1. Project description

 

The project is a response to the Climate Crisis in Chimanimani district, Zimbabwe characterised by persistent cyclones and droughts. Women and girls are disproportionately affected, yet their voices remain unheard. To make visible the voices of women, the Creative Centre for Communication and Development developed a project “Amplifying invisible voices of resource poor women for gender and climate justice” that is being funded by the Korea SHE Foundation through its 2023 Global Seed Grant. Under this project, we have two key activities which are: 2 skills transfer workshops held monthly in May and June targeting 100 women and girls drawn from Chimanimani district and Supporting targeted women in Chimanimani district to produce content using a variety of digital media platforms to amplify at least 10 invisible voices of women and girls each month over a period of 2 months.

 

 

2. Project progress up to now

Before we implemented the Skills transfer workshops, we designed and printed a banner to make visible the project we are implementing and Korea SHE Foundation who are funding the project. We also created a WhatsApp Group to facilitate ongoing discussions with women and girls on the climate crisis. There are few women with smartphones in Chimanimani district, so we organised them to work as small groups using one phone. We conducted 2 planning meetings (1 meeting in Nyore village and 1 meeting in Mundireki village) with the women and girls to Introduce Korea She Foundation and the new project. Due to delays in receiving the funds and the ongoing national and local government elections, we implemented our activities on June 14 and June 15, 2023 to minimise movements – (the election period in Zimbabwe is characterised by violence. The elections will be held in August and in September we will resume normal programmes)

 

1) Skills transfer workshop 1

The first Skills transfer workshop was attended by 25 women from Chimanimani district. Participants were selected on the basis of their active participation in CCCD activities. The workshop started at 9 AM and ended at 3 PM on June 14, 2023.

 

Objectives

• • To increase women’s knowledge about the climate crisis and climate mitigation strategies
  • To build women’s skills in storytelling so that they can express themselves with confidence
  • To plan advocacy strategies to engage decision makers on women’s concerns on the climate crisis and climate mitigation activities.
  • To create awareness on protecting  natural resources and environment in Chimanimani district

 

Implementation

Through presentations, discussions and group assignments, the workshop unpacked the following issues: What is Climate Change, Drivers of climate change, Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation.  

The women were aware of the changing climatic conditions in their community. But they were not aware of the bigger picture, that the climate crisis is a global crisis affecting millions of people. Cultural barriers revealed that the women were not aware of the roles imposed on them by culture made them more vulnerable to climate change.

After the presentations, the women were trained on storytelling so that they could effectively tell their experiences of the climate crisis. The training process focused on: 

How to choose a clear central message; Embracing cultural conflicts and dynamics; Defining a clear story structure; Engaging the audience; Observing good storytellers through story circles; Narrowing the scope of the story.

 

Outcomes

The women got a clear context of the climate crisis and were able to understand how human activities drive climate change. Everywhere around them, there are clear cases of the drivers of climate change. There is rapid urbanisation where a local township called Nhedziwa is rapidly growing. Many young people are abandoning rural homes to buy housing units at the township. These township dwellers are rampantly cutting down trees to prepare bricks for their houses. Forests are rapidly depleting and the landscapes are left bare. There is high demand for firewood because there are no other forms of energy.

 

2) Skills transfer workshop 2

The workshop was held on June 15, 2023 and the process started with engaging villagers by visiting them at their homesteads to discuss the climate crisis, impart information and share mitigation strategies. CCCD Team Leader (Kershia Mvundura, Field Officer (Martha Mpandare), Communications Officer (Frank Jabson) and some women from the first skills transfer workshop were involved. The team visited 10 homesteads and shared information with 52 women, 32 men and 25 youths. The villagers have been involved in mitigation activities such as container gardening and tree planting. The project funded by Korea SHE Foundation gave them a platform to express their voices on climate change. 

 

Objectives

• •         To share climate change information with the broader community members
  •         To give a platform for women to express themselves and engage traditional leaders and decision makers on the climate crisis

 

Implementation

We visited 10 homesteads where we interacted with small groups of villagers to impart information on the climate crisis, highlight how the climate crisis was affecting women more, such as women travelling long distances to fetch water and firewood which was affecting the participation of girls in school and active involvement of women in community activities thereby limiting their decision making. We then convened a workshop from 11:00 AM to 16:00 PM. The workshop was attended by 6 community leaders, 35 men, 43 women and 25 youths.  

 

Outcomes

The visits presented women with spaces in which they could express themselves and be heard at local level. This not only amplified their fresh and relevant perspectives but more importantly it created platforms in which they could relate to one another, reshape the public narrative and amplify their concerns. Many participants reported that it was their first time to have engaged in meaningful participation in a climate change discussion. Women took great pride in having a direct voice, sharing their realities and strategies in a way that decision makers can hear and learn from them.

 

 

3. Project plan forward

Following the implementation of the Skills transfer workshops, we are now left with organising a radio interview where we will highlight the work being done by women in Chimanimani district to mitigate against the effects of climate change. We have already had discussions with a local radio station, Diamond FM. Currently the country is in the middle of national and local government elections. This has forced us to postpone the radio programme. We will have the radio programme in September after the elections. We have created a WhatsApp platform for women and girls to share information and to mobilise strategies to engage traditional leaders and government officials on the climate crisis issues. We will also produce a 5-10 minute video of women talking about the climate crisis and climate mitigation strategies. We are positive that the project will be completed successfully.