COP26 in Glasgow was a setback for humanity as politics again blocked decisive action to cut carbon emissions enough to prevent runaway climate chaos. Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa led an embarrassingly large delegation to Glasgow 100 people strong, in the hope of lifting sanctions and being accepted fully back into the international community. Any progress in bringing investment back into Zimbabwe is vital to economic recovery, and political and social stability. It appears that Pres. Mnangagwa made only modest gains in Glasgow.
Currency shortages, inflation, and power outages continue to plague the country. On the other hand, the recent strong harvest has buoyed optimism. Despite ongoing attacks from the Mugabe – G40 – Chamisa faction on Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF, the government appears to be the favourite to win the looming 2023 national elections, while the opposition is plagued by very complicated infighting. It is these dynamics that continue to fuel fake political abduction stories and real political violence.
A bright spot was the recent election of a new leadership in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which has now turned to re-building the base of the trade unions with a focus on consolidation of ZCTU as a Workers’ Rights institution working through TNF process, in the highly informal economy. The former leaders had promoted violent clashes with the government in 2019 and 2020.
As well, Zimbabwe Peacebuilding Initiative (ZimPI) continued to develop positive programs including the academically led, resuscitation of the women’s clubs development model located at the MSU Gender Institute aimed at promoting youth organised, as the Boy Child Project, partnering the successful, well organised and funded internationally UN popularized Girl Child Project, to empower both, to access formal self-development, empowerment mechanisms to benefit both for true gender equity, through structures created from grassroots upwards, improving Zimbabwe’s economy for a middle income country by 2030 and its international profile.
Two young men, Tamuka Hove and Daniel Zinyama made a powerful impact in Victoria Falls April 2021 and at the continent-wide African Union Youth Leaders Model/African United Nations Conferences in Addis Ababa on August 24-30, 2021. Participants voted Tamuka Hove Best Presentation Paper Award and Daniel Zinyama Most Outstanding Delegate Award for YLMUN in both Victoria Falls and Ethiopia 2021.
Attorney Stella Wutete, legal counsel for ZimPI and a Board member of the Commonwealth Young Lawyers Association, took part in the 22nd Commonwealth Law Conference, held in Nassau, Bahamas from 5th to 9th September 2021.
ZimPI has just begun its annual Internship Program, where for one year Interns from different universities apply to be attached to the ZimPI Program. The first this year is Yvonne Ndadzungira (To Roam Around), daughter of a War Veteran, brought to ZimPI by her Aunt, Thandiwe Ngulube, herself a War Veteran from Chimanimani and Founder/Director of Parents Against Drug Abuse (PADA), ZimPI Network Team. Ndadzungira is from Great Zimbabwe University in Masvingo, reading for a Bachelor of Arts/Developmental Studies B31. The second are Molly Panashe Chakaora (the decayed) and Perseverance Chibika (to Cook) from the Women’s University in Africa (WUA) in Harare, taking their Bachelor of Arts/Social Work BSW 31. They will be joined by students from Bindura University and the Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT).
Zimbabwe Information Centre, Australia
November 17, 2021
