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Crisis Director, Lewanika, selected as the laureate for Zimbabwe
of the French program "Personnalité d'avenir"
Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition
February 01, 2012
The Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition Director, Mr McDonald Lewanika, was recently
inducted as Laureate for Zimbabwe of French Government Program "Personalité
d'avenir" Promising personality. He becomes the 8th
Zimbabwean to be honoured with this induction since it's inception
in 1988. The program, which focuses on promising young leaders in
a wide field not limited to Politics and Civil Society, has in the
past been awarded to past Zimbabwe
Election Support Network (ZESN) Chairperson - Dr Reginald
Matchaba Hove, and also prominent public intellectual and current
Director of the Voluntary
Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) Takura Zhangazha.
The induction
entails a tailor made 7 day visit to France as a guest of the French
Foreign Ministry where the laureate is exposed to French culture,
develops their knowledge about France (Social and political system,
values etc.) and get to amplify their professional network, through
site visits and interviews with political officials, economy sector
stakeholder, intellectuals and opinion leaders.
32 year old
Lewanika, who was also honoured in January 2012 by the Student
Solidarity Trust for 'outstanding contributions and commitment
to the students movement' was characteristically unassuming
and modest when asked about the recognition.
"It is
always good to be appreciated but these honours are no testament
to any brilliance on my part, but are a reflection of the great
work that institutions I work for are putting in. I am just a beneficiary
of working with great people doing great work, which then reflects
on individuals"
In spite of
the rebuttal, the Crisis Director was honoured in his individual
capacity as "Young Change Maker of the year for 2010 -2011"
by the Young Voices Network and Youth Empowerment and Transformation
Trust, and will soon become a Commonwealth Professional Fellow.
Over the past decade, Lewanika has been honoured as laureate of
the International Students Peace Prize (2003) with ZINASU,
the inaugural CIZC Human Rights and Democracy award (2007), as well
as becoming an Alumni of the United States International Visitors
Leadership Program (2008).
Commenting on
the recent honour, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Spokesperson
Thabani Nyoni said;
"We are
very proud to be associated with McDonald. This is a great honour
for the coalition, its membership and the communities we serve.
It's also an honour to the people of Zimbabwe, which we should
all celebrate."
McDonald Lewanika
is a living example of the Freidrich Hegels assertion that "Nothing
great in the world was accomplished without passion." It is
his passion for his work and the democratisation of Zimbabwe that
attracts notice, and the Crisis Coalition is glad to have him in
their employ.
Visit the Crisis
in Zimbabwe fact
sheet
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