Zambian women at AFWID

By ANN ZULU in Johannesburg, South Africa


THE air was on Sunday filled with excitement at the OR Tambo International Airport as women across the African continent flocked in to attend the ongoing African Women in Dialogue (AFWID) conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A delegation of 16 participants from Zambia which included women from sectors such as the Social Welfare, Law, Education, Media, Politics and Business among others touched down in johannesberg at exactly 15: 15 hours on November 3, 2019.

Among the noticable faces on the Zambian deligation team are Gender Activist and Former NGOCC Chairperson Sarah Longwe and Women and  Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) National Director Maureen  Tresha.

 Despite some logistical challenges  at the airport, the delegates entered  Birchwood Hotel, the venue for the event wide eyed and with joy.

2019 AFWID Summit Zambian participants

The Conference started on Monday November, 4 and is expected  to end on Friday November 8, 2019.

AFWID is an inclusive platform of dialogue founded by Former South African First Lady Zanela Mbeki and seeks to unite African women from all walks of life, with a bias towards women who live in under resourced rural and urban areas, under one roof to deliberatye on issues of continental importance.

The platform is not representative of any organisation or political opinion, as women are encouraged to speak theirf own voices according to theirf own perspectives and personal experiences.

It gives voice to the perspectives and experiences of thousands of African women including rural and urban women, politicians, public servants, women of various religios denominations, faith based formations, academics, development practitioners, traditional leaders, proffesionals from diverse fields and youth, to share opinions and exchange views and review policies on themes crafted by national, continental and global agendas.

Some of the objectives of AFWID are to contribute towards attaining a united voice African women on continental issues, strengthen national regional and continental networks of women organisations and review continental stratgegies and programmes which are aimed at impacting African women.

This year´s conference is attended by 1000 women from all over Africa.

The official opening ceremony

Women from 55 African countries gathered at the second AFWID conference at the Birchwood Conference Centre, under the theme “Women`s Power and Voices as Agents of Change”.

The Wits Choir led the deligates to singing the African Union anthen and later the South African National anthem, as the host of the event.

The Choir kept the audience enttertained with musical and dance performances. Deligates joined in the dances, even though most of them could hardly understand the South African languages which the songs were mostly being sung.

Welcoming message

The beautifully dressed Programme Director, Lebogang Chaka welcomed the deligates with a word of encouragement reminding women of the important role they play in the development of the African continent.

Zanela  Mbeki Development Trust Trustee Mojanku Gumbu reteirated the need for women to get united and address the challenges affecting them.

Ms Gumbu said the time had come for African women to hold hands and work together.

“If we stand up together as women and speak with one voice, our voice will be heard. The time has come has come for us to take our rightful position and respect in the world,” Ms Gumbu said.

She said this year`s theme “Women`s Power and Voices as Agents of Change” emphasise that it is in the hands of women to effect the change they want.

She urged women to seize their power to change their own conditiotions, and dire societal conditions they faced.

Ms Gumbu reiterated that the forum gave voice to all women, especially to those who ten to get left behind.

Zambia´s Perspective

In an interview with this reporter, Women and  Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) National Director Maureen  Tresha thanked the organisers of the conference.

Ms Tresha said the event was an opportunity for Zambian women to learn various strategies that were being implimated by other African countries to address issues of Gender Based Violence (GBV), Early Marriage and Underrepresntation of women in decision making.

“This event is very important, it brings women from various countries and it is from here we get to learn how far other women have gone in women´s rights in their various countries,” Ms Tresha said.

Rise against sexual harassment at work place, women urged

 ANN ZULU Writes

WOMEN should resist all discriminatory practices against them at their workplaces to ensure that they enjoy the same rights as their male counterparts, Gender Activist Betty Mumba has said.

Ms Mumba urged women not to sit down, but fight for their rights.

“Women need to stand up for their right, because you won’t get it on a silver platter,” Ms Mumba said.

She mentioned some of the discriminations against women as height, when being recruited into the security agencies, employing women because of their looks or body size, domestic mistreatment and abuse, demanding sexual favours before employment, sexual harassment and others.

Ms Mumba noted that though there were laws that protected women at their workplaces, there was the need to increase advocacy and consultations with target institutions to have such discriminations eroded.

She said they should have sexual harassment policies popularised in all institutions.

Ms Mumba also called on institutions not to wait till they were dragged to court on such discriminatory practices when they could administratively review their policies to be in line with the constitution.

She further called for sensitisation, saying a number of female workers did not know their labour rights, thus, the need to be educated on it.

She said it was imperative that the citizenry, especially women, were empowered to stand up for those rights and not die in silence, even if their institutions do not make them aware.

Ms Mumba explained that though women formed the majority of the world’s population, they were denied many of their rights and marginalised due to patriarchy, culture and gender stereotypes.

ALERT! RAPIST!!

ANN ZULU writes 

The Rape culture in our Zambian society is becoming too extreme and we can no longer afford to ignore it or sweep it under the carpet - that is what got us here anyway.

Rapist

We need massive sensitization of our society, both online, offline, in schools, worship places, market places, work places, in cities, towns and rural communities.

The Government, the media, non governmental organizations, religious and academic institutions has a lot of role to play in reforming our society, to make it sane and safe for all, and for our future children.

There is absolutely no doubt that many parents of past generations failed their sons woefully by not teaching them the right values, especially where it concerns females and their bodies, consent, domestic chores, empathy, discipline, self control, anger management, their roles as husbands and fathers, equality of all humans- irrespective of gender...

The list is endless.

Please parents of this generation do not make the same mistakes. You must task yourselves to do better.  That is to raise boys right, not to neglect their mental and emotional well-being,

to teach them the right values - not the usual "you are a man and superior, and money is a man's pride" teachings that has caused so much irreparable damages.

The change we want begins with each and every one of us. It begins with the values we each both girls and boys. It begins with holding each other accountable. It should not be business as usual people. All hands has to be on deck if we want to get this right. Let's start taking actions now, please.

This foolish boy in the picture had the audacity to post in his University group chat about indulging in rape. The fact that his campus knew and no one batted an eye is heartbreaking. His name is JEFFREY, a student from the Copperbelt University (CBU).

Photo by:  Mwangala Monde.

I am here for the women

ANN ZULU writes

I am here in this life to see women create the body they want and look hella gorgeous for what they paid for.

I am here for women in the village, rocking their Chitenges, flaunting black skin with sheen from coconut oil.

Ann Zulu

I am here for the unapologetic bad girls, living their best lives.

I am here for women who splurge like they are dying tomorrow.

I am here for women who save like they would live forever.

I am here for the women making money offline, keeping it real, giving other women opportunities.

I am here for women who have a voice to speak online and bless us with wisdom.

I am here for slay queens. The ones who want to be pampered.

I am here for women who exist and thrive on/for their physical beauty.

I am here for the intellectual queens. The STEM divas. The academic goddesses.

I am here for women with voices that can never be quenched. Never.

I am here for mothers who choose their children.

I am here for women who love the right niggaz.

I am here for women who walk out of institutions that relegate them.

I am here for fearless women.

I am here for women who are figuring it out.

I am here for the authenticity.

As long as it is authentic, I am here for it.

We feel it. We smell it. We know it

I am here for confident women, bold women, beautiful women, strong women, happy women, loud women, brilliant women, rebellious women, kind women...

Everything you represent in your authenticity is valid!

I am here for all of it.

MY NAME IS ANN ZULU

Women urged to participate in mining

ANN ZULU writes

WOMEN´s  participation in the mining sector remains low and there is a need for more to be done in encouraging them to take up opportunities in the sector, Mwape Musonda, a small scale miner has said.

Woman miner

Ms Musonda  said although the sector held promises for women, many were not bold enough when opportunities come their way and usually fail to take advantage of job offerings in the sector.

“All I am saying is that when you get an opportunity as a woman to take up any role, step-up, take the position, say you can do it and while you are there, figure out how you are going to do it. Just the willingness to do something can actually propel you to achieve it,” Ms Musonda said.

She also said more young women should be encouraged to take up the sciences and also visit the mines, to interact with women miners within the industry.

She said there aren’t too many impediments in the industry, but rather an educational level problem is what she believed hindered women’s participation.

“We are not getting enough women who are qualified technically to come into the industry,” she said.

She stressed the need to encourage women, to take up the study of mines and to visit the mines to learm more about the sector.

“Once we make this attractive and we encourage our children from childhood to start pursuing these courses we will get a lot more in the industry,” she said.

The Sad reality of Zambian women

...................Under-representation, GBV and Maternal Deaths


ANN ZULU writes

FROM the time that Zambia got its independence in 1964 to date, women have continued to face serious challenges such as under-representation in decision making, Gender Based Violence (GBV) and maternal deaths.


Under-representation in Decision Making


There has been a misconception that politics is about issues which concern men more than women. It is believed that men are associated with ‘hard’ politics and women with soft politics of the home.

But should women only be in the kitchen? Some men are also better caterers and better home keepers than women. A good example is the fast food industry, which has become a male-dominated area than that of females. Aren’t the operations of this industry centred on the kitchen?

Currently, there are 30 women out of 166 members of Parliament in Zambia. Figures in the 2012 national census show there are more women than men, in a total population of 17.86 million.

Views from people and various stakeholders engaged in promoting women inclusion in decision-making show that women can play a better role in ending corruption and addressing some major problems in society when voted into power not only as ministers or Members of Parliament but at the highest level as president.

So far, Zambian women like Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Catharine Namugala, Chief Justice Irene Mambilima and Vice President Inonge Wina are occupying high positions in decision-making in the country and other women could take a cue from them.

Zambia`s Vice President Inonge Wina

GBV

GBV is another challenge that women are facing in Zambia and the country has in the past few years recorded massive cases of the vice.

According to the Zambia Police Victim Support  Unit 2019 Second Quarter GBV Statistics Report, there were 6, 139 GBV  cases reported countrywide.

GBV is a term used to describe any harmful act that is perpetrated against a persons will and that is based on socially ascribed differences between males and females.

While men and boys can be victims: survivors of some types of GBV (particularly sexual violence), GBV has a greater impact on women and girls.

Maternal deaths

The 2018 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey revealed that 674 maternal deaths were recorded in that year. The primary causes of these deaths were obstetric hemorrhage and indirect causes.

Obstetric hemorrhage was the most common cause of death among women ages 30-49 and women who had  experienced more than one pregnancy, while indirect causes attributed to most deaths among pregnant women ages 10-29 and first-time pregnant women.

Local platforms of engaging women

The Women`s Movement Organisations such as the Zambia National Women´s Lobby (ZNWL),  the Non-Governmental Coordinating Council (NGOCC), Young Christian Women Association (YWCA) and the Women In Law Southern Africa (WLSA) have created various platforms to help address these challenges that women are facing and also engage with them through platforms such as workshops, the media, road-shows and door to door sensitizations among others, although much still needs to be done.

The African Women In Dialogue (AFWID) journey

1000 women from 55 African countries attended this year's AWID forum, a forum which seeks to unite  African women from all walks of life under one roof to deliberate on issues of continental importance in in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Forum which was held under the  theme “Women`s Power and Voices as Agents of Change”, saw women from various African countries share strategies and ideas how best they could address challenges faced by women on the continent.

It is certain that one of the biggest ways to address evil vices affecting women is through strengthened dialogue and AFWID has created that.

 If only African women stand up together and speak with one voice, challenges such as under-representation in decision making, GBV and maternal death will be a thing of the past.

Plight of children on streets

By ANN ZULU


ON the Great East Road in Lusaka, men and women yell as they make quick deals and sell various goods.

However, among these sellers are children between the age of 7-15, selling various items among them sachet water, fruits, soft drinks, and other consumables.

This is the scenario of hundreds of children who have been denied access to primary and secondary education in various townships of Lusaka.

Bertha Phiri, was seen crying by the road side on Kanyama’s Los Angeles Road when I moved close to her to ask why.

The 10-year-old girl said she misplaced K20 she made from the bananas she was hawking for her mother.

“I have just misplaced K20, the money made from the sales of fruits and my mum will beat me for carelessness when I get home. Please, will you help me, the innocent girl speaking in Nyanja asked me.

I assured Bertha that I will follow her home to plead with her mother, but she protested saying: “that will not stop me from being beaten, if not today, my beating will be doubled for the sin when you are gone.”

I then assured her that I will make the payment as we both trekked back home.

I asked Bertha why she was not in school.

“I have stopped going to school since I finished my primary education, my mum and dad fought, so we packed out of the house and left my dad. Since then, I hawk and my mother also hawks. The little we made is what we use to feed ourselves including with my two siblings, and pay house rent,” she explains.

Mary Mwamba, a resident of George Compound owns a food canteen in Lusaka’s heavy industrial area.

She has just instructed her daughter, Mwape, between the age of 13 and 15 to help fetch enough water before going to her place of work.

I however requested to know the job the little girl does.

“She wrote her Grade 7 exams last year and failed, since then I have put her at a place where she’s learning how to plait hair. She will make money from there and vend for herself. You know one must be serious and face reality.

“She failed her exams and she’s not very good with school, so it’s better she stops.  After all, she’s a girl its better she starts doing something and when she finds a man she wants to marry, she will continue her life and be independent,” she said.

At Chawama market, I observed that most of these kids work as maids in food canteens and recharge card stores.

KondwaniNdhlovu 17, narrates why he prefers selling recharge cards to any other business.

“Although, the gain in selling recharge cards is not really much, but it is not a dirty job and that’s why I chose the job,” he said as I asked him about his parents.

“They are both alive, my dad is a cobbler and my mother sells fritters. They told me they can’t send me to university and truly I understand that things are not really rosy for the family. I believe I will go to school, graduate and help my family,” he said

The case of Kondwani, is similar to that of Abigail, a 15-year-old girl of John Laing Compound who said upon getting married, she will decide if education is right for her or not.

“I hope I will get a husband to sponsor me. Although, I am doing my best now but I have to feed myself before thinking about schooling,” she said.

I also visited Intercity Bus Terminus and Kamwala Trading Centre around lunch time to observe how children mostly from Misisi, John Laing, Kanyama and other nearby compounds were running after vehicles chanting “Manzi (water), biscuit, bananas among other staff.

Most of the kids could not talk to me as they showed determination pursuing vehicles and could not want any conversation to deny them the gains of the day.

At Intercity Bus Terminus, they were mostly hawking satchet water, cold drinks and fruits.

In Linda compound, 14-year-old Edwin Mwamba helps his parents work at a farm in Makeni and is not in school.

He said his parents told him that school was not all that important and that he needed to work as a man.

“My parents told me that I was a big boy now, so I needed to learn how to do this work, so that I can take care of myself in future, he said.

Who is to blame?

Children Rights activist Mercy Hakalima shoulders blame on society.

“When education is being discussed, the rational thought that should come along is that it is the best and most effective way to develop a society. Besides, education serves as a tool that liberates the mind. So, a society that is genuinely interested in development should consider education an important factor.

“Hence, the only way that citizens’ education can be ensured is when it is managed by the public through its resources because it is a social responsibility not an individual responsibility.  Therefore the blame for child workers in Lusaka and the country at large should be placed at the doorsteps of Government.

“The knowledge gained from education when put into practical application does not only benefit the educated individual but the general society,” she said.



What the Zambian Law says on Child labour

The Employment of Young Persons and Children Act, Cap 274, describes a “child” as a person under the age of 15.

According to provisions of the Act, a child shall not be employed in any type of employment or work, which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out constitutes a worst form of labour.

It states that any person who contravenes this, commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not less than two hundred thousand penalty units but not exceeding one million penalty units, or to imprisonment for a term not less than five years but not exceeding twenty-five years, or to both.

State’s Reaction

Assistant Labour Commissioner in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security MukamasoleKasanda said the ministry was aware of the increased child hawking in Zambia, especially in the capital city.

She said the ministry has since scaled up its efforts in eradicating the vice and all forms of child labour in Zambia.

She said the ministry had been tirelessly working with line ministries and other stakeholders to ensure that matters of child labour were given attention and dealt with.

“Over the years child labour has been on the increase, especially in sectors such as agriculture, mining, and also nowadays there is also this hawking business where children are all over the streets selling things.

“The fight against Child Labour is a huge task, which requires collective efforts. So are working with other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Community Development, Ministry of Gender, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Public Prosecution Authority, local authorities, the community, tradition leaders and the clergy among other.

“We also have community district child labour committees in about 23 districts, these made up of different ministries and institutions that helps us with sensitisation. We noted that there is a lot of ignorance on child labour, so through these committees people are sensitised,” Ms Kasanda said.

She also expressed confidence that child labour would be a thing of the past by 2023, because of various programmes that were been implemented towards ending it.

“We see a situation in the near future, where we are going to reduce on the recent incidents of child labour and because of the efforts that are been made, we are  hoping that come hopefully by 2023, we might not see any child on the streets or involved in child labour,” she said.

And Community Development and Social Development Minister Olipah Phiri said Government through her ministry and other line ministries was implementing various social programmes aimed at keeping children in school.

Ms Phiri mentioned the Social Cash Transfer Scheme and the Girl’s Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood (GEWEL) project as some of the programmes being implemented.

“GEWEL aims at enhancing social protection programmes that are specifically targeted to empower poor and vulnerable girls and women in the country. The project has three components; Keeping Girls in School initiative Supporting Women’s Livelihood and Institutional Strengthening and Systems building.

“As for the Social Cash Transfer Scheme, this is a social welfare system of identifying the most vulnerable and poor households in communities. Through this scheme, Government supports economically disadvantaged girls through bursaries to keep them in school,” Ms Phiri said.

However, in 2018, the Zambia National Education Coalition revealed that over 800, 000 children were out of school across the country.

And recent statistics indicate that 600, 000 children are employed in various sectors across the country, with 58 percent of them below the age of 14 years.

Child labour can be an obstacle to education, while education is also instrumental in the prevention of child labour.

It is through intensified sensitisation campaigns that this scourge can be halted.