Alliance forging ahead in Zimbabwe

Under the banner, “2015 yes we can, 50/50 yes we must: Woman you can, together we must!À faith based organisations pledged to take on the 50/50 campaign within its structures. This is one of the outcomes of a strategic communications capacity building workshop held for faith based organisations and the Alliance network in Zimbabwe from 26 À“ 28 November 2012 in Harare.

According to pastor, Nyengeterai Moyo, who founded her own church it is important that women rise up and take up leadership positions within faith community structures because currently men dominate. She lamented that some denominations do not even allow women to participate in leadership structures.

Moyo underscored the need to empower women with skills such as the strategic communications training which helps to give them confidence to “rise upÀ. She pledged that she take on the 50/50 campaign in line with the 50/50 by 2015 target of the SADC Gender Protocol.

The workshop aimed to equip faith-based organisations with skills to take up gender campaigns; be confident in participating in policy debates as well as provide a platform for them to interact with representatives from gender NGOs so that they can take forward the work for promoting gender equality.

In a linked event the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance launched the regional and country 2012 SADC Gender Protocol barometer reports in Zimbabwe at an event officiated by the Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khupe and Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Jessie Mujome. They both underscored the importance of the barometer as a mirror on the country’s performance while Khupe said that government should reach out to the rural woman if the country is to achieve gender equality. Click here to read 2012 Zimbabwe barometer and regional barometer

The Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance network in Zimbabwe has acquired two additional theme clusters will cater for faith-based organisations and gender and climate change. This is an outcome of an Alliance meeting held on 28 November 2012 to acquaint faith-based organisations with how the Alliance works as well as review institutional mechanisms.

GENVI a gender and environment organisation will take up the leadership of the gender and climate change cluster while the FBOs will need to conduct further consultations in order to nominate the leadership. FBOs are looking to use the opportunity to learn more about the SADC Gender Protocol so that they can cascade this to their churches as a mechanism to promote women’s rights.