Artists who are part of Hopley Peace Empire (HPE), a local artists group advocating for peaceful participation in Hopley has vowed to intensify campaigns for peaceful participation in elections ahead of the 2023 plebiscite. This came out during a Peace concert organised by the group in partnership with Heal Zimbabwe on 19 March 2022.
The objective of the concert was to mobilize youths to register to vote ahead of the 2023 elections and encourage youths to uphold peace and tolerance. In his opening remarks at the peace concert, Heal Zimbabwe Communications Officer, Rawlings Magede highlighted that it was important for youths to shun violence and encourage community members to register to vote in peace.”As the 2023 elections draw closer, it is important for youths to shun violence and register to vote in peace ahead of the 2023 elections”, said Magede. Artists who are part of HPE also underscored the need to uphold peace and tolerance in their community.”As artists, we encourage young people in Hopley to uphold peace and tolerance. Elections come and go but the community remains hence the need to promote peaceful co-existence in Hopley”, added one artist.
The meetings by Heal Zimbabwe are part of efforts to create dialogues among citizens as this helps to safeguard against human rights abuse and also help build peaceful communities. Heal Zimbabwe utilizes various strategies to address conflicts in local communities. One of these ways is the use of community dialogues, an initiative for communities to discuss and collectively identify ways through which they can proffer solutions to problems in their communities. Such platforms also facilitate local level conversations on pertinent issues affecting communities as well as create socially cohesive communities.
Source: Heal Zimbabwe
