Lazarus Sauti

Lazarus Sauti Young people aged between 15 and 25 represent more than 60 percent of Africa’s total population and account for 45 percent of the total labour force, says the African Economic Outlook. It adds that unlike other developing regions, Africa’s population is becoming more youthful, with youth as a proportion of the total population projected at over 75 percent by 2015, due to the high fertility rate underlying the demographic momentum. Further, notes the African Economic Outlook, it is expected that this increase in the number of young people will not decline before 20 years or more. The challenge, therefore, is for African governments to provide labour for this booming population. This means governments, private and public sector players as well as development partners in the continent must look for ways to consume unemployed youths. One ways, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), is to exploit oil, gas and mining s...

Lazarus Sauti In today’s world, some men like to make use of their power to get sex. Men in positions of power also use sex as a weapon to silence or intimidate women For instance, if a powerful man decides to have sex with a female colleague, he may blackmail her about their sexual encounters and threaten that he will share the private information with the public. Like we have seen in different cases of   revenge porn , men have used private videos to jeorpadise the reputations of the women involved. Society has reacted in favor of these men by shaming the women in the videos. Further, men use sex as a weapon to override women whom they deem a threat to their own positions. Sex work is   criminalised in Zimbabwe, and basing on this, men use this to their advantage by breaching their prior agreement before getting the service by pretending to be well meaning clients. They agree to pay sex workers, but refuse after the act. This results in loss of confidence on th...

Lazarus Sauti Rural women everywhere play a key role in supporting their households and communities in achieving food and nutrition security. Through their contributions towards rural enterprises, they generate income, improve livelihoods and overall well-being.  As such, they are active players in achieving sustainable development. Yet, every day, in Zimbabwe, rural women face persistent structural constraints that prevent them from fully enjoying their human rights and hamper their efforts to improve their lives as well as those of others around them. During a recent dialogue meeting organised by Women and Land   in Zimbabwe with support from   Norwegian People’s Aid   and   Oxfam    held in Harare recently, it was revealed that land conflicts hinder efforts to improve gender equality and equity. Different conflicts faced by women Besides land conflicts, inheritance issues, gender variances and conflicts in terms of access, control, owners...

Lazarus Sauti Every day, rural women in Zimbabwe play a critical role in ensuring agricultural productivity and food security in the country. These women, notes a policy brief produced in September by Southern Africa Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST), titled ‘Gender and Food Security in Zimbabwe’, also provide 70 percent of the labour in the agricultural sector. Supporting the SAPST, the Journal of Social Development in Africa, a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal which focuses on social development issues as they affect the poor and marginalised in Sub-Saharan Africa, says that “most of the agriculture surplus in developing countries is produced by women and controlled by men.” Unfortunately, women farmers, especially those in remote areas, face different challenges as the government support is not adequate, a notion supported by the 2015 Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Report (ZVAR). The ZVAR, just like the Journal of Social Development in Africa, clearly st...

Lazarus Sauti Afro soul musician, Best Masinire, has released his debut album, Nakusasa Futhi , a name derived from a Zulu phrase that means “tomorrow again”. The album, produced by Dickson ‘Bizzy Dee’ Mandota at Moods of Africa Studios, is a 12-track mixture of various music genres as it carries eighty reggae tracks, three Afro-fusion songs and a dancehall piece titled Innovation . “I sing African contemporary music, but I am not limited to any genre. In fact, I sing to express myself and this have a bearing on the beat I use to accompany my expressions,” said Masinire, who is also a journalist. The versatile album, which also features tracks such as Yanaya , Muchero Wekutenda , Chitanda , Manera featuring Flem B, Mugota featuring Beatrice Matewere and the title track, Nakusasa Futhi , is inspired by God as well as the reality of life. “God is always ready to listen anytime you are prepared to talk to him, and prayer, without doubt, is simply talking with God. A...

Lazarus Sauti People who live in poor, remote places in Zimbabwe face considerable challenges receiving health care. The high cost of treatment and transportation, the time required to travel to the nearest health facilities, and the stigmatisation associated with disease make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to access necessary services. The fact that qualified health professionals shun these poor, remote areas further complicates the situation and puts rural dwellers in a fix. Most communities, however, are relying on village health workers – members of a society who are chosen by area members or organisations to provide basic health and medical care to their community. Most, if not all, of the village health workers in Zimbabwe have been especially selected by the elders in their villages because of the respect they have earned in the community. Silas Muchetu, a village health worker in Buhera in the Manicaland Province, says providing community sup...

Lazarus Sauti In Zimbabwe, women and girls make the largest number of people who are marginalised and abused. The situation becomes a double tragedy when that women or girl is with disability, of which girls and women with disabilities are about 10% of the world’s total population, according to the World Health Organisation – a specialised agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. Persons with disabilities – those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others – have the same sexual and reproductive health needs as other people. Yet they are abused and often face barriers to information and services. Further, the ignorance and attitudes of society and individuals, including health-care providers, raise most of these barriers – not the disabilities themselves, a fact supported by...

Lazarus Sauti A Zimbabwean Afro-soul artist and South African poet as well as motivational writer have joined the fight to end early child marriages which continue to affect the girl child in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa by collaborating through music and poetry and use it as a platform to create social cohesion. Taderera Mabvudzi, better known as Shamie of the Shame and Nathan fame and Haroldene Tshienda recently toured five schools in Kambuzuma high density suburb in Zimbabwe to raise awareness through music and poetry in a bid to end early child marriages. “We toured Wadzanai, Kurai and Rukudzo Primary Schools as well as Kambuzuma 1& 2 High Schools to promote human rights, create social cohesion and eliminate early child marriages through education. “We started with Zimbabwe because it is one of the countries with the highest rates of child marriages on the African continent. “An estimated 30 percent of girls are married off before turning 18 and another fou...