The impacts of climate change are being felt every day in Zimbabwe, with drought and food insecurity affecting the most vulnerable communities. In response to this, Caritas Australia has launched the Empowering Communities in Climate Adaptation and Resilience-Building in Zimbabwe program, in partnership with Caritas Hwange, Caritas Gokwe, Caritas Gweru and Caritas Zimbabwe.
The program was formally launched at the Australian Embassy in Harare on 13 November and was attended by a number of delegates and representatives, including the Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe. The Ambassador spoke about the history and relationship between Caritas Australia and Caritas Zimbabwe. Attendees also heard an overview of the Catholic Church’s development work in Zimbabwe and what this new project hopes to achieve over the next five years.
Program snapshot
The Empowering Communities in Climate Adaptation and Resilience-Building in Zimbabwe program aims to support 33,923 people across Zimbabwe. It builds on the success and lessons learned from the Zimbabwe Integrated Community Development Programs, implemented separately by Caritas Gweru, Hwange, and Gokwe between 2019 and 2025. These earlier programs demonstrated that community-led, asset-based approaches are effective in addressing multidimensional poverty, climate vulnerability, and social exclusion in rural Zimbabwe.
The success from these past projects contributed towards the creation of a new program that brings together the three Caritas Dioceses and the National Office into a unilateral program consortium.
The program will focus on four components:
Supporting communities to adopt climate-smart livelihoods, focusing specifically climate-smart agriculture, improved income diversification and food systems
Strengthening community-level water security and climate-resilient infrastructure
Strengthening local governance structures to manage climate risks
Improved protection, inclusion and empowerment of women, youth, people with disability in climate change adaptation.
Kirsten Sayers, Caritas Australia’s CEO, delivered a video address at the launch.
“Today marks the beginning of a bold and deeply collaborative initiative focused on climate adaptation and resilience in communities across Zimbabwe. This is more than a development program. It is a commitment to justice, to dignity, and to the leadership of communities who are on the frontlines of climate change,” she said.
“I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Australian Government and the Australian NGO Cooperation Program for their generous support. Your investment in climate resilience and locally led development is transformative, recognised and appreciated.
“I also want to acknowledge, with deep respect, our partners on the ground: Caritas Gweru, Caritas Gokwe, Caritas Hwange, and Caritas Zimbabwe. Your leadership, your relationships with communities, and your unwavering commitment to inclusion and sustainability are the foundation of this project’s strength and our shared future.”
