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The AMANI Trust
The AMANI Trust is a Zimbabwean NGO, whose vision is the provision of medical, psychological
and social assistance to victims of Organised Violence and Torture (OVT). Apart from the
important rehabilitation work of the Trust, it also works for the elimination of torture both locally
and internationally. The Trust was formed in 1993, but had previously existed as an ad hoc
committee to implement the recommendations of the ground-breaking Conference on the
“Consequences of Organised Violence in Southern Africa”, held in Harare in 1990. This ad hoc
committee, operating under the auspices of the Psychiatric Association of Zimbabwe, attempted
to maintain regional collaboration on the issue of organised violence, and held a number of
regional workshops and seminars. The name of the Trust, AMANI, meaning peace in Swahili,
was given to this first initiative under the Psychiatric Association of Zimbabwe, and was
formalised when the Trust was registered in 1993.
The Trust did initial work in the refugee camps for Mozambican refugees, training health and
other workers in the identification and management of psychological disorders due to trauma. The
first major programme initiated by the Trust, however, was a partnership with hospitals in Mount
Darwin District. This began in 1995 and continued up to 2000. The work in Mount Darwin led to
the development of a community-based rehabilitation model, that was shown to be effective and
appreciated by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare. The reputation of this programme then
allowed AMANI to begin a programme in Matabeleland in 1997, and a separate programme was
fully established in 1998. Both the Mashonaland and Matabeleland Programmes revolved around
community-based approaches to rehabilitation, although there were regional differences in the
approaches due to the difference in the two contexts.
The AMANI Trust began new work in 1998 in the aftermath of the Food Riots in January of that
year. The new work, in the partnership with the then-formed Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO
Forum, focused upon current as opposed to historical victims of torture. This required new skills
and new approaches, and the Trust then developed a new model revolving around a medicolegal model. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has subsequently become an
established feature of the human rights landscape, and has, together with the AMANI Trust, has
led the field in documenting and reporting upon gross human rights violations.
The AMANI Trust continued its relationship with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare with a
new training programme for trauma counsellors. Two major training programmes were run during
1999 for Mashonaland Central Province, and, in 2000, on a national basis with trainees drawn
from 6 of the Provinces. This was then extended in 2001 with the development of a forensic nurse
examiner training programme, run jointly by AMANI and the Zimbabwe Nurses Association. This
was done on a national basis, with nurse trainees being drawn from all Provinces. This course,
which was the second of its kind in Africa was supported by the International Association of
Forensic Nurses, and resulted in 22 diplomates graduating and the creation of the future pool of
forensic nurse trainers.
Internationally, the AMANI Trust has acquired a reputation for expertise in the field of
documentation and rehabilitation of torture survivors. The Trust is a long-standing member of the
Danish-based International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), with representation
on the Council since 1993, and membership of the Executive Committee of the Council since
2000. The Trust was also a founder member of the Southern African Trauma Coalition, an
alliance of Southern African centres dealing with torture victims, having members in Namibia,
South Africa and Zimbabwe. Staff from the AMANI Trust have participated in international
missions in Botswana, the Philippines, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, and
Zambia.
The Trust has an international reputation for its work, having published papers in scientific
journals, produced a large number of reports and manuals, and made a large number of
presentations at international conferences. In Zimbabwe, the Trust can reliably be regarded as
AMANI TRUST: Beating your opposition. Torture during the 2002 Presidential campaign in Zimbabwe.