Youths challenged to nurture peace

The play 1983 that left the audience with innuendoes

Hundreds of young people thronged the Gwanda District Club for the Arts for peace festival to witness various artistic presentations under the theme Youth Building Lasting Peace in Zimbabwe.

The Festival, hosted by National Youth Development Trust (NYDT) brought together artistes from Bulawayo, Gwanda and surrounding areas; these included Sithandazile, Protest crew, Ghetto Smurfs, GDA, Mgcini Nyoni among other artistes who scintillated audiences with informative artistic presentations. Some of the art forms showcased were Music, Dance, Theatre and Poetry. 

The play 1983 and years after staged by the Protest crew was the main attraction and was applauded by the audience who said it was a precise depiction of what happened during Gukurahundi and proffered truth telling and reconciliation as possible way forward for Zimbabwe to realize integration and lasting peace.

Speaking to more than 200 youths who attended the event, Loraine Sibanda, a civic society leader and board member of the Women’s Coalition in Zimbabwe, encouraged the youths to remain calm and peaceful and reject all advances by politicians to perpetrate violence. “The artistic work that youths are exhibiting is commendable. It encourages a culture of not being docile and dissuades them from partaking in rowdiness as this destroys the possibilities of development,” said Sibanda,

She also encouraged the youths to observe the need to cultivate and embrace a culture of unity and peace if they are to realize growth and development in their communities especially since young people constitute the bulk of the population in this country.

During the plenary session that followed, young people emphasized on the need to bring the perpetrators of the Gukurahundi genocide to book. They also raised concerns regarding the Organ on national healing which is expected to handle such issues but seems to be a ceremonial body with no clear policy to implement. They called for a truth and reconciliation process to be guided by a clear policy framework.    

Various stakeholders who attended the event said it was commendable to see young people uniting through ‘world class performances’ of art to foster a culture peace.  The youths were also encouraged to register as voters so that they can peacefully participate in the democratization purpose and reject any motive to curtail their participation. 

The participating artists also appealed for more such platforms, networking opportunities and assistance to enable them to market their work. They bemoaned lack of access to funds that is crippling their work, especially given the high unemployment rates, poverty and vulnerability of the youths.   

The festival is one of the many ways that NYDT is engaging youths, policy makers and other various stakeholders to foster sustainable peace and development in the country. Through edutainment, it is expected that most of the youths will be lured away from using violence to using more peaceful means of communicating their challenges. It has long been recognized that the arts hold the power to expose wounds of conflict, soothe tormented spirits and teach lessons about war and peace. NYDT will continue to engage youths, policy makers and other stakeholders on key transitional processes through various means to increase youth participation in governance and the broader democratization process in Zimbabwe. The organisation will be holding such and other activities in different parts of the country to enable youths to create a socio-political environment that enables effective civic participation in governance.