Upcoming SADC #Voice&Choice Summits

11 October 2020: In October and November Gender Links (GL) and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) will be hosting Voice and Choice Summits in four Southern African Development Community (SADC) Countries – Eswatini, Lesotho, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings some Summits will be taking place in three phases. In Zimbabwe two Summits, for entrepreneurs and thematic awards, took place in September.

The Voice and Choice Summits, which take place every two years recognise good practise and innovation; and the valuable work being done by gender champions and community members across a range of thematic areas. The summit participants will present on the following #VoiceandChoice categories:

• Centres of Excellence for Local Government
• Drivers of Change
• Economic justice
• Entrepreneurship
• Media
• Governance, including the 50/50 campaign
• Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
• Youth Engagement

The main purpose of the #VoiceandChoice Summit is to allow participants to learn and share best practices from various sectors including Government departments, Non-Governmental organisation (NGOs), Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Faith Based Organisations (FBOs), Local Government councils as well as the media.

The upcoming Summits will take place as follows:

Lesotho: 27-28 October (Entrepreneurs)
Eswatini: 29 – 30 October 2020
Zimbabwe: 13-16 October (Centres of Excellence)
Lesotho: 3-4 November (Centres of Excellence);
Lesotho: 10-11 November (Thematic areas)
Zambia: 18-20 November

For more information:

Eswatini: Ncane Maziya on swdlocalgvt@genderlinks.or.za
Lesotho: Manteboheleng Mantebo on lesmanager@genderlinks.org.za
Zambia: Albert Ngosa on progzambia@genderlinks.org.za
Zimbabwe: Priscilla Maposa on zimmanager@genderlinks.org.za
General: Susan Tolmay on governance@genderlinks.org.za