Investing in Zimbabwe’s health: what partnership looks like on the ground

On World Health Day 2026, as the world rallies around the theme “Together for Health. Stand with Science,” it is fitting to take stock of what multilateral partnership, evidence-based investment and government leadership can achieve — and what those achievements look like on the ground, in communities across Zimbabwe.

The Health Resilience Fund (HRF) is a pooled health fund coordinated by Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC). It brings together the financial contributions of the European Union, the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with technical support from UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO. Its objective: to consolidate health gains, strengthen the system’s resilience to shocks, and ensure that every Zimbabwean — regardless of where they live — can access quality healthcare.

Healthcare delivered to every doorstep

In rural and peri-urban Zimbabwe, Village Health Workers (VHWs) are the backbone of the primary healthcare system. They are often the first — and sometimes the only — point of contact between isolated communities and formal health services. Through the HRF, nearly 10,000 VHWs received refresher training, and 2,000 bicycles were distributed to help them cover the vast distances between clinics and the families they serve.

For VHW Melody Deera in Mutoko, that bicycle transformed her ability to serve her community. She now travels 20 kilometres to collect medical supplies, returning to dozens of families who depend on her for vaccinations, malnutrition screening and maternal health support.

“This is more than just a bicycle. It is a means to save lives. It carries the hopes of people in my village.”

— Village Health Worker, Mutoko District, Zimbabwe

In drought-hit Mberengwa, VHW Lizzy Siziba walks five kilometres a day with a MUAC tape and a register, screening children for malnutrition and following up with families whose children have recovered — because, as she says, “raising awareness isn’t something you do just once.” Her dedication is made possible by HRF-funded training, supplies and community health infrastructure.

Strengthening systems to withstand shocks

The HRF was designed not only to deliver services, but to build a health system that could survive crises. That design was tested in 2023 and 2024, when Zimbabwe simultaneously faced a devastating El Niño-induced drought and a cholera outbreak. HRF resources were rapidly reprogrammed to fund the emergency response: VHWs became the frontline of cholera containment, tracing cases and linking families to care across some of the country’s most remote areas. Zimbabwe’s government successfully ended the outbreak — a result UNICEF directly attributed to the integrated, community-based approach the HRF had helped build.

In districts where HRF-supported care groups were active during the drought, children’s nutrition status remained stable — a stark contrast to the 25% spike in severe acute malnutrition seen during the 2015–2016 El Niño event. Evidence-based intervention, delivered through trusted community networks, made the difference.

Supporting Zimbabwe’s children from the very beginning

HRF support extended to the earliest stages of life. At Sally Mugabe Children’s Hospital in Harare, UNICEF and the Paediatric Association of Zimbabwe — with HRF funding — established a Malnutrition Centre of Excellence, integrating play therapy and early childhood development into the treatment of severe acute malnutrition. The model is now being replicated at other sites across the country.

The Fund also supported integrated outreach services, bringing immunisation, nutrition screening, maternal health and sexual and reproductive health services directly to hard-to-reach communities — reaching vulnerable mothers, newborns and children who would otherwise have gone without care.

A legacy of progress

The HRF builds on the achievements of its predecessor, the Health Development Fund, which contributed to reducing Zimbabwe’s maternal mortality ratio from 614 to 462 per 100,000 live births between 2014 and 2019, and under-five mortality from 65 to 40 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2022. The HRF has continued and deepened this progress — equipping health facilities, training workers, and channelling over USD 9.2 million in medical equipment and supplies to the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

These are not simply numbers. They represent mothers who survived childbirth, children who were screened before malnutrition became irreversible, and communities whose health workers arrived — on bicycles, on foot, across difficult terrain — because a fund existed to make it possible.

HRF Funding & Technical Partners

European Union Government of Ireland Government of the United Kingdom Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance UNICEF Zimbabwe UNFPA Zimbabwe WHO Zimbabwe MoHCC Zimbabwe (coordinating authority)