YOUNG Women for Economic Development (YW4ED) members are set to showcase their works at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) that opens today.
YW4ED was launched by the First Lady, Amai Auxillia
Mnangagwa, in August this year.
The organisation which is open to all Zimbabweans
regardless of political affiliation held an outreach programme yesterday at the
Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC).
The Bulawayo outreach, ran under the theme, Your Network is
your Net Worth, and was targeting women from the ages of 18 to 45.
The event was attended by Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and
Devolution Minister Judith Ncube, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Raj
Modi, National Chairperson for YW4ED Tatenda Mavetera and representatives from
Bulawayo, Mashonaland West and Midlands.
The main message during the outreach was that YW4ED was an
apolitical movement meant to give opportunity to every woman in all aspects of
the economy.
There were motivational speakers such as Dr Nothando Moyo,
who spoke about self-worth and how as women they must be found in every facet
of the economy. Another one was Mrs Nomagugu Dube of fast-growing fast-food
outlet Slice Pizzeria, who gave a brief insight on how she started her
business.
During the proceedings, YW4ED Bulawayo provincial
chairperson and renowned artiste Mrs Sandra Ndebele-Sibindi set the tone for
the day saying women from the province should not miss the opportunity to
uplift themselves and the economy.
“The biggest hindrance to the empowerment and development
of young people we have in Zimbabwe right now is the politicisation of
everything. We deny ourselves great opportunities and we ostracise ourselves
from great ideas simply because we assume that they belong to a particular
person, group or party.
“These opportunities are presented to us each and every
day, but we have blinkered ourselves and we do not see them. We have become so
caught up in the thick of thin things that we fail to take advantage of all the
glorious prospects our land and our resources have to offer. We need to revise
the way we think and act,” said Mrs Ndebele-Sibindi.
She said women are integral to the revival of the economy.
“Women are key to the economic development of our country.
That having been said, the role of young women in economic development is like
a currency whose value does not diminish. Enhancing women’ s participation in
development is essential not only for achieving social justice but also for
reducing poverty.
Worldwide experience shows clearly that supporting a
stronger role for women contributes to economic growth. In short, investing in
women is central to sustainable development. And yet, despite these known
returns, women still face many barriers in contributing to and benefiting from
economic development,” said Mrs Ndebele-Sibindi.
The national chairperson of YW4ED, Ms Mavetera, said it was
important for every woman to take up this opportunity.
“The President is a president for us all and he has
embraced us as young women into the economic development trajectory of the
country,” said Ms Mavetera.
“I’m therefore, delighted that our organisation Young Women
for Economic Development which we officially launched on Friday 13 August 2021
is an economic empowerment drive whose main thrust is to push for inclusivity
and participation of all women below the age of forty-five in all sectors of
our economy through socio-economic and political activities that enhance
productivity, development and empowerment as we move towards the attainment of
an upper middle-income economy by the year 2030.”.
Bulawayo Provincial Minister Ncube, who was the guest of
honour, said there needs to be a shift in perception where women support each
other.
“As women we need to change the stereotype that women do
not support each other. I believe that if we support each other, we will become
more successful. A woman alone has power and collectively we have impact.
Raising each other up and channelling the power of collaboration will assist us
to change the equation,” said Minister Ncube.
She said the participation of women in economic development
was fundamental to the National Development Strategy 1.
Platform one are joined by Miss Zanu-Pf on the dance floor
during a Young Women for Economic Development outreach programme in Bulawayo
yesterday
“NDS1 recognises that women’s full and equal participation
in the country’s economy is a vital step towards achieving sustainable
development. The Second Republic under the servant leadership of His Excellency
the President Cde ED Mnangagwa has pledged full support for the empowerment of
women and our youths.
Various programmes have been put in place to ensure that
women fully and actively participate in all sectors of the economy. This is
evidenced by the various initiatives being implemented by the Ministry of
Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community
and Small Medium Enterprise Development,” said Minister Ncube.
In an interview on the sidelines of the event, YWED
national programmes co-ordinator Ms Sithabile Gandi Ndlovu said the
organisation’s participants will take advantage to market their works at the
Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) that opened today.
“The outreach today (yesterday) is aimed at bringing
awareness of the organisation and taking note that the ZITF will be starting
tomorrow (today) we are going to be having women from the organisation
exhibiting there.
“This is to fulfil part of our principles of devolution as
prescribed by President Mnangagwa. In that light we want to ensure that young
women in each province are a part of the economic development trajectory in
line with NDS1 as we are focusing on agriculture, mining, arts, culture tourism
and small to medium enterprises,” said Ms Gandi Ndlovu.
Kickstarting the entertainment was Iyasa who got the
invited guests on their feet. There was surprise entertainment by South
Africa’s Platform One, who got the audience dancing and singing along. Mzoe 7,
fresh from his United States of America sojourn, also entertained the masses,
with the likes of Novuyo Seagirl and LaDee. Chronicle
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