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Enhancing access to decentralised maternal healthcare services in council-run clinics in Zimbabwe : Lessons from Kenya

Mini Dissertation (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2023.

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Other Authors: Maziwisa, Michelle
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Maziwisa, Michelle
author_browse Maziwisa, Michelle
author_facet Maziwisa, Michelle
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2023.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:26.058Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/93485 Enhancing access to decentralised maternal healthcare services in council-run clinics in Zimbabwe : Lessons from Kenya Maziwisa, Michelle u23981769@tuks.co.za Kabira, Nkatha Chikomba, Idirashe Amanda UCTD Maternal health Healthcare Devolution Autonomy SRHR Mini Dissertation (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2023. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, two aggrieved women and the Combined Harare Residents Association took the City of Harare to court for an order compelling the local authority to open its closed clinics. The clinics had been closed due to a lack of funding to acquire personal protective equipment (PPE) and refurbish the dilapidated health infrastructure that could no longer cater for patients needing assistance. This dissertation argues that access to all forms of health services, including sexual reproductive rights encompassing access to maternal healthcare, is essential to any population's survival and continued existence. Health services, including maternal healthcare, must be easily accessible to a country's population up to the lowest local government level. This is achievable through devolution of functions, powers, and authorities to the lowest level of the central government. This dissertation analyses the causes of pregnant women's failure to access maternal healthcare at council-run clinics in Zimbabwe. It also measures these circumstances against the introduction of devolution in the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe, whose objectives include the equitable distribution of resources to all levels of government. Despite the provisions in Chapter 14 of the Constitution, the dissertation concludes that the existing legislative and institutional framework needs to be revised to implement devolution to improve service delivery that benefits local communities, including access to maternal healthcare. There are legislative gaps due to existing Acts of Parliament needing to be updated and requiring alignment with the Constitution, yet there needs to be more political will. Without devolving specific functions to lower tiers of government, they have no fiscal or political autonomy to improve service delivery to their communities independently. It considers Zimbabwe's regional and international obligations on sexual reproductive health rights and observes the dissonance between the current existing legislative framework and practice with regional and international standards. It also draws lessons from Kenya, which has a similar system of devolution and whose Constitution was adopted under a shared-power arrangement, just like Zimbabwe. Finally, the dissertation proffers recommendations, including legislative reforms that introduce institutions to effectively implement devolved functions to improve access to maternal healthcare at the constituency level. Centre for Human Rights LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa) Unrestricted Faculty of Laws SDG-03:Good heatlh and well-being 2023-11-28T11:13:00Z 2023-11-28T11:13:00Z 2023-12-08 2023 Mini Dissertation * D2023 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/93485 10.25403/UPresearchdata.24624585 en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Maternal health
Healthcare
Devolution
Autonomy
SRHR
Enhancing access to decentralised maternal healthcare services in council-run clinics in Zimbabwe : Lessons from Kenya
title Enhancing access to decentralised maternal healthcare services in council-run clinics in Zimbabwe : Lessons from Kenya
title_full Enhancing access to decentralised maternal healthcare services in council-run clinics in Zimbabwe : Lessons from Kenya
title_fullStr Enhancing access to decentralised maternal healthcare services in council-run clinics in Zimbabwe : Lessons from Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Enhancing access to decentralised maternal healthcare services in council-run clinics in Zimbabwe : Lessons from Kenya
title_short Enhancing access to decentralised maternal healthcare services in council-run clinics in Zimbabwe : Lessons from Kenya
title_sort enhancing access to decentralised maternal healthcare services in council run clinics in zimbabwe lessons from kenya
topic UCTD
Maternal health
Healthcare
Devolution
Autonomy
SRHR
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/93485