PYD Press Statement on the Occasion of the World Day of Social Justice

20 February 2019
 

Machona Village, Chipinge - Platform for Youth Development (PYD) has been in existence since 2008. The main thrust of their work has promoted and advanced community development and carried out efforts aimedat reducing poverty amongst the most disadvantaged in Chipinge District. The organization is of the opinion that justice is closely interlinked with human rights, hence the recognition of the World Day of Social Justice.

Today marks the observation of the World Day of Social Justice and it is relevant to the situation currently unfolding in Chipinge District. Social justice enables communities to identify structural disadvantages, discrimination and inequality that act as barriers to social inclusion and poverty eradication efforts. PYD will commemorate World Day of Social Justice in Machona village byinvolving four netball and four soccer teams from Machona (the host),Chisumbanje, Mukukuzi and Vheneka. Sport assist in defining community character and values, and offers individuals in the community a process and a route they can use to lead and facilitate collective visioning and action against poverty.

The World Day of Social Justice was set aside by the United Nations in 2009 to encourage people to look at how social justice affects poverty eradication and promote social integration. It is a day annually observed on 20 February. 

PYD believes that the day provides an opportunity to look at pertinent issues of equity, fairness and justice in Chipinge District. Social integration and poverty eradication are fundamental in achieving social justice in the district. It is clear that the district is suffering from multiple and complex cause-effect relationships between economic and social constraintswith their combined effects on life in the community.

PYD has been very prominent in fighting for social justice as evidenced by the work around the land dispute involving Greenfuelproject, Land dispute involving Mahachi village and the Chipinge Rural District Council ,Contractual dispute involving Mutema Banana farmers with Matanuska Pvt Ltd,Gender disparity around harmful cultural practices in Chipinge district. In all these projects, PYD has been on the side of the vulnerable and the disadvantaged.

Girl child pledging and appeasement of the avenging spirits together with politicization of government food aid expose mostly young women to domestic violence in Chipinge District, a practice that has socially excluded vulnerable members of our community.

Community standing of a member that is rooted in the difference between gender, political affiliation, religious persuasion and even economic status is based on the long established and often accepted social, economic, cultural and political inequalities within our district. These glaring inequalities are not only the product of unequal power relations but they perpetuate the inequality in our district. Poverty and social exclusion is an expression of such unequal power. 

PYD is cognizant of the fact that social justice in our local community is an attribute of institutions that are in the district. We call upon the DA’s office, the Chipinge Rural District council, the local traditional leadership, elected Members of Parliament and Councilors to seriously look into the way in which they promote opportunities for people to engage with the normal activities of their community.  Social inclusion in the district and in Zimbabwe will go a long way in enhancing the participation of people in all forms of community development and in the process ensure gender equity. 

We vociferously urge all stakeholders to reclaim our right to social justice and inclusion

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World Radio Day - Give community voice a seat at the dialogue, tolerance and peace table

“While technology shapes the future, it is people who shape technology and decide what it can be used for.” The late UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Dialogue, tolerance and peace as espoused by the people will shape the transformational nature of radio.

Manzvire Community hall in Chipinge District will host Vemuganga Community Radio as it celebrate World Radio Day under the theme; DIALOGUE, TOLERANCE AND PEACE.  Radio provides an opportunity for communities to engage in dialogue on various developmental issues that affect their lives, thereby shaping the developmental discourse towards their needs. It is a conduit through which community members engage in debate on certain cultural practices and identify ways of improving areas they feel could be retrogressive or a violation of the rights of some sections of the community. 

However, intolerance and suppression of community voice has become a problem of great community concern because of its socio - economic and political consequences. Intolerance in local communities is being played out as part of a deliberate strategy to demoralize communities and destroy their social structures and identity, whilst radio enhances their social identity.

Radio is a key factor for opening up dialogue and promotes tolerance and peace in communities like Manzvire. Dialogue that is premised on promoting tolerance and peace will enhance Chipinge district’s desire to have its concerns and context being captured through a mechanized institution. Genuine dialogue through radio not only applies to a community’s right to express an opinion but it also gives the individual a right to access to information. Thus, radio should not be seen violating the public’s right to receive and impart information and the constitutional right of freedom of expression. Local communities need a space for dialoguing and in turn promote tolerance and peace.

Radio is a very important social institution that operates within and is informed by the broader social agenda. It becomes critical that people are given an opportunity through dialogue to allow communities to contribute on “how the production of knowledge constructs social identities.” Radio is medium that involve the people in decision-making and participation processes, stimulate public debate, promote civic rights and help held authorities accountable towards the citizens. It then becomes imperative that the use of radio to amplify community voices result in dialogue and tolerance being linked with respect, equality and liberty. 

With this year’s theme it is clear that radio is a prerequisite for social change as it allows communities to engage with and own the processes that will make their voices heard and establish horizontal dialogues with decision makers and community leaders

Vemuganga Community Radio is a local initiative that seeks to promote socio - economic development and to help the priorities and information needs of Chipinge district. It endeavor to give the community opportunities that are unavailable in other media to be directly involved in decision making and address their contribution to issues of accountability, equity and civil rights; ensure the full and effective participation of women. Vemuganga Community Radio is a natural fit in participatory models of development that stress the importance of including all stakeholders in determining both “the question” and “the answer.” 

Vemuganga Community Radio is celebrating this year’s World Radio Day with a view to achieve social change in our communities.