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Harare 17 November 2016 June: The Zimbabwe SADC Protocol @ Work Summit running under the theme 50/50 by 2030! Empower women, End Violence ended on a high note today with a dazzling award ceremony for the best of the good practices.
Fourteen winners and eleven runner ups walked away with awards from the over 161 entries in 12 categories (see Annex A). Gender Links, the Women in Local Government Forum and the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) organised the annual awards that brought together over 200 participants from 40 councils in all nine provinces of the country, with the support of the Swedish Embassy in Zimbabwe.
The summit served as a curtain raiser to the Sixteen Days of Activism on Gender Violence that runs from 25 November (international Day of No Violence Against Women) to 10 December (Human Rights Day). In 2016 GL is extending the Sixteen Days campaign to include the Season of Giving that spans the period 24 November (Thanksgiving in the USA); Giving Tuesday (on 29 November) and Boxing Day on 26 December.
During the awards ceremony GL launched the Sunrise – End Violence, Empower Women Campaign in Zimbabwe. The public giving campaign aims to raise awareness and resources on the link between economic empowerment and ending gender violence. The awards featured entries by survivors on gender violence who have reclaimed their lives through entrepreneurship training with the support of their councils. Dalia Musasiwa won the emerging entrepreneur of the year award, with Diana Hove as runner up.
During the opening ceremony earlier in the week, Minister of Local Government, Public works and National Housing Honourable Saviour Kasukuwere commended the 68 local authorities in the Gender Links Centres of Excellence (COE) for mainstreaming gender in development. The Government of Zimbabwe supported the adoption of a strong Post 2015 SADC Protocol on Gender and Development that incorporates the gender targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Minister of Women Affairs, Gender & Community Development, Nyasha Chikwinya launched the 2016 SADC Gender Protocol Barometer on the second day of the summit with a resounding round of applause for the COE’s that have already revised and updated their gender action plans in line with the Post 2015 Protocol.
The Minister reiterated that economic justice gives voice and choice. She raised grave concern over issues of human trafficking that have bedevilled Zimbabwe, brought into sharp focus by the recent case of over 200 women freed from human slavery in Kuwait. She urged regional partners to continue lobbying their governments to rescue victims of human trafficking.
The summit featured a parallel meeting of the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance hosted by WCoZ, the focal network of the Alliance in Zimbabwe. Two alliance clusters – Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) led by SAFAIDS and the Economic Justice cluster led by the Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) – mapped out a strategy for key campaigns over the next year. These include human trafficking, child marriages, and funding for women’s rights.
On the third day of the summit, Gender Links launched the Gender & Media Progress Study (GMPS) carried out in Zimbabwe by the media department of the National University of Science and Technology. Zimbabwe registered the highest increase in women sources in the region – from 15% to 24%, above the regional average of 20%. But summit participants agreed that with women constituting 51% of the population, there is still a long way to go.
The summit featured the launch of three Gender Communities of Practice (COP) – local government, the media and the Alliance to strengthen the post 2015 campaign for gender equality. As Emma Chivaraidze, a participant at the summit put it: “Development is like an aeroplane, it has two wings. One male one female.” The summit served as a powerful reminder that if we believe we can fly, we can!
For more information contact: GL Zimbabwe Country Manager Priscila Maposa on zimmanager@genderlinks.org.za or phone 00263772735722. Or 002634798600.
Annex A: Zimbabwe National Summit Participants
List of Winners and Runner ups | ||
1 | Local Government COE – Metropolitan councils overall best performance Winners | Harare City Council; Bulawayo City Council |
2 | Local Government COE – Urban overall best performance. Runner up | Chegutu Municipality |
Local Government COE – Urban overall best performance. Winner | Masvingo City Council | |
3 | Local Government COE – Rural overall best performance. Runner up | Umguza RDC |
Local Government COE – Rural overall best performance. Winner | Zvimba RDC | |
4 | Local Government COE – 2016 councils overall best performance. Runner Up | Buhera RDC |
Local Government COE – 2016 councils overall best performance. Winner | Mvurwi Town City | |
5 | Local government resourcefulness urban best performance | Hwange Local Board |
Local government resourcefulness rural best performance | Manyame RDC | |
6 | Project Best Practice Award – Governance, including 50/50 campaign, peace and security. Runner up | Bulawayo City Council (Audrey Manyemwe) |
Project Best Practice Award – Governance, including 50/50 campaign, peace and security- Winner. | Masvingo City Council (Annette Breda) | |
7 | Project Best Practice Award – Rights including constitutional and legal rights, SRHR, HIV and AIDS. Runner Up | Chegutu Municipality (Prisira Ndlovu) |
Project Best Practice Award – Rights including constitutional and legal rights, SRHR, HIV and AIDS. Runner Up | Kadoma City Council (Charity Zvarevashe Special Mention Award) | |
Project Best Practice Award – Rights including constitutional and legal rights, SRHR, HIV and AIDS. Winner | My Age Zimbabwe Trust Onward Chironda | |
8 | Project Best Practice Award – Economic Justice, including education, training, economic development. Runner up | Kadoma City Council (Patrisia Matiki) |
Project Best Practice Award – Economic Justice, including education, training, economic development. Winner | Kadoma City Council(Prisca Mbwana) | |
9 | Project Best Practice Award – Climate Change and Sustainable Development. Runner up | Kadoma City Council (Lucia Marufu) |
Project Best Practice Award – Climate Change and Sustainable Development. Winner | Hurungwe Rural District Council (Tamburayi Gomwe) | |
10 | Project Best Practice Award- Gender Based Violence category Runner up | Goromonzi Rural District Council (Charity Tambara) |
Project Best Practice Award- Gender Based Violence category Winner | Bulawayo City Council (Memory Tshuma) | |
12 | Emerging Entrepreneur best performance – Runner up | Diana Hove |
Emerging Entrepreneur best performance – Winner | Dalia Musasiwa | |
13 | Gender Drivers of Change – Leadership Runner Up | Shylette Dzivai |
Gender Drivers of Change – Leadership Winner | Gertrude Gumbo |
📝Read the emotional article by @nokwe_mnomiya, with a personal plea: 🇿🇦Breaking the cycle of violence!https://t.co/6kPcu2Whwm pic.twitter.com/d60tsBqJwx
— Gender Links (@GenderLinks) December 17, 2024