Contraception: Epworth caravan has served 100,000 Zimbabwean adolescents as foreign aid collapses

In Epworth, a densely populated neighborhood on the outskirts of Harare, a caravan set up in a corner of a hospital serves as a reproductive health clinic for local adolescent girls. Since 2021, more than 100,000 young people have been seen there, reports Africanews in a feature published on October 9, 2026.

The facility is managed by Population Services Zimbabwe, an affiliate of MSI Reproductive Choices, which operates in 36 countries. Its director, Pester Siraha, defends the mobile model as the only way to reach young women who would not go to a traditional health center on their own.

A story, and the numbers behind it

Kelly Nhedega, 18, is one of these users. Pregnant at 16, she left school and is raising an 18-month-old child. She explains to Africanews that she does not want another pregnancy because she intends to return to school. Her journey summarizes the stakes: on the continent, approximately 180,000 women die each year from pregnancy-related causes, and sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 70% of global maternal mortality.

The funding wall

The report documents a brutal decline in resources. The UNFPA estimates the funding gap for contraception in 2026 at $185 million. Nearly 1,400 reproductive health facilities are set to close worldwide by December, including 1,175 in Africa, which would deprive some 5.9 million women of services. MSI Zimbabwe, for its part, lost a $9 million grant over five years awarded in 2023, of which more than $6 million had not yet been spent.

Two causes are combining: the dismantling of numerous American aid programs in 2025 and the redirection of European donors—Sweden has halted its development aid to Zimbabwe to focus on Ukraine.

Harare is now paying part of the bill

The Zimbabwean government is attempting to compensate. It has spent $6.3 million on the purchase of contraceptives since 2022 and has committed to $2.25 million per year in 2026 and 2027. It is a rare public commitment in this field, but it remains below the amounts lost.

The final obstacle is logistical. Inonge Wina Chinyama, director of MSI in Zambia, summarizes the problem as the "last mile": effectively delivering products to rural centers. In Zambia, an order placed in November arrived more than three months late. These are weeks during which young women leave empty-handed.