In Zimbabwe, the climate crisis is not a distant threat. Droughts have become more severe, rainfall less predictable, and the competition for water, firewood and food more desperate. Agriculture is also affected by mining damaging the soil and water quality. In Hurungwe district, these pressures have sharpened old tensions and created new ones. For women and girls, the risks are acute: searching for basic necessities can mean facing exploitation and violence.

Local organisation Envision Zimbabwe has been working alongside community members, traditional courts, peace committees and women's groups to give people the skills and confidence to resolve conflicts peacefully and to assert their rights. That work is already showing results. When mining activity began threatening local land and livelihoods, Hurungwe residents chose dialogue. They gathered signatures, collected testimonies about displacement, health risks and environmental damage, and presented their case directly to the government. It was a collective effort by a community that had learned to use its voice.

Central to this work are 60 Women Peace Champions: local women working as mediators, advocates and first responders, going where the need is greatest to prevent violence and resolve disputes. In a district where remote communities are separated by vast distances and extreme heat, getting there in time matters. Envision Zimbabwe provided each champion with a bicycle and a uniform, simple tools that make their work possible and help communities know who to turn to when they need support.

In Hurungwe, peace is not being handed down from outside. It is being built, day by day, by the people who live there.