Lazarus Sauti

Lazarus Sauti Millions of women as well as children under the age of five continue to die from malaria – a disease that is both preventable and treatable with cheap and simple interventions: complete administration of an effective anti-malarial during antenatal care (ANC) visits and sleeping under an insecticide-treated net (ITN). Valentina Buj, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Global Malaria Advisor, says: “Women are particularly vulnerable to infection with the malaria parasite during their pregnancies because their immunity wanes. During this time, infection can be life-threatening for both the mother and child,” she said, adding that “rural women are at a distinct disadvantage: only four in 10 pregnant women living in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa receive the recommended four antenatal care visits, compared to almost seven in 10 women living in urban areas.” The World Health Organisation (WHO), a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) that is

Lazarus Sauti “Beauty is a natural thing, original thing and a mysterious thing hey. Rise up ma voice and sing I thank the lord for a beauty queen. Cause your black is beautiful; your black is natural, (ahhhhhahh) black is original,” goes lyrics of Flavour’s track ‘Black is Beautiful’. In the track, the Nigerian artist is not only appreciating the beauty of the black skin, but is also boosting black people’s sense of self-worth and identity. Whilst black is beautiful and appealing to Flavour, it seems the pigment is not really beautiful to some Africans as most women bleach their skins. Simply put, bleaching is the process of whitening or lightening any material by the use of chemicals. Skin bleaching, therefore, involves using chemicals to lighten skin tone or provide an even skin complexion by lessening the concentration of melanin in the human skin. Melanin is responsible for giving black colouring in the human skin. When skin bleaching cream is applied to t

Lazarus Sauti Agriculture plays a crucial role in advancing the attainment of food security in any country. And in Zimbabwe, just like many countries, women are a critical force in ensuring agricultural productivity and food security, a fact supported by a policy brief produced in September by Southern Africa Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST)   titled ‘Gender and Food Security in Zimbabwe’. The brief which features a review of policy gaps, challenges and priority actions estimates that women provide 70% of the labour in the agricultural sector, and reinforces the fact that women play an active role throughout the agricultural value chain; that is, from production on the family plot, to food preparation as well as distribution within households. Women farmers and gendered discrimination Sadly, these women face different challenges as government and other stakeholders are often reluctant to support them. Unlike men, female farmers still face many challenges both social

Lazarus Sauti Small-scale enterprises are fast becoming the major drivers for economic prosperity in Zimbabwe, but the country, it seems, is slow in embracing and exploiting them. As a result, most enterprises are suffering and the country’s economy is stagnant. One sector that is highly neglected by the country is small-scale mining, commonly referred to as artisanal (chikorokoza). It is evidently clear that small-scale mining has overtaken the formal mining sector, but it continues to be a giant in deep slumber thanks to government’s lack of support. Government’s refusal to recognise the potential inherent in small-scale mining is stalling economic development. The sector continues to bleed the economy as much of its proceeds are failing to find their way into the formal sector. Across the country, small-scale miners continue to ravage the countryside in search of precious materials, especially gold, with very little benefit being realised by the governme

Lazarus Sauti The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is hampered by trade and transport facilitation issues more than any other region. As a result, countries within the regional grouping still play a marginal role in continental as well as global market. With its natural resources, tourist attractions and vast trade opportunities, intra-regional trade only stands at 10 – 12 per cent of total trade in Southern Africa. One significant reason – although, of course there are others – is that regional economies are still narrowly based on the production and export of unprocessed agricultural products as well as raw minerals. “Now, due to relatively low productivity and technology, these economies have low competitiveness in global markets – apart from crude extractive products. “The low productivity of traditional agriculture and the informal activities continue to absorb more than 80 per cent of the labour force, and growth remains highly vulnerable to exter

Lazarus Sauti Most, if not all, societies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are experiencing water shortages due to uneven distribution of water resources as well as recurring droughts – sometimes followed by floods, raising fears of waterborne diseases that thrive in unhygienic conditions. Besides diseases, citizens also spend more hours every year walking for water and this is stalling development in the region. Officially opening the Water Resources and infrastructure Investment Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe recently, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa lamented the lack of access to clean potable water for the most vulnerable groups in the country. He added that women and children bore the brunt of water shortages and endured walking long distances to get the precious commodity, which is unprotected and likely contaminated. “Women and children walk long distances in search of water. This has seen people in urban areas going for days and even weeks wit

Lazarus Sauti “Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have and all that they are.” This was said by Hafsat Abiola, Nigerian human rights, civil rights and democracy activist. Abiola’s assertions, it seems, inspired the Southern African Regional Policy Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SAPCCO), the primary force in Southern Africa for the prevention and fighting of cross border crime, to look for ways that promote peace and order in Southern Africa as well as secure space for the Southern African Development Community member-states to contribute the best they have. Delegates from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania congregated for the SAPCCO Criminal Intelligence Gathering and Analysis Workshop in Msasa (Harare), Zimbabwe, recently to exchange ideas on Crime Intelligence Gathe

Lazarus Sauti Human trafficking – the recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation – is a ruthless crime which mercilessly exploits millions of vulnerable women, children and men worldwide. This modern day evil, which is on the rise in Africa, is stalling social and economic development as vulnerable citizens are taken away from their homes and families to work under brutal conditions far away from their loved ones. Tseliso Thipanyane of the Columbia University Law School and the Safer Africa Foundation, agrees: “Human trafficking is on the rise in Africa. Millions of people continue to be trafficked in their own countries, in the African continent and in many parts of the world, and the majority of sufferers are women and children. “Victims are trafficked to be exploited in a range of different sectors: sexual e