Women’s Rights Advocates honoured during the International Human Rights Day

Three phenomenal women from Bulawayo were yesterday conferred with Women’s Rights Advocates Awards at a gala dinner in commemoration of International Human Rights Day. The three outstanding women were honoured for their consistency in advocating for the rights of women and girls in society.

The commemoration was held in line with this year’s global theme: “Recover Better – Stand up for Human Rights”. The theme relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to ensure that Human Rights are central to recovery efforts. As part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, the commemoration provided an opportunity to discuss progress in the promotion of women’s rights as human rights.

The commemoration saw the conferring of the Women’s Rights Advocates Awards on three women namely Constance Mabusela, Patricia Tshabalala, and Dr. Mildred Mkandla. The awards recognised and celebrated the three women’s efforts in advocating for the fulfillment of women’s rights.

The three women expressed their gratitude for being conferred with the awards and urged delegates to continue fighting for the rights of women and girls until their rights are fully promoted and protected.

Constance Mabusela was conferred with an accolade for her role as one of the pioneers of the Women’s Movement in Zimbabwe. She joined a women empowerment organisation called the Young Women’s Christian Alliance in 1968 at Mpopoma and was soon voted as the coordinator. The organisation sought to lobby the then government to recognise women as equal partners with men in society. However, the legal framework treated women as perpetual minors who needed men to sign off on everything on their behalf, they were not recognised as persons who had any legal standing.

Mabusela was one of the women from Zimbabwe who attended the Beijing World Conference on Women in 1995 where a comprehensive plan to achieve global legal equality between men and women was adopted. Upon her return from the Beijing Conference, Mabusela continued her work on lobbying and advocating for the promotion of the rights of women as contained in the Beijing Platform for Action. To date, she continues to impart her knowledge on the history of the Women’s movement and the changing women’s rights landscape in Zimbabwe on the young generation.

Patricia Tshabalala one of the three women who was conferred the Women’s Rights Advocates Awards was recognised for her charity work with regards to orphans and vulnerable children. Patricia Tshabalala is the founder and Director of Vulindela Guardians Orphans Care, a charity organisation that looks after orphans and vulnerable children. The organisation was founded in 1996 after she lost a lot of friends and relatives to the AIDS pandemic. She has contributed immensely in championing the rights of the girl child by fighting tirelessly for the rights of abused and disadvantaged children in the city’s high-density suburbs for more than a decade. She has also been actively involved in holding the local authority to account for poor service delivery in Bulawayo.

Dr. Mildred Mkandla who also received the Women’s Rights Advocates Award was honoured for her work across the continent and in Europe in improving the situation of vulnerable women and children and assisting them to be able to claim their rights to education, health, and economic empowerment. Dr. Mkandla’s journey shows a strong woman who, faced with the demands that come with gender and caregiving roles, was able to pursue her educational and professional goals and also had time to change the lives of many women in the African continent. The illustrious advocate for women and girls’ rights advocate, has an educational history that started at Hope Fountain more than six decades ago. She defied all odds and overcame obstacles to obtaining her Ph.D. at the age of 70. After her retirement, Dr. Mkandla is continuing to encourage women to break the glass ceiling on education and public leadership.

One of the guest speakers, Nikiwe Ncube-Tshabalala who is a legal practitioner said women suffer the most when human rights such as access to health, water, and housing are being violated by the state. She encouraged delegates to stand up and be fearless in the fight for the recognition of human rights in every sphere of society.

Julian Mugova who is a legal practitioner gave a solidarity message on human rights amid the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting that during the lockdown when faced with violence, victims of GBV had limited access to GBV response mechanisms. Mugova proposed the need for involvement of all stakeholders in the fight against GBV, involvement in the dissemination of information on human rights, and in advocating for the realisation of human rights.

 

 

Speaking on the conferring of the awards, Samukeliso Khumalo the Executive Director at WILD encouraged youths to take the button stick, stand for women’s rights, and make a difference in the Zimbabwean human rights landscape. She said younger generations are honoured to be standing amongst pioneers of the women’s rights movement. She the phenomenal women persevered so that women may have a voice and enjoy their human rights.

The commemorations were conducted by the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) in partnership with Intwasa, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, and Victory Siyanqoba.