Our Voices, Our Future: Understanding Child Marriage in Food-Insecure Communities in Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe

This report documents the research process, findings, and key recommendations from a study conducted in Zimbabwe as part of a larger body of work on child marriage. The work is part of the Child Marriage in Humanitarian Settings Initiative, which was launched in 2019 by the Women’s Refugee Commission and Plan International. The overall aim of this initiative is to deliver evidence-based and practice-informed programming to address child marriage in humanitarian settings. The research consists of girl-centered, community-based studies in communities experiencing extreme food insecurity in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe, and in communities affected by conflict and displacement in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Philippines.

The goal of this work is to develop a tailored girl-led, community-grounded approach to child marriage prevention and response that transforms girls and their communities from beneficiaries to engaged and empowered leaders by investigating the needs and priorities of crisis-affected adolescents.