Legalise abortion youths call on government...

Young people seem to be calling for the government to legalise abortion and make such services available in public health centres, following shocking statistics from a report by local NGOs that at least 20 000 women die annually during illegal abortions and child birth.

In conversations the National Youth Development Trust (NYDT) had with young people on facebook, various solutions were suggested and were centred around ensuring an effective health delivery system and legalising abortion.  

“There's need for a realistic approach in dealing with it now that it is known that women opt to abort for one reason or the other,” said Clemence Leonard.

Bukhosi Moyo who suggested that legalizing abortion would be the solution, said that this isssue is now a matter of reality vs. principles. “Yes we have our own principles that are against abortion but what is the reality? It’s better to lose one than to lose both the mother and the child,” he said.

Elections in 2012: Is this possible under the current political and socio-economic environment in Zimbabwe?

The following is a brief summary of the outcome of a Youth Think Tank convened by the NYDT to discuss young people’s views on the feasibility of holding general elections this year.  

Context

The debate on elections has been tossed across two main political parties with each political party creating media hype on when Zimbabwe will be best suited for elections. One of the proposals underlined by the Zimbabwe African National Party-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) is that the elections will be held this year ‘with or without a new constitution’. The party argues that the collapse of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) is long overdue and as such, President Robert Mugabe should use the powers accorded to him through the Lancaster House Constitution to call for the elections immediately. On the other hand, the Movement for Democratic Change led by Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai has indicated that elections will only be conducted in March 2013.

Given the fact that elections in general tend to affect the youths in Zimbabwe by turning youths into susceptible tools for political machinations, the National Youth Development Trust (NYDT) conducted a youth think tank meeting meant to get the views from young people on their view regarding the elections in Zimbabwe.

March 9, 2012 A discussion paper by National Youth Development Trust on the Indigenisation and Empowerment in Zimbabwe

...one gets the impression that the approach to its development and application has been ad-hoc, piece meal and lacking in international consistency. It has been a product of circumstances and at times mainly of politicians reacting to unfavourable economic situations and the demands of small groups of business individuals who felt that the prevailing economic conditions put them in an unfair position vis-a-vis the foreign competitors. It was hardly the original work of development planners, although their involvement became inevitable after political decisions have been made[1].

Young women in Magwegwe speak out on low participation.

Women have often taken the back seat particularly when it comes to participation in national processes and civic programming. This is largely prevalent in Africa where women have blamed culture for silencing them; as women are viewed as inferior and are not accorded space to air their views.

At a young women’s study circle organized by the National Youth Development Trust in the western suburb of Magwegwe, young women spoke out on why they do not actively participate in national processes and civic programming.