This volume brings to the fore the interface of religion, womens sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Zimbabwe. It emphasizes that empowering African women is a pivotal pillar for attaining sustainable development. Contributors discuss the need for implementing structural changes as a prerequisite for social progress and development to occur in Southern Africa. They interrogate the extent to which religious beliefs and practices either promote or impede womens SRHR. The contributors also proffer several ways in which addressing the themes of health for all and equality for all women and girls can make a meaningful contribution towards the fulfillment of the goals set for Agenda 2030. 

Sophia Chirongoma is a senior lecturer in the Religious Studies Department at Midlands State University, Zimbabwe.She is also a research fellow at the University of South Africa under the Research Institute for Theology and Religion.

Molly Manyonganise is a senior lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at the Zimbabwe Open University. She is also a Research Associate in the Faculty of Theology and Religion of the University of Pretoria.

 

Ezra Chitando serves as Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Zimbabwe and Theology Consultant on HIV for the World Council of Churches. He is also extraordinary professor at the University of the Western Cape.

Chapter One: Religion, Womens Health Rights and Sustainable Development in Zimbabwe.- Section A: Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Womens Maternal Health.- Chapter Two: A Postcolonial Reflection on Indigenous Knowledge Systems-based Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare: A Case of the Ndau Women in Zimbabwe.- Chapter Three: Exploring Ndau womens ecological wisdom on managing pregnancy and childbirth.- Chapter Four: The interface of human rights and Ndau womens maternal health care rites.- Chapter Five:Mhani Vekusveka: Foregrounding Shangaan Womens role in Nurturing life with a Special Focus on Traditional Maternal Health Practices in Zaka District, Zimbabwe.- Section B: Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and other barriers to womens SRHR.- Chapter Six: Pouring ashes on our faces?: An African Womanist perspective on sexual and gender-based violence in Zimbabwe.- Chapter Seven: Sexual and Reproductive Health Challenges Encountered by Female Learners and Female Staff at anInstitution of Higher Learning in Zimbabwe.- Chapter Eight: Religio-Cultural Standpoints hindering adolescent and young womens access to Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Zimbabwe.- Chapter Nine:Omasihlalisane:A feminist pastoral response to the plight of young Zimbabwean women migrants entrapped in survivalist marriages in South Africa.- Chapter Ten: Religio-Cultural Norms Constraining Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights for Widows in Zimbabwe.- Section C: Moral and Ethical Dilemmas Inherent Womens SRHR Needs.- Chapter Eleven: Ethical reflections on the effects of Zimbabwes abortion policy on young womens reproductive health and dignity.- Chapter Twelve: Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Infertility and Women in Zimbabwe.- Chapter Thirteen: Zimbabwean Womens Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights: Ethical and Moral Implications of the Proposed New Marriage Bill.- Chapter Fourteen: The "Small House" Phenomenon and Its Impact on Zimbabwean Womens Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).- Section D: The Impact of Social Media, Literary Texts and Initiation on Womens SRHR Needs.- Chapter Fifteen: Revamping of a sanctuary without honour: VaRemba womens sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in the enclaves of religion and marriage.- Chapter Sixteen: The Personification of Nature as Mother: Motherhood in Islam with Specific Reference to Varemba Women in Mberengwa, Zimbabwe.- Chapter Seventeen: Saving Fish from Drowning?: An Africana Womanist Conceptualization of Wo/Manhood and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Through Analyzing Selected ChiShona Literature Texts.- Chapter Eighteen: Media Rhetoric, Women, Silences and Sexual Abuses in the Church.