Where We Work
The Zimbabwe National YMCA operates under five branches, four urban set ups and one rural setting in Zimbabwe. These branches are Harare, Bulawayo, Chegutu, Kadoma and Tanda. The branches fall under four out of ten provinces which are Mashonaland, Matabeleland, Mashonaland West and Manicaland. There is great potential to expand within the same areas and other provinces in the country
Our Approach
YMCA Zimbabwe National Office works closely together with local YMCA branches. The National office coordinates branch activities, provides technical assistance and monitor branch activities.
Zimbabwe YMCA has worked in a number of areas focusing on youth which include Youth education, Leadership, Civic competence, Youth health issues, Transformative masculinity and rights issues. We have been able to engage ourselves in the broadest possible cross sections of the communities to participate in the identification, design and management of community-based programmes. As a strong voluntary organization, the YMCA places strong emphasis on youth empowerment, democratic leadership and inclusion of youths and women and volunteers in its programs
Our Reach
Zimbabwe YMCA targets thousands of beneficiaries each year who are mostly youths and women from low-income families and communities. We have 5 branches located in different provinces in the country. Out of the five branches we have one branch which focuses purely on the rural areas. The rest of the branches focus mainly on the urban and peri urban areas
Our Strategy
Our recent strategic plan (2015 – 2019) focuses on three key programmatic pillars which are Institutional development, program development and resources development. The plan was developed in a bottom-up process that involved the Local Branches
INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING STRATEGY
This Strategy will focus on interventions that build a strong, credible and effective institution, which is capable of delivering on its Mission. It will encompass a variety of activities which include reorganizing or reorienting the organization to enable it to conduct its functions more effectively, including local capacity building, professionalization of management and coordination of activities. The strategy will be anchored on vision and mission clarity, institutional competence and social relevance, and it will encompass Organizational Development, Leadership Development, Membership Growth and Volunteerism, Staff Development, Partnership Management, Program Development, Networking and Communication
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
The Strategy will address the work of the YMCA as an NGO and a membership organization, streamlining development priorities that empower young people within local communities. Programme intervention areas and resultant projects will be relevant and responsive to the needs of young people and those of communities in which the YMCA works, and will be underpinned by the vision of the African Renaissance.
The overall implementation strategy for all programs will borrow from the Subject to Citizen (S2C Philosophy), which is the rallying call for the African YMCAs, and is based on the need to increase the voice, visibility and influence of young Africans towards having greater impact in addressing and solving Africa’s attitudinal, value and development challenges. The philosophy is built on the premise that young people have been relegated to a place where they are more subjects and less citizens. The strategy will also bring on board issues of gender and disability as cross-cutting issues.
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Resources mobilization is critical to ensuring not only that the ZimYMCA is sustainable, but that it remains in charge of its own destiny. Strategies will include Resource Development Plans and Adoption of the Economic Model. The objective will be to increase the capacity of Zim YMCA to secure necessary resources for operations in a more sustainable way.