Nonhlanda Ndono Upgrades

The CREATE PhD programme is immensely proud of their fellow, Nonhlanda (Noni) Ndono who passed her PhD upgrading on the 20th of September.

Noni's PhD, 'Feminist lens on policy, power and the lived experiences of pregnant and parenting adolescents in Zimbabwe' is built from her work with the 'Kids with Kids' programme at The Health Research Unit Zimbabwe; she has fostered a strong connection with adolescent and young mothers so that they are able to share their experiences and have a voice at policy meetings in Zimbabwe, shaping healthcare for expecting mothers and reshaping educational policies regarding sexual health.

Her doctoral research aims to address this empirical gap by examining how pregnant and parenting adolescents under the age of 20 in Zimbabwe navigate their lives following conception. Using a decolonial feminist theoretical framework, the study will analyse national policy, social and cultural norms, and these adolescents' lived experiences after conception.

While existing research often centres on negative outcomes and depicts adolescent mothers in the Global South as passive victims of systemic deficiencies, this study intends to document a broader range of post-conception experiences, including agency and community resourcefulness. By centring the voices of adolescent mothers in its methodology, this research seeks to promote justice in knowledge production on adolescent pregnancy and contribute evidence on adolescent post-conception care and support needs in the Global South.

Noni Chairing a Conception Meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, where work began to reshape policy for adolescent mothers

Despite global initiatives that have reduced adolescent pregnancy rates in many regions, birth rates among individuals aged 10 to 19 in Sub-Saharan Africa remain twice the global average and are projected to rise. However, international health policies predominantly emphasise the prevention of adolescent pregnancy, frequently neglecting post-conception care and social support for those who become pregnant. As a result, the needs of younger adolescent cohorts (10–19 years) who experience pregnancy are often overlooked and insufficiently researched.