Bulawayo youth wins PEPFAR Heroes Award
Providence Moyo
BULAWAYO – Youthful Phakamani Moyo from Bulawayo has been named among the 12 individuals who won the 2021 United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Heroes Award.
The award was conferred in recognition and honour of individuals who have made meaningful contribution to Zimbabwe’s response to HIV and AIDS over the past years.
Moyo is a peer counselor working with Paediatric Adolescent Treatment Africa at the United Bulawayo Hospital’s Opportunistic Clinic (OI), as well as founder member and current Programs Coordinator for Friendly Service Delivery for Adolescents and Youth- a youth led community based organization that supports sexual reproductive health and rights.
He emerged as a PEPFAR Heroes Award Winner last week owing to his extraordinary work in the communities.
Moyo serves to empower peer supporters to be effective advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights, and to link peer supporters with technical resources and tools to increase their visibility.
Moyo is also a Social and Economic Justice Ambassador with ZIMCODD, where he pushes for 15% of the national budget to be allocated towards health. This has been his main issue with government as he has been calling for allocation of adequate funds for the health sector as enshrined in the Abuja Declaration.
Speaking to this Publication, Moyo said he is grateful to be victorious and thanked PEPFAR for all the support and recognition of the work he is doing with young people.
Moyo paid tribute to United Bulawayo Hospitals’ OI clinic for allowing young people to take part in the HIV response and enabling the same to implement initiatives that bring positive changes in communities.
“I have been working with young people for nine years and this award shows me that someone is
watching and that is a motivation on its own for me to continue engaging and empowering young people on issues of HIV/SRHR and also to continue bridging the gap between the community and health care facilities,” said Moyo.
As a PEPFAR ambassador, he will specifically work towards bridging the gap for the boy child.
“There is an urgent need to re-strategize our programming to create an enabling environment for the coexistence of an empowered girl child and a boy child who is well groomed and prepared to exist in society,” said Moyo.
Moyo called on fellow youths to partake in community development initiatives for the betterment of their communities in terms of accessing key services.
“As young people we have the power and the ability to change our communities for the better. I would like to encourage other youths involved in developing their communities to persevere even when the odds are stacked against them. Collaboration between stakeholders and young people is something that we should prioritize. It should not be a one man band when it comes to implementing our community initiatives,” he said.
PEPFAR has been implementing comprehensive HIV programs in Zimbabwe since 2006 through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the goal of realizing an AIDS-Free Generation.
Over the past 18 years, PEPFAR has contributed more than $1.3 billion to the HIV response in Zimbabwe through a comprehensive package of prevention, treatment, and health support services. Today, more than 1.2 million Zimbabweans living with HIV receive life-saving treatment.
