Who We Are

Our Administrative Structure

Woman Advocacy Project is currently composed of 26 members.
Its administrative structure is as follows:

• General Assembly
• Council of Administration or Board of Management (BOM) Composed of 7 members namely Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary, treasurer, Director and two advisors
• Coordination or Executive Committee

Constance Mugari, Founder and Director

“In cases where an Ambassador informs WAP that a girl is being forced into marriage at a tender age by her parents, our team will carefully investigate the issue and enter into a dialogue with the parents,” says Constance Mugari, Executive Director of the Woman Advocacy Project. “Zimbabwean law prohibits all marriage for children under eighteen. We will counsel parents on their legal obligations and also advise them of the many dangers of early marriage that we have seen after years of working at the community level.” Mugari adds that the majority of women with whom WAP works who were forced to marry as children end up in unhappy, and sometimes violent, partnerships. “We see often that these marriages end in separation or divorce. Married girls almost always leave school, limiting their earning potential and leaving them extremely vulnerable to poverty if the marriage dissolves. We always counsel families that a child marriage is not in the best interests of their daughter or her children, and ultimately not in the best interest of their family.”

Akenga Dickson Mnyaci, Program Officer

Akenga Dickson Mnyaci is a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Studies student at Zimbabwe Open University, a holder of an Advanced Diploma in Business Management, an advanced certificate in community and social service, and a certificate in computer studies “Speciss College- Harare”. Before joining WAP, Dickson spent 3 years working as a volunteer assistant field officer with the Women’s Self Promotion Movement in Harare. At WSPM he was responsible for assisting in different phases of designing, developing, and implementing the program activities, he made inquiries and campaigned on a variety of women and girls rights subjects including child marriage and gender-based violence in his assigned community areas including Mbare, Glen-view, and Kwadzana in Harare. In 2012 at the formation of WAP Dickson joined the Women Advocacy Project Trust as a member and volunteer offering part-time services and assisted in conducting several baseline studies in different communities and project designing. In 2014, Dickson was chosen WAP’s program officer working very closely with the Director to administer the development of WAP’s activities and programs. Dickson is currently in charge of daily management and implementation of WAP’s project and activities, including staff development, budgeting, and reporting.

Ashley Mavengere, WAP Ambassador from Waterfalls

Ashley lives in Waterfalls, a neighborhood of Harare where the Woman Advocacy Project (WAP) works. “When we had a seminar with WAP, I learned about child marriage and what it does to girls’ futures. No matter how bad the situation is – now I wouldn’t think about getting married” she says. “I couldn’t stand up for myself as a girl. I didn’t know my rights as a girl. I couldn’t open up and tell someone about my situation. Now I have the confidence to speak out.”

Yeukai Chingindi, WAP Ambassador from Waterfalls

Eighteen-year-old Yeukai at an anti-child marriage training in Harare, Zimbabwe. The full day of activities included information about the consequences of early marriage, practice discussing the topic with friends, and a discussion of difficult issues including parental abuse – which can drive girls to seek refuge in marriage. Yeukai is in Form 6 and has been participating in the Woman Advocacy Project (WAP) programs for over a year. “When I grow up, I want to be a human rights lawyer,” she told WAP. “I want to stand for women and for people with disabilities and albinism. Sometimes when I talk about injustice, people say ‘well that’s the way the world is,’ but I think no. Maybe I’m crazy, but I want to stand for justice.”

Trish Makanhiwa, WAP Ambassador from Epworth

Eighteen-year-old Trish lives in Epworth, a neighborhood in Harare where the Women Advocacy Project works. She’s currently in Form 6 and hopes to one day become an accountant. In school, she is studying the relevant subjects: accounts, business studies, and economics. When Trish was younger, she lived in a rural village and had a boyfriend. “When I moved here, my Auntie grabbed me by the ears and warned me off boys saying, ‘this is Harare.’ Now I have no boyfriend.”

Eveylene Said Sachiti, WAP Ambassador from Chitungwiza

Nineteen-year-old Eveylene lives in Chitungwiza, a suburb of Harare where the Women Advocacy Project (WAP) works. She completed her Ordinary Level Exam last year but did not collect the results because she could not afford the $295 fee. Eveylene was studying Shona, Literature, and History and hopes to one day study Sociology at University. “I am interested in studying society and how we can help people in the community,” she told WAP. Eveylene has attended WAP’s “Stand Up, Speak Out” anti-child marriage trainings and has also participated in WAP’s recent “Give Us Books, Not Husbands” march. “WAP’s programs are important because of the knowledge you have gained. When I talk to 15-year-olds who are pregnant, I feel bad, because I know they will face challenges,” Eveylene says. She has taken WAP’s call for girls to be ambassadors for change in their own communities to heart and says that she now talks to her friends about the dangers associated with early marriage. “We need to be educated as girls. We need to know that early child marriage causes poverty because of a lack of education.” Eveylene also has a strong vision for her own future, “I’ll only get married when I have completed university and I have worked. I want to be independent first.”