Nothabo Sibanda

There is nothing more crucial in society than human rights and awareness of these rights.  A month after graduation l started volunteering as a programs officer at Maranatha Orphans Care Trust (MOCT). This role has immensely contributed to my professional elevation in the field of advocacy and human rights because it is a human rights and development-oriented organization. My first task as l began my work at MOCT was to coordinate and implement an EU funded project that sought to enhance women participation in local governance processes. The project implementation sharpened my advocacy skills and gave me the opportunity to hone my feminist skills which I believe to be necessary in the heated environments surrounding women rights defending. It is also to be noted that the interactions with the different communities deepened my insight on the plight of rural women, l have since learnt that yes, every human has rights, but the question is do women really know theirs, no they don’t. This discovery has unveiled in me a women rights defender who stands and speaks for women and fight for their rights against all odds because l believe such advocacy contributes to legislative and policy reforms that increases accountability and advances the accessibility of women’s rights in different disciplines of life. I have carried out various advocacy initiatives including the building of schools as a way to curb young girls from being idle leading to an increase in child pregnancies and marriages. Professionally, this has marked some growth in my career as this exposure has made me establish some good relations with the giants of the feminist industry that l am so passionate about.  

I am genuinely concerned with the state of women throughout the country therefore l wish to expand my knowledge and expertise in the field of advocacy and women rights defending. My career objectives include assisting women to set up protective mechanisms against discrimination and be able to influence policies and local decisions that affect their day to day lives. During my internship at Masakhaneni Projects Trust, l fell in love with communities and therefore understood the plight of women and sought to research further on practical issues that l met on the ground and befitting solutions to those. This gave me an insight on how much women are disadvantaged and are not aware of their fundamental rights and how this has affected development in rural communities as well the respect of constitutional provisions, hence my passion for women rights defending and speaking for those women who cannot speak for themselves.  

Background:
I graduated with a degree in Local governance studies from Midlands State University in the year 2019.  A month after graduation I started volunteering as a programs officer at Maranatha Orphans Care Trust (MOCT). This role has immensely contributed to my professional elevation in the field of human rights, with particular interest in the rights of women and girls. l believe that pursuing equal participation in the governance of a country entails participation even in the mere decision-making processes for both men and women alike, they join in weaving a new foundation of equality for all, leading to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, which is basically what human rights are all about. I have held community dialogues where l have facilitated trainings on constitutionalism so that women in particular are aware of their fundamental rights in the communities so as to evoke a sense of ownership of their rights as a powerful tool to overcome oppression of all kinds. I introduced through the project gender champions that spearhead women rights issues from the ground, advocacy meetings have been held with district, provincial and regional stakeholders in a bid to facilitate dialogues that enable women to stand and speak for themselves, to demand their rights from duty bearers and also hold them to account at the same time.  Professionally, this has marked some growth in my career as this exposure has made me establish some good relations with the giants of the industry that l am so passionate about.  

I have gained invaluable experience in this field by working as a programs officer under the UN Women funded spotlight initiative that was being implemented in 5 provinces of Zimbabwe and having me leading the implementation of such a huge project in the district of Matobo gave me in-depth knowledge of what women and girls in rural communities go through and how this is attributed to the correlations of power distribution and imbalances that disadvantage women. I continue to carry out advocacy initiatives that seek to redress discrimination against women and bring about permanent solutions to the plight of women and girls.  

Areas of expertise:
Gender 
Human Rights 
Economic empowerment 
HIV and AIDS 
Governance 
Child protection 

Current Projects:
I am currently assisting YIELDhub in a research initiative on the drivers of change in youth participation.  

Affiliations:
Maranatha Orphans Care Trust 
YIELDhub 
South Western Region Gender Network 
Zimbabwe Aids Network 
Matabeleland Council for the Welfare of the Child