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Tendai Rupapa Senior Reporter
First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa won the Pan-African Humanitarian Award for her philanthropic work at an awards ceremony held recently in Morocco.

The award category is for leaders who have demonstrated high levels of selflessness and commitment to serving humanity and promoting sustainable community development through reaching out and touching the lives of the vulnerable in their countries.

The First Lady in accepting the award thanked the international community for recognising her humanitarian works.

“I am humbled by this recognition I continue to receive from the international community,” she said.

“This recognition was made possible by the assistance I get from various partners I work with.

“I am calling on other people who would want to work with me to come aboard and improve the lives of the marginalised communities.”

In recognising the First Lady’s works, chairman of Pan African’s advisory board, Ambassador Wallace Williams said the First Lady was a living testimony of how hard work, determination, selflessness and focus can help individuals achieve their dreams.

“The conferment is based on your cumulative outstanding leadership qualities, exceptional contribution and persistent efforts to Africa’s development through several bold policies and innovative initiatives geared towards building a prosperous, sustainable, regionally-integrated and globally-competitive Africa through the Organisation of African First Ladies and your Angel of Hope Foundation,” he said.

“Your Excellency, you have been involved in many campaigns to try and end child marriages, curbing cervical cancer in Zimbabwe, HIV and Aids in adults and children, healthy living through community sports development programmes, ending maternal mortality, gender-based violence and you are an advocate for environmental sustainability, water and sanitation.

“Through your work, hundreds of thousands of women in Zimbabwe have received free cervical cancer screening from your progressive mobile cervical cancer screening programme, with those who tested positive to cancer cells assisted to get treatment.

“You have also reached out to populations in the most remote parts of Zimbabwe such the Doma community and encouraged Government to prioritise developing the area. Angel of Hope Foundation has also assisted many hospitals with state of the art medical equipment, access to clean water and nutritional gardens, among others.

“You have demonstrated amazing levels of humility and selflessness as you always put other, especially the vulnerable before yourself. Having grown up and educated in rural Chiweshe, Your Excellency, you are indeed a living testimony of a story of how hard work, determination, selflessness and remaining focused can help women achieve their dreams, despite one’s humble beginnings.”

He added; “During your tenure as a Member of Parliament, you embarked on a number of women empowerment and community development initiatives which include the setting up of a number of women’s bank in Silobela, Zhombe, Kwekwe and Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe, among others.

“You also served with distinct at the Pan African Parliament, advocating for and championing progressive and sustainable socio-economic programmes for developing Zimbabwe and by extension, Africa.”

The Pan-African Humanitarian awards is an annual event conceived to identify pertinent issues of Africa with a view to providing a holistic and multi-dimensional approach to sustainable peace and development in Africa.

The First Lady also scooped the 2019 African Phenomenal Woman of the Year Award in recognition of her philanthropic work in Zimbabwe.

She received the honour at the African Women in Leadership Organisation awards ceremony in Rwanda last week.