Civic Education


 
 

PROGRAMMES

Civic Education Programme Activities
The CRD’s civic education program is conducted through rural and urban workshops, public meetings, community exchange programs and seminars where communities are educated and trained on the following 5 thematic areas;

I. Human Rights and good governance
Traditional leaders, councillors, youth, women, pastors among other community leaders are trained on leadership vis-à-vis qualities of a good leader, roles of a leader in development and good governance.read more

II. Civil and political rights
Since 2006 the CRD has conducted several workshops in Rural Manicaland aimed at educating the communities on their civil and political rights. read more

III. Conflict Resolution and Conflict Management
Despite the existing community mechanisms of resolving conflicts such as public forums, indigenous knowledge systems and other traditional strategies of resolving conflicts people have inadequate understanding of the dynamics of conflicts and conflict resolution mechanisms hence the need to educate them.read more

IV. Peace building
Sustainable peace cannot be achieved in communities if there is no community development.CRD has realized over the years that the amalgamation of community developmental projects and peace building is key in achieving social transformation to bring about sustainable development.Comunity development in Zimbabwe since independence has seen considerable progress in education, health and sanitation but little has been done to reduce poverty in the communities.read more

V. Gender mainstreaming and women issues
Zimbabwe is largely a patriarchal and masculine society. As a result there is the oppression of women by men due to cultural, religious and other social constructs. One mechanism to promote the rights of women is to empower them through women centred community development.read more

Target Groups

I. Traditional leaders
The constitution of Zimbabwe through the Traditional Leaders Act {Chapter 29:17}provide for the appointment of village heads, headmen and chiefs; to provide for the establishment of a council of chiefs and villages, ward and provincial assemblies and to define their functions. One of the critical functions of the traditional leaders as provided by the act is to uphold the cultural values in the communities under their jurisdiction and to administer the needs of those communities in the interest of good governance. The emergence of strong opposition political parties in Zimbabwe from the late 1990s set the tone for political competition in the country and the institution of traditional leaders was not spared mainly because of their strategic positions and influence in Zimbabwe’s communal lands. General elections that have taken place in the country between 2000 and 2008 have seen the institution of traditional leaders taking centre stage in most political activities in the rural communities. Traditional leaders remain of paramount importance in rural communities despite the fact that the majority of them have joined active politics yet they are supposed to be apolitical. It is imperative that they are de-educated and then equipped with leadership skills. The civic education program equips community leaders with knowledge and skills of using every opportunity to promote peace, tolerance, civil and political rights.

II. Women
The civic education project is also very relevant to the needs and constrains of women. Women and children suffer the most during political upheavals in Zimbabwe. They form the bulk of internally displaced people and usually they have nowhere to seek help. They also lack knowledge of what is happening around them and how to take legal action against the perpetrators of violence and intimidation against them. Women suffer all kinds of violence, (a) direct violence through beatings, torture and rape, (b) structural violence through death of women due to denial of opportunities, education, representation, treatment and resources and (c) cultural violence through unfair practices against women that are part of culture and yet disable women from enjoying civil and political rights. Thus women are some of the beneficiaries of our civic education program.

III. Youth
Over 50 percent of Zimbabwe’s youth are unemployed. In a bid to sustain a living most youth have turned to illegal artisanal mining and others have become instruments of political violence for rival political groups and engage in all forms of violence and destruction against the aspirations of their communities. This civic education program is also relevant to the needs and constrains of youths as it equips them with knowledge that reduces their chances of being recruited to perpetrate political violence. Rural youths rarely attend workshops that promote human rights and peaceful co-existence. Political parties in Zimbabwe have done little to stop the abuse of youths during elections. Despite the negative role being played by youths during elections and even between elections, their influence in society cannot be overemphasized. This action transforms their energy to something positive. Instead youths are encouraged to promote peace, tolerance and inter-party dialogue at local level during the civic education program. Equipping people with peace building tools and knowledge of civil and political rights when they are still young can also lead to cultural peace and long term stability as they grow to become peace-loving senior citizens.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© crdzim 2016