After years of colonisation and operating under the Lanchester House Constitution, the year 2013 will remain memorable in Zimbabwe as it was the advent of the new Zimbabwean Constitution. It was adopted through a national referendum held on the 12th of March 2013, with an overwhelming 95% of voters voting in favour of the adoption of the supreme law of the land. With this background in mind, exactly seven years later we have the Constitutional Bill Amendment no 2.

“From Iceland to Taiwan and from Germany to New Zealand, women are stepping up to show the world how to manage a messy patch for our human family” this is according to Forbes. We as the Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD) proactively partnered the Government of Zimbabwe through the Mashonaland Central Provincial Taskforce to mitigate the horrific health and socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on young women and rural communities.

During the 16 Days against Gender Based Violence (GBV), young women from Mashonaland Central Province have been educating their communities on gender and violence against young women and girls through their own self mobilizing initiatives. 

The Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD) gravely condemns the abduction and use of violence against three young women leaders recently in our capital. Allegations are that Honourable Joannah Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Nestai Marova led a peaceful demonstration in Warren Park during the afternoon of Wednesday 13 May 2020 as an attempt to spearhead the plight of the impoverished in that area. They were however found days later, battered, tortured and bruised.

Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD) launched its commemoration of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) in Bindura on the 14^th of March 2020. This was then followed by profiling of outstanding young women leaders and activists in various fields related to IYWD’s work, until 31 March 2020. The commemorations were held under the United Nations’ global theme “I am Generation Equality; Realizing Women’s Rights”.