A caravan clinic gave 100,000 Zimbabwean teenagers discreet access to contraception. Its funding is going.
A $9 million grant was cancelled with $6 million unspent, and Swedish support ended in August. The government has pledged $2.25 million a year.
Epworth — A mobile clinic that lets teenagers in Zimbabwe get contraception discreetly has served more than 100,000 adolescents since 2021, but the money behind it is drying up, Africanews reports.
The caravan is run by Population Services Zimbabwe, an affiliate of MSI Reproductive Choices, and works in Epworth, a settlement outside Harare.
Kelly Nhedega, 18, is one of those who use it. She became pregnant at 16 and left school. "I have no intention of adding more children because I want to go back to school," she said.
The money
The organisation lost a five-year grant of $9 million that was awarded in 2023 and dismantled in 2025, with more than $6 million still unspent, its director, Pester Siraha, said.
Swedish funding ended in August, after Sweden phased out development assistance to Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Liberia and Bolivia.
The government's share
The health minister, Douglas Mombeshora, said Zimbabwe had spent $6.3 million on contraceptives since 2022 and had pledged $2.25 million a year for 2026 and 2027.
Across the continent
The UN Population Fund estimates a global shortfall of $185 million in contraceptive funding this year. By December, 1,175 reproductive health facilities in Africa had closed and 5.9 million women had lost services.
This report is based on reporting by Africanews.
