Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

By: myadmin • December 13, 2018

WOMEN are the face of development. When they are educated, healthy and participate effectively in key development activities, there is an undeniable ripple effect on the well-being of communities and nations at large.

Yet, gender-based violence takes away their ability to fully utilise necessary basic human rights and consequently diminishes the potential of communities and countries to progress socially, economically and even in terms of political development.

In Zimbabwe, about one in three women aged 15 to 49 has experienced physical violence, and about one in four women has experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.

Each year from November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women to December 10; Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanise action to end violence against women and girls around the world.

The international campaign originated from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute co-ordinated by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991 at Rutgers University.

The campaign aims to raise an awareness of the negative impact that violence and abuse have on women and children, and to rid society of abuse permanently.

Abuse constitutes any behaviour that causes fear, bodily harm and causing a person to do things against their will.

Forms of abuse include child and rape, emotional and physical abuses as well as sexual harassment.

Up to 70% of women experience physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner at some point in their life.

Every year, the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign either introduces a new theme, or continues an old one.

The theme focuses on a particular area of gender inequality and works to bring attention to these issues in order to make effective changes.

This year’s global advocacy theme was Orange the World: #HearMeToo, with a focus on ending GBV in the workplace.

Under the theme Orange the World: #HearMeToo, organisations were hosting events with local, national, regional and global women’s movements, survivor advocates and women human rights defenders and creating opportunities for dialogue between activists, policy-makers and the public.

As in previous years, the colour orange is a key theme unifying all activities, with buildings and landmarks lit and decorated in orange to bring global attention to the initiative.

Key dates to observe during 16 Days of Activism include: November 25: International Day of No Violence against Women, November 29: International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, December 1: World Aids Day, December 3: International Day for the Disabled and December 10: International Human Rights Day.

The campaign this year ended on Monday, but better late than never for those wishing to participate.

In case you were wondering how you could do this, here are a few things to be done.

Firstly, don’t be a victim of gender-based violence and abuse yourself.

Report any violence perpetrated against you, your friends, neighbours and family to the police or organisations such as Zimbabwe Women Lawyers for assistance.

Do not look away when you see someone being abused, but speak out.

You could also find out what activities are being carried out by civil society or government agencies, and find out how you may be a part of these initiatives.

Altogether this is a huge global campaign, but its success rests on our daily individual and collective actions to safeguard society against this cycle of abuse.

You are your sister’s keeper. The time to speak out is
now.

Karen Whitney Maturure

By: myadmin • November 13, 2018

It’s finally happening!! The ROOTS talk show started last Friday night, the 9th of November 2018.

The ROOTS talk show is a platform created for young people to discuss issues that affect them at schools, at home and in society in general. As ROOTS we are aiming to be an Adolescents and Young People Infohub. So in other words the go to in terms of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.

Catch us on Star FM every Friday between 6:30 pm and 7 pm. Young people and Adolescents don’t be left out. Listen in and join the discussion as we explore issues close to your heart and your reality#AYPINFOHUB with support from GlobalFundforWomen

By: myadmin • November 1, 2018

As ROOTS we provide alternatives for women in the communities we serve, bearing in mind that monetary issues can be the root causes to abuse. Our team is in Mazowe this week, focusing on empowering women with liquid soap making skills as a way of trying to reduce and end GBV.

This liquid soap making skills training is under the CultureActions programme in ward 14 It is not only an initiative concerned with ending GBV in general buy it is a way to empower girls & women to end child marriage & economic violence since most of child marriage cases are being driven by poverty.The soap being made is called Classic liquid soap and it will be sold by the trained women in their community hence empowering then to become self sufficient.

ROOTS also hopes to tackle access to decent sanitary wear with the hope that that girls will also be able to buy sanitary towels from their profits.

By: myadmin • October 29, 2018

Real Open Opportunities for Transformation Support (ROOTS) hosted a Girls Wellness Fair in Bindura last Friday at Maizelands Secondary School in Bindura. ROOTS has noted with concern that child marriages are still occurring in the target area and one of the main drivers being barriers to the access to SRHR information. For many of young, the onset of adolescence brings not only changes to their bodies but also new vulnerabilities to human rights abuses, particularly in the arenas of sexuality, marriage and childbearing. Girls are coerced into unwanted sex or marriage, putting them at risk of unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV, and dangerous childbirth. Within this background, the fair focused on cancer awareness, reproductive health and early child marriages. While the fair was aimed at girls, boys were also welcome to the event to learn about the health issues that affect everyone.
October is Cancer Awareness month and ROOTS invited the National AIDS Council (NAC) to facilitate and present on Cancer and HIV. NAC facilitators were also available to answer questions related to these health issues.
Other presentations on the day were by ROOTS facilitators and they covered adolescent health issues as well as early child marriages.
Lesley Blessed Chaitezvi a form 3 student said “Today was good because we learnt about breast cancer and other types of cancers their symptoms and how to detect them. I also learnt that it is important to prioritise education at this time in our lives. I think future programs should also focus a lot on the issue of early child marriages as this is a big issue “.
Vanity Madzivanzira a male form 3 student said “I learnt a lot about cancer and I feel I can now advise people about the importance of screening and early detection. The information was new to me, I knew cancer was a disease that affected people but I did not know there were different types of cancer. Today was good because of the information we got which will be useful in life.”
Maizelands Secondary deputy headmaster Mr Peter Bowora said the day had been successful and he was thankful to all the partners who had taken part. The information shared by the partners was on cancer awareness, reproductive health, and early child marriages.
“The program helped a lot especially since some families no longer have the aunts who would teach the children about these issues. Today only non-exam classes the form 1 to form 3 students made it, I think if such programs are done in the first term form 4s can also participate as there will be no exam pressure on them.” Bowora said.
ROOTS is a non profit organization working towards the promotion of economic and social justice among young people in peri-urban, rural, and mining communities. The organization’s programming is underpinned by the Human Rights Based Approach to individual and collective development combining soft skills and hard skills as a sustainable development program for women and youth as well as Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs) in rural, mining and peri-urban communities.