| Nyaradzayi has consistently invested in women's rights and issues such as security, peace with justice, violence against women, sexual and reproductive health, and rights for victims of HIV and AIDS. She has contributed to specific peace negotiations in Somalia and Sudan, strengthened partnerships, established collaborations and increased capacities of women's networks and organisations. She has also been a consistent voice for policy reform, including the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This effort saw her actively involved in the development of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights in Africa on Women's Rights (2004 Maputo Protocol) and she subsequently received an appointment to the UN Civil Society Advisory Group on 1325. |
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Ms. Gumbonzvanda serves on the Advisory Board for the African Centre for Women and ICTs and she recently founded the Rozaria Memorial Trust (RMT) – a charity organization established in honor of her late mother who died a role model in her community in Murewa, Zimbabwe. The Trust endeavors to celebrate and honor all the unsung community heroines who continue to provide leadership and care within their families. She is also active within the women's rights movement and is a member of organizations such as WiLDAF, Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association, the World Conference on Religion and Peace, the International Women Leaders on Global Security, the Women Faith and Development Alliance and of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS. Impressively, she was awarded a life membership status by Maendeleo Ya Wanawake, a grassroots organization with over 4 million members, in recognition of her approach to the empowerment of women in communities.
Nyaradzayi holds a Masters in Private Law with specialization on Constitutional Property Law from the University of South Africa. She also holds: a Postgraduate Diploma in Conflict Resolution from Uppsala University, Sweden; and a Bachelor of Law (Honors) degree from the University of Zimbabwe. Nyaradzayi has published widely and she is also a poet.
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Expat Women's Interview with Nyaradzayi
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| Expat Women: Nyaradzayi, please share with us more about the World YWCA and what makes it different from a local YWCA. |
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Nyaradzayi:The World YWCA is a global movement of women, young women and girls, present in 125 countries through 22,000 communities. The movement reaches out to 25 million women and girls in the world. It is a collective voice for the member associations around critical issues of concern to women in the world today.
The key feature of the World YWCA is our core focus on developing the leadership of women and young women worldwide towards collective action to achieve peace, justice, human dignity, health and care for the environment.
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We have the Power to Change Fund, a grant-making facility that enables us to provide the much-needed financial and technical support to our member associations for them to reach women within their communities.
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We also have the convening role. We create space and opportunity for our YWCA member associations and other partners to come together, share experiences and advocate with one voice. We do this through the International Women's Summits (IWS) that we convene every four years around a topical theme. In Melbourne, we focused on Indigenous Rights and brought to visibility the issues of indigenous women in the Pacific region, especially in Australia, Aotearoa, New Zealand and the nearby island nations. Today we celebrate the YWCA of Australia having their first indigenous woman as President of this great movement.
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In 2007, our IWS in Nairobi focused on women's leadership in response to HIV and AIDS. Over 2,000 people gathered in Nairobi and affirmed the leadership of women through the Nairobi Call to Action.
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We have just concluded the 2010 International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, where the World YWCA was one of the convenors and a member of the conference coordinating committee. We brought together more than 22 women, especially young and positive women, from 10 member associations around the world to share their skills and advocate for their issues.
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Next year, we are hosting our next International Women's Summit, in Zurich, Switzerland. The IWS will celebrate the achievements, learning and progress of the movement. It will also examine persisting gaps and challenges to ensure the fulfillment of sexual and reproductive health and rights including HIV and AIDS, and the eradication of violence against women at the community, national and global levels.
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| Expat Women: Can you please share with us some examples of what local YWCAs are involved in? |
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Nyaradzayi: The best example that comes to mind is the innovative work of the YWCAs of Zambia. The YWCA of Zambia runs a programme on HIV and violence against women, and their inter-linkages. The prevention programs target mostly young women with sexual and reproductive health information and services. This is a project in partnership with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. They have shelters and drop-in centers with integrated services for survivors of violence and women living with HIV in the country. Through this project, they have collaborative arrangements with the Ministry of Health and the Police Department. In each center, there is a health worker and a police officer stationed there, ready and available to provide medical and legal advice as well as the necessary referrals. The United Nations Trust Fund has recognised this very innovative programme and it will be providing a 3-year grant for the replication and deepening of the work.
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Expat Women: Nyaradzayi, what would you consider the most important changes to women's rights issues that still need to be made on the global stage?
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Nyaradzayi: We have good basket of normative policy and legal instruments for advancing the rights and empowerment of women. However, this is not sufficient. The next decade has to be about implementation, turning all these commitments to doable actions. In practical terms, it means that we need women to live a life free of poverty, violence and exclusion. More investment in women and girls should provide education and training opportunities, economic resourcing and decent work and contribution to decision-making through women's leadership. The change in patriarchal values, behavior and practices also remains a key to changing gender socializations and stereotyping. It is crucial to continue to invest in the leadership of women and girls. This enables them to have the decision-making capacity and possibilities within their families, communities and nations, and to shape and influence those decisions that affect their own lives.
Again, it remains important for governments to have the appropriate legislation and policies that promote, protect and advance the rights of women and girls. Such legal commitments must be accompanied by adequate resource allocations to programs and initiatives that advance gender equality. For instance, market women are active economic participants. Their role must be supported and facilitated.
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| Expat Women: What top five tips or pieces of advice can you offer women wanting to follow in your footsteps and work globally in humanitarian organizations? |
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Nyaradzayi: There is never a clear path, but the following advice has guided me throughout my life:
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Be clear and convinced about what you deeply value in life and that which shapes your being and your focus. For me, I knew early on that I would dedicate my life to advancing women's and children's rights. This was driven by my own personal life history, and again by the reality of the world around me. I know that this is a life vocation. Each person has to identify what it is that drives them in life.
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Recognize that your professional life is like a journey. You learn, you research, you walk the narrow paths, you look for a bridge and/or you cruise on the highway. It is important to acknowledge that such a journey requires partners, guides, cheerleaders and friends. At times, you meet some hurdles, but you need to remain clear of your destination and continue the journey.
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It is okay to work with passion and to be in touch with your emotions. Working in complex humanitarian situations and in conflict, the trauma can be hard and the reality of people in these situations can be stressful. An effective drive to continue to be in the "trenches" and be the voice of others in these situations requires an honest sense of facing reality and finding the initial steps.
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Network, partner, collaborate and share. I find it highly rewarding and empowering to share power, share space, share leadership and always acknowledge that I am stronger with others. A collaborative approach to life affirms your own leadership while at the same time allowing recognition that you do not know everything, nor can you do everything alone, but that together we can move mountains.
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Take time to reflect. Reflection is so important, as it offers a quiet moment of internalisation, drawing the deep lessons, listening to the invisible but important. Reflections can be done alone or with others for the shared experiences. This is always enriching and provides the safe space for giving or receiving feedback.
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| Expat Women: Nyaradzayi, we applaud your commitment to women, young women and children. We thank you for sharing with us about yourself and about the fabulous work being done around the world by the collective YWCA. |
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