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Activity update week ending 23 September 2013
National Youth Development Trust
September 24, 2013

Bulawayo

Peace Circle For Young Women: The National Youth Development Trust held a Peace Circle for Young Women on Thursday September 19, 2013. The Peace Circle was held with the aim of exploring ways in which young women can assert themselves in promoting peace and ensuring that conflict is avoided in their homes and in their communities at large.

The young women who attended the meeting managed to identify key issues that threatened peace in their communities. These included high unemployment, lack of education, economic dependence and lack of capacity on how to deal with conflict situations. For instance the school going young women highlighted that the unemployed young men who spend most of their time sitting on street corners, drinking beer are the main perpetrators of violence against young women. The young women also suggested strategies of dealing with these situations and keeping safe whilst promoting peace in their communities. These included empowering themselves to avoid becoming too dependent on other people, sharing ideas with other young women and attending more of platforms such as those organised by NYDT to gain critical skills in peace building. They also signed a Peace Oath signifying their commitment to promote peace within their homes and communities. Peace circles for young women are facilitated by the NYDT to enhance capacities of young women to play a critical role and contribute positively to peace processes.

Full Council Meeting: The Bulawayo Youth council held a full council meeting on Friday September 20, 2013. The meeting was the first after the elective full council which saw various committees being set up. In light of the looming world environment day, the youth council agreed to embark on a cleanup campaign in Bulawayo in an effort to restore the city’s pride in cleanliness. As such, the councillors agreed to partner with the Bulawayo City council (BCC) in the exercise so that the local authority provides refuse collection trucks and other cleaning equipment.

Other proposed initiatives included volunteering in various children’s homes, partnering with the department of social welfare in assisting the rehabilitation of children living in the streets and mobilising other young people to do the same. These were said to be the agenda of the Bulawayo youth council for the rest of the year.

Visit the National Youth Development Trust fact sheet

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