My Age Zimbabwe was proud to be part of the 2025 Voice and Choice Linking and Learning Summit, a pivotal gathering of activists, partners, and grantees from across Southern Africa, which recently concluded after two days of intensive knowledge sharing, networking, and celebration.
Hosted in Johannesburg, the summit served as a platform to showcase the impactful work being undertaken by grantees of the Voice and Choice Southern Africa Fund (VCSAF) and the Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership Fund (RWVL) – Multi-Year Core grantees (MYC).
With over 60 presentations from these grantees, the summit highlighted advancements in gender equality and social justice across the region.
Participants were able to share best practices, showcase achievements, and forge stronger partnerships aimed at amplifying their collective impact. The breadth of projects represented underscored the diverse approaches being employed to address pressing issues impacting women and marginalized communities.
Twenty-six awards were presented (11 winners and 14 runners-up) across five theme categories: Organisational Growth, Movement Building, Driver of Change, Story of Change, and Communications and Reach.
The summit also marked the official launch of the 15th edition of the SADC Gender Protocol Barometer, with a specific focus on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
This critical resource tracks progress on SRHR indicators across the 16 SADC countries, offering an in-depth analysis of areas such as menstrual health, family planning, adolescent SRHR, safe abortion, HIV and AIDS, and gender-based violence.
The Barometer serves as a valuable tool for identifying progress and persistent gaps, emphasizing the ongoing need for action to advance SRHR policies and practices in alignment with the SADC SRHR Strategy 2019-2030.
The summit also focused on facilitating meaningful connections among grantees to encourage collaboration and knowledge exchange.
Networking and partnership sessions centered around key themes, including cross-thematic partnerships, service expansion, joint campaigns and advocacy, research and media collaboration, fundraising and sustainability, and the establishment of support hubs.
