Projects &  Programs
Post 2023
1) Churches Promoting Social Cohesion And Democracy in Zimbabwe (2023-2024)
CPSCDZ is a consortium of Church Organizations which include ZCA , ZDD, CCJP and ECLF operating in all 10 provinces across Zimbabwe . ZCA is specifically operating in Bulawayo , Gwanda, Beitbridge, Nkayi, Lupane and Gweru. The Initiative seeks to promote social cohesion in Zimbabwe promoting a culture of nonviolent conflict interventions through the use of community Local Peace Committees. These committees comprise of 15 to 30 members representing community leaders ( Chiefs , Church Elders, Community Elders) , District Authorities ( DDC , representatives of different line ministries, forestry commission, ZRP, Farmers unions, ), Resident associations , Council/municipal representatives, councillors , business community , youth , women and PLWDs. The LPC tackles conflict at district level and is also a conflict early warning and response mechanism . The initiative has realized multiple success in influencing nonviolent conflict resolution in artisanal mining areas, responding to disasters , holding duty bearers accountable, reducing crime , and providing safe platforms for community members to vent out issues and strategize productive and constructive conflict response.
2) Zimbabwe Christian Alliance Self Help Group Approach (2024 >)
The Self Help Group Approach (SHGA) concept aims at socially and economically empowering poor women using locally available resources. The approach does not give temporary one-off benefits in the form of money or food, but empowers poor women to develop themselves and their children sustainably. The goal of the project is to sustainably empower poor women socially and economically for the betterment of their lives, families and communities. The specific goal include
  • • To enable poor women to help themselves in a sustainable way through substantial capacity building inputs and facilitating them into self-organizational groups.
  • • To empower women to realize their hidden potential through coming together to form Self Help Groups (SHGs), Cluster Level Associations (CLAs) and Federations
The Self Help Group (SHGs)- 15- 20 women at village level
Members meet together to save regularly and to take loans to start/enhance their own small businesses and improve their income. Members share with each other their problems and issues that are obstacles to them and give each other advice. Care and concern for one another within the group develops. Members set individual/personal goals and group goals to change aspects of their lives and in their environment. They plan and implement activities to achieve their goals and to solve issues in their families and neighbourhood.
The Cluster Level Association (CLA)- Comprises of 8-10 SHGs ( 2 representatives per SHG)
The CLA mobilises resources for the needs of the community from government and non-government sources The CLA sets goals and plans activities and projects to address the needs of the community with or without support from external agencies The CLA discusses values and traditional practices in the community with the SHGs and agrees on an acceptable social norm which are followed by all members.
3) Churches Action for Social Cohesion and Accountabilty (CASCA) (2023-2026)
Zimbabwe Christian Alliance has been implementing a three-year project titled, ‘Churches Transforming Communities through Social Engagements’ funded by Bread for the World in 11 districts across Zimbabwe. The project has been aimed at amplifying the efforts of the church to ensure that issues of governance are given the necessary attention by relevant stakeholders in communities to foster peace and development. The project was fed into 3 major outcomes:
a) Influencing peace processes:
  • • So far ZCA has managed to compile cases of community conflict issues and human rights violations to the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission for redress. Through the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance community structures ZCA has also standardized local peace committee (LPC) structures that are led by ZCA Hubs.
  • • The ZCA community structures (Hub, local peace committees) carried out multiple social engagement and conflict interventions that saw multiple issues resolved and conflicts managed. This included addressing artisanal mining violence in Gwanda, response to the illegal harvesting of amacimbi (mopane worms - staple dish in rural areas and delicacy in cities) in Beitbridge resulting in a policy review that was later approved by the Beitbridge council and submitted to the government and currently awaiting approval.
  • • The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zimbabwe election management body) asked ZCA to facilitate engagements of political parties at provincial levels through the multi-party liaison spaces. This was done to the buildup of the March bi-elections. ZCA has an MOU with the ZEC
  • • ZCA has met with security structures at national and provincial levels which has led to the organisation doing its first training of police community liaison officers on peace and human rights sensitive approach to policing and peace keeping. This has started process of creating working relationships between the police and local church structures.
  • • ZCA mobilized and capacitated political players and received positive response from political youth leaders from all the parties particularly in Bulawayo to such an extent that they led a peace march that was attended by political party; leadership from at least 3 leading political parties (ZANU-PF, CCC and ZAPU).
b) Influencing devolution processes:
  • • ZCA facilitated community engagements with Government line ministries and personnel responsible for the devolution process and monitoring of devolution funds. Some Hubs in Gweru, Chegutu, Nkayi and Masvingo managed to engage the local authorities in devolution budget tracking (accountability) and influence how funds should be utilised.
c) Holding service providers accountable:
  • • In Gweru Urban the Hub in partnership with the LPC led a process which saw the Tinshell community holding land developers and local council accountable for service delivery related issues resulting in the construction of a drainage trench to ease flooding.
  • • The initiative strengthened relations between duty bearers and their constituency through creation of platforms for citizens to leverage on. In Gweru women’s engagement meetings with the local authority have led to the rehabilitation of boreholes and drilling of some in Mkoba 1, Mkoba 15 and Mkoba 19 to promote easy access to clean potable water for domestic purposes.
  • • In Bulawayo Pumula the Hub and LPC held a task for the Bulawayo City Council electrical engineer to attend to faulty tower lights that had been nonfunctional for over 5 years and to date all have been reinstalled.
  • • In Beitbridge the women's engagements with the council led to improved utilization of the road fund and the installation of speed humps to improve road safety. ZCA noted that service providers lack community interaction platforms, and the availability of such initiatives improves their delivery and improves trust between citizens and local authorities
4) Communities For Peace (CFP) (2023-2024)
The project centres on alleviating the influence of women and youth through intentional gender and youth mainstreaming in localised community peacebuilding and social accountability processes. Women and youth are the backbone of Zimbabwe, their inclusion and intentional enhanced participatory improves community resilience and cooperation.

These processes will facilitate platforms for fighting extreme inequalities and recognising the need for women and youth inclusion and participation. The primary target for this project are women and youths. Women and youths are adversely affected by the ongoing developmental activities, that is, the mining activities, conflicts which have a huge bearing on undermining their constitutional rights.

5) Matabeleland Communities for Healing (2024-2025)
The Gukurahundi Outreach Programme (GOP) is an initiative that shall be led by Chiefs however; they have limited technical capacity to effectively implement this huge mandate. The lack of a clear conflict resolution and healing mechanism from the government is likely to reopen wounds and victims shall relive the traumatic experiences of the atrocities.

The GOP without doubt shall reopen old wounds and a backup system to address the mental wellbeing of participants is needed. The project shall support the psychosocial support needs of victims post outreach, memorialisation, and capacitance of the victims to make follow ups to submissions made to the National Chiefs Council. Otherwise, if victims are not proactively involved in ensuring follow-ups to submitted issues, the process may drag for a long time without coming to a closure.

Despite the shortcomings of the GOP, there is a need to mobilise and prepare communities to participate in the outreach programme and influence the process.

6) Diverse Pathways for Progress Project (DP4P) 2023-2026
The project intends to use the issue of Gukurahundi and thus address it to be part of the electoral agenda. This opens space for a robust debate and interventions to address the issue of Gukurahundi and its after effects. It also intends to make Gukurahundi to be a national issue rather than being debated at regional level. Although the issue can be debated at national level, it can also be debated at local level (people to people).

Progressive communities in Zimbabwe agree that resolving the country myriad of governance challenges characterised by impunity and breakdown of the rule of law should begin with addressing the Gukurahundi atrocities, which stand as the source of accountability gaps.

The nexus between extreme underdevelopment of areas in Matabeleland and the Gukurahundi past atrocities has shaped the socio-economic narrative in the region. The project also seeks to mobilise communities to attend the Gukurahundi Outreach Program (GOP). The Project shall also capacitate Local Peace Committees / church leaders to offer PSS during the GOP.

Pre-2023
1) Churches transforming communities
through social engagements (Ongoing project)
Zimbabwe Christian Alliance has been making efforts to contribute to church participation in influencing national healing, peace, reconciliation, and governance processes. Our work has largely been focused on mobilizing, capacitating, and monitoring communities to participate in governance processes as well as peace building and reconciliation, through various initiatives within their respective communities. The primary target group has been Church structures in the above mentioned 11 districts.
2) Community Action for Reconciliation and Resilience
Project (Project ended)
This project focuses on strengthening the capacities of community members as well as local leadership to enable them to collectively address contentious issues that are dividing them and causing cycles of violence, poverty and under development. The project beneficiaries shall be capacitated to take ownership of the resolutions to conflicts which will in turn assists them to address developmental challenges and shape their future. The initiative shall promote full and effective participation by communities, promoting social cohesion. 

The project beneficiaries are farmers of Makhovula irrigation Scheme who are beneficiaries of the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF)’s Sizimele initiative aimed at improving the livelihoods of rural communities. The targeted farmers were 60 (32 females and 28 males) disaggregated by years (18-35 years (10), 36-65 years (41) and 66+ years (9).
3) Faith Gender and Human Rights
response to Covid-19 (Project ended)
ZCA’s priority target was to raise awareness on Covid-19 in all its constituency as fast as possible. This was carried out using online social media Covid-19 awareness and prevention information. ZCA utilized digital fliers that were written in four languages (Shona, Ndebele, Shona, Kalanga, and Venda). These were distributed in 50 Whatsapp groups. 16 Local Peace Committee Group (25 members per group), 20 ZCA Hub Structures (40 members), 15 Local Advocacy Action Committees (20 each) 10 Psychosocial Support Groups (10 members). 

A total of 70 digital copies of a daily covid-19 awareness was shared on social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and twitter. The ZCA pastors led Covid-19 awareness messages that were shared in their respective communities through audio messages that were read out from Megaphones around their communities. The communities received information on Covid-19 awareness and prevention. The Pastors targeted areas such as central business districts, bus stops, terminuses, and other shopping districts.
4) Covid-19 Response Project
The Church community was recognized as a critical player role in curbing the rising curve of the Covid19 cases and most importantly help offer psychosocial support to the communities. The following interventions were conducted to raise awareness and offer support to communities.
5) Empowering Rural Women and Youths
for sustainable peace project
This project seeks to mobilise, activate and capacitate women and youths to respond to conflict situations and become drivers of peace and promoters of community cohesion. ZCA will train local youth and women peace champions who will become part of the local peace eco system and continue strengthening the already existing local peace committees. 

This will set a foundation for sustainable peace if there is facility for their social protection and enabling their participation in their local peace and development process.
6) Churches Converging on Conflict & Peace Project
The project seeks to support local level engagements that are geared towards enhancing greater cohesion and reducing polarisation at the community level. It will also strengthen the capacity of local peace structures to respond to emerging conflicts through dialogue facilitation as well as strengthen the church to promote and build peace. The project will also promote interlinkages between the church, the community and security sector at the provincial level for improved dialogue.
7) Accountability and Community Participation Project (ACPP)
The project sought to capacitate communities to demand accountability, service delivery from their local authority, through capacitation on Human Rights (Chapter 4 of the Zimbabwean Constitution) the nexus between constitutionalism and demand for service delivery was bridged. 

The project timeframe is November 2018 to June 2021. Each of the 5-project area had 30 participants (10 women, 10 youths, 10 pastors) trained on advocacy and thus incorporated into the local advocacy structure aptly named Local Advocacy champions (LACs). The fundamental task of the LAC is to carry out local level advocacy initiatives and demand service delivery from the local Authority. Year 2 of the project focused on service delivery engagements below is a summation of key results.
8) Communities for Peace
The CFP project focused on assisting communities in Lupane, Masvingo, Plumtree and Matopo in their healing journeys. The project focused on documenting the testimonies of the survivors and providing trauma counselling. ZCA contracted specialised counsellors to provide the PSS services.
The CFP project focused on assisting communities in Lupane, Masvingo, Plumtree and Matopo in their healing journeys. The project focused on documenting the testimonies of the survivors and providing trauma counselling. ZCA contracted specialised counsellors to provide the PSS services.
9) Support to Quarantine & Isolation Centres project
The project offers support to the Covid-19 taskforce in 

-Bulawayo (Elangeni QC, Ekusileni, Thorngroove and City Council) 
-Midalnds (Senga QC, Dadadaya QC), 
-Mat North (Victoria Falls QC Encore Hotel, Inyathi QC, John Tallach) 
-Mat South (Gwanda DDF QC, Guyu 
-Plumtree Reception Centre QC, Esikhoveni QC, Matopo High, Mtshabezi High).

ZCA conducted a needs assessment of the above-mentioned quarantine and isolation centres.

key milestones 

-Venturing into humanitarian work (food aid, livelihoods and supporting quarantine and isolation centres). 

-Coordinating bishops engagements with min of state and Bulawayo local authority influencing the opening of Ekusileni hospital. 

-Launch of the Christian Voice for English, Ndebele and Shona

-Improved capacity of ZCA hubs to carry out social accountability initiatives as well as peacebuilding interventions. 

-Increased participation of ZCA hubs in social accountability processes and peace building initiatives.
-Improved relations between ZCA hubs and duty bearers regarding governance issues. 

-Capacitation of ZCA peacebuilding officers in psychosocial support work and trainings. 

-ZCA recognised as a key stakeholder in providing essential services (PSS) AND SUPPORT to communities and stakeholders during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

-Government recognising the work of ZCA (Secretary for Information Nick Mangwana commented on the radio programme in Masvingo on ZCA covid-19 related work). District Development Coordinators in most operational areas recognise ZCA as a critical stakeholder in developmental issues. In some areas facilitation of Memorandum of Understanding are underway. 

-Despite Covid-19 pandemic ZCA remained relevant and quickly adapted to the new normal. Programming was done virtually through utilisation of mainstream media like radio as well as online platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams) and social media (WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook). 

-ZCA reached to more people through the above-mentioned platforms.