "WASH for Health," aims to reduce stunting in children under 2 and reduce diarrhoea in children under 5.
Priority programme areas include the following:
Behavioural interventions focused on increasing uptake of optimal WASH related practices and services
Policy work to refocus national efforts on interventions going beyond communities to more effectively reach households with children under 5
Market-oriented approaches to support household level improvement in water quality, safe disposal of human faeces (particularly children's faeces) and hand washing facilities
Promotion of environmentally safe play spaces for infants and young children
Nodumo (26) smiles as she holds her healthy daughter Isabel (7 months old). Cynthia Chimbunde / Save the Children
Our Common Approaches
A Common Approach within Save the Children is a shared, evidence-based way of addressing a specific problem affecting children, built on what has been proven to work in different settings. It is designed to be adapted to local contexts and replicated across countries, ensuring consistency while allowing flexibility. Within the Health and Nutrition sector, five Common Approaches are currently endorsed:
Treating Children Close to Home: (Integrated Community Case Management), which brings lifesaving care closer to families;
Saving Newborn Lives: which focuses on care around birth and the early days of life;
Nourishing the Youngest: which supports optimal nutrition in early childhood;
My Sexual Health and Rights: which empowers adolescents and young people with knowledge and services;
Contraception by Choice: which ensures informed, voluntary access to family planning. Together, these Common Approaches provide a clear, practical foundation for improving health and nutrition outcomes for children and families.