Guided by the overall principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Zimbabwean education act, the national policy on gender, the Orphan Care Policy and National Plan of Action for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children, the proposed five year National Girls' Education strategic plan aims to accelerate Zimbabwe's progress towards UPE in the context of gender and other social asymmetries in accessing education. The plan also strives to succeed amidst continuous negative repercussions of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the larger society and within a shrinking government expenditure on basic education services. By pursuing innovative ways for intervening and by boosting the socio-economic coping capacities of girls, orphans and other vulnerable children against the impacts of current macro-economic challenges, the plan envisages to recapture achievements made in the past towards increasing enrolment, attendance and completion rates.