Newsletter Volume 6 JAN 2023 2023 presents us with the opportunity to revisit our passion, a chance to chase our goals and dreams As Sprout Women Empowerment Trust, we are incredibly grateful for the SWET community that we have been working with in the past year, we have much appreciation for our partners, supporters, members and participants, and we look forward to another year of working together to achieve those ambitions that we share Women and girls are the heart of our service What a privilege it is for us to know and understand their needs and push for their rights to be met As an organisation we continue to push for gender equality Closing the gender gap and pushing for gender sensitive policies and economic inclusion are central to our strategy as SWET as we thrive to create a more sustainable and inclusive economy and society 2022 Reflections Some of our key highlights in the past year includes the huge amount of support from Germany Embassy which enabled us to have a solar powered borehole in Chiweshe and our first community garden that is currently supporting over 23 households Families are also able to access clean drinking water from our hub and we are grateful for their support We managed to get support from Urgent Action Fund which enabled us to push for gender responsive transformation of agriculture and food systems at policy level and to raise awareness around challenges to sustainable food systems and the exclusion of women in these processes We were also largely supported by Action Aid Zimbabwe, Activista and Global Platforms in pushing for access to water in Chitungwiza an ongoing initiative that speaks to our key areas of work around women and the environment and pushing for the rights of women and girls to be realized and prioritised in our communities Our appreciation goes to Women and Land Zimbabwe, Smile Train, Transparency International Zimbabwe, Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe and Bongai Shamwari for their support in the past year To close Let me end by extending my gratitude to the SWET team for their hard work and commitment in pushing the women’s agenda forward I wish for a brighter and easier 2023 , but above all, one in which we are kind to one another, and to ourselves Caroline Mutimbanyoka Executive Director A word from the D irector Topics • Y outh Training On Climate Action • S WET Chiweshe Rural Hub • S prout Skills And Conversation Café’ : GBV Conversation • #Give Life 2 Muda Dam Initiative : Advocating For Access To Water Chitungwiza • W omen Transforming Food Systems In Zimbabwe nhanga – nyaya Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the future will be more difficult and costly One of our mandates as the organization is to ensure that women girls and people with disabilities are also not left out in the climate change discourse hence we continue to deepen our knowledge around climate change, advocate and create spaces for discussions, organising and actioning of climate smart solutions Sprout Women Empowerment Trust is participated in a youth training on climate change action meeting in Harare from the 26 th to the 27 th of October 2022 The meeting was organized by Zimbabwe Youth Council and various partners like ZYSDG and CAN Zimbabwe #climateaction #LeaveNoOneBehind 1 With the support of The Germany Embassy in Harare the organization was supported with a solar powered borehole at our Chiweshe women empowerment hub The development has helped the community with a community garden which is supporting 25 households with vegetables for consumption and access to clean water safe for drinking The aim of the empowerment hub is to equip the women with practical skills that allow them to adjust to the hash climatic environment, while also providing them with the essential skills required to enhance their economic self - sufficiency, through employment or entrepreneurship opportunities gardens and mushroom farming SWET CHIWESHE RURAL HUB 2 The sprout skills and conversation café platform has helped women exchange ideas around starting income generating programs It has been a space for learning new skills but most importantly it presents an opportunity to discuss issues that affect women and girls in the community In this space we invite duty bearers and various stakeholders to share community challenges and come up with practical solutions In October 2022 the organization mobilized women and girls to learn how to make chunky crochet baskets The organisation creates such opportunities so as to help unemployed girls and women to gain skills that will help them to create sources of income Giving girls and women opportunities to earn an income makes them independent and reduce their vulnerability Knowledge is of no value unless it is put to practice Our hope as the organization is to carry on bringing more solutions through skills opportunities to women and girls so as to brings meaningful change in their lives We had our partners from @Bongai Shamwari (Christa and Elizabeth) from Germany who CROTCHET SKILLS AND GBV CONVERSATION S PROUT SKILLS AND CONVERSATION CAFÉ came to meet the women from SWET and they took part in our session As we were learning we also had an opportunity to discuss gender based violence and how it is manifesting in the homes The women highlighted the issues like poverty due to the economic hardships, water shortages, infidelity and unemployment as the main causes of violence in the homes They appreciated the café and acknowledged its importance in supporting women not only to gain skills in order to create income but for creating a safe space for women to discuss challenges and support each other #womensupportingwomen 3 Water shortage crisis has continued to pose excessive vulnerabilities to women and girls in Chitungwiza 43 years after independence yet the community is suffering and unable to acquire the precious liquid as stated in section 77 of the constitution of Zimbabwe The agenda of the give life to Muda dam initiative is to seek a solution to this crisis, Muda dam is the solution to ease burdens on women, giving them time to attend to other businesses and school instead of spending time in search of water The organisation aims at achieving SDG 6 , clean water and sanitation for the people of Chitungwiza On the 28 th of October 2022 SWET held the #GiveLife 2 MudaDam Stakeholders Meeting with the support of Action Aid Zimbabwe, Activista Chitungwiza and Global Platforms to provide feedback and update on the campaign that is advocating for access to water in Chitungwiza The meeting was held at Chitungwiza Publicity with over 50 participants from different Chitungwiza community clusters They were representation from Chitungwiza Municipality including the public relations officer Mr Meya, and councillors, trained water committees representation, media and partner organizations Including the Church, (Community Water Alliance) and community members non - affiliated including those from the Chitungwiza Residents Association. The meeting allowed collective stakeholder participation in mapping an action plan for the Muda dam movement/campaign since the Muda Construction was taken over and is now a central government project. It was important to update stakeholders on the status of the #GiveLife2MudaDam campaign, position and efforts in advocacy work to be executed and to ensure a collective roadmap/ work plan as we move towards ensuring that Chitungwiza residents have access to water. Key highlights were that, there is need to use social media to make #GiveLife2MudaDam trend and ensure a mass buy in. The residents emphasized that boreholes are ineffective and water barons thrive from the lack of water in Chitungwiza. They highlighted that Muda Dam needs a huge financial muscle which is why the financial burden was shifted from Chitungwiza Municipality to become a central government project. They indicated the need for Muda Dam to be factored in the National 2023 Budget allocation and needed clarity on the feasibility funds that Treasury promised to disburse. They indicated that the Muda Dam initiative needs collective involvement including engaging members of Parliament. GIVE LIFE TO MUDA DAM 4 Sharing information on climate change and integrating indigenous knowledge systems in climate change adaptation alerts communities to take action so as to reduce the impact and effects of climate change Traditional practices of maintaining indigenous biodiversity are in danger as a result of stresses caused by climate change and human activities Traditional practices of maintaining indigenous biodiversity are in danger as a result of stresses caused by climate change and human activities. Supporting women famers to preserve and multiply their local seeds is therefore important and this can be supported through policies and legal measure as well long term technical support. Livelihoods is one of our top priorities as an organization and we are pleased to create more spaces to have conversations of this nature. Urgent Action Fund supported SWET to increase awareness amongst women farmers on the importance of seed sovereignty and create some opportunities to include different stakeholders in pushing for the improvement of gender responsive the improvement of gender responsive WOMEN TRANSFORMING FOOD policies around food systems and the inclusion of women in this important discussion. All this in an effort to ensure the transformation of food systems for women to enjoy their right to protection in the case of fragile climatic environment. The organization managed to have a breakfast meeting as well as the food and seed festival under this project 5 SYSTEMS - ZIMBABWE. 6 Appreciation The Germany Embassy Harare Urgent Action Fund Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe Women and Land in Zimbabwe Bongai Shamwari Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt & Development (ZIMCODD) Action Aid Zimbabwe Believe Marufu Contact Details + 263778558261 directorsproutwomen@gmail com @SproutWomen 2018 Sprout Women Empowerment Trust www sproutwomenempowermenttrust co zw