Gender and Youth empowerment intiatives in rural Kwa Zulu Natal.

Zamokwakhe Shabalala

Bench Marks Monitoring School, facilitator Zamokwakhe Shabalala and his supporter Zanele Mthonsi are busy conducting GBV awareness and youth empowerment around Newcastle/Danhouser.

This campaign is more grounded in rural areas and affected communities by mine. The GBV campaign will assist young people in understanding the context of gender-based violence and where it starts. When we talk about gender, we initiate LGBTQ+ and cultural norms that affect many young people with the influence of old people.

We choose this initiative to work with young people to capacitate them with skill and mentoring in a supportive environment, and economic control. When young people have access to education, skill development will create opportunities to reduce the crime rate, and fight against GBV at an early stage.

Since we started a gender empowerment and GBV campaign, parents permitted us to empower their kids because there is no platform for them even Danhouser municipality they failed to create a youth platform that will uplift the young people and limit them to expose themselves to drugs.

This gender/youth empowerment will help young people to produce and make their things without depending on someone else which will lead them to human trafficking, child labor, and other activities.

We have conducted two GBV awareness campaigns at schools( Sondelani primary school and Mbabane primary school) and one Youth empowerment at Allen farm, we observed that campaigns will help our society to raise future entrepreneurs in our community and affected communities by mine and also reduce the unemployment rate.

According to the Bill of Rights, Chapter 2, Section 32.1(b), access to information is provided to assist children in stopping violence in the early stages or protecting someone’s rights. Section 10 states, “Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.”

We have gained different skills, and knowledge from youth and how they reduce poverty, and unprotected places by bringing back dignity to the people and respecting the environment. “Together we can” Many schools there asked us to do this awareness every term to reduce bullying at schools.