RAU in partnership with Kufunda Village held two participatory workshops on the Art of Hosting with young women leaders in Harare and Bulawayo.
The young women drawn from Kadoma, Bindura, Gwanda and Bulawayo had conversational workshops in an environment where they had equal chances to express their opinions using the Art of Hosting approach.
Art of Hosting is an approach to leadership that scales up from the personal to the systemic using personal practice, dialogue, facilitation and theco-creation of innovation to address complex challenges.
The workshop sought to train young women leaders to be assertive in a participatory and engaging manner. Participants were taught to become opinion leaders in the communities they reside in, to promote active participation, and support for each other in the road to leadership.
Those who took part acknowledged that the Art of Hosting is a useful process in facilitating healing as they could relate to each other’s problems, which they shared as part of the workshop. One lady stated, “I am grateful for taking part in the workshop, the stories touched my heart. Sometimes I get worried when l face challenges as a woman but l have realised that the struggle is for us all and we will conquer together.”
Jackie Cahi, one of the facilitators from Kufunda village expressed satisfaction in the manner in which the ladies were grasping the concepts they learned. “We had a great time training the young women on how to become self-conscious leaders who make well-thought decisions making them leaders rather than rulers,” Jackie said.
One of the main questions that stood out from the deliberations was, “What time is it for women’s empowerment?” Most participants agreed that 50/50 representation has not yet been achieved due to factors ranging from patriarchy, political violence and lack of cooperation from political parties in embracing 50/50 gender representation in all aspects and positions within their party structures. A RAU 2019 report on factors determining agency in young women revealed that there is no change from 2013 in the number of women directly elected to the National Assembly, but the number of women elected to local governmentseats dropped by 3%, from 16% in 2013.
Young women who participated in the workshop will act as opinion leaders in the communities they reside.
Source: Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU)
