The Zimbabwe Organisation For The Youth In Politics (Z.O.Y.P.) is a youth organisation formed in the small mining town of Kwekwe, in the Midlands Province, in December 2009. It began its operations in 2010.
It was formed after realising that young people in Zimbabwean politics are manipulated in many different ways. For instance, they are bribed into committing crimes such as beating up political opponents, kidnapping, killing or causing harm to their property. Often the youth have no idea of the magnitude of the crimes they commit and are caught by surprise when they have to appear in court, are ostracised by society, or suffer cultural related consequences.
Z.O.Y.P works to ‘conscientize’ the youth on their roles, rights and those of the other people in the community. It also trains them to ambassadors for peace. At present Z.O.Y.P works with young in Kwekwe and its periphery, mostly in rural communities. Its major focus is on establishing a Community Peace Village in Kwekwe Town, where people will meet to deliberate on issues around the concept of peace and security, hold interparty dialogues, and conduct peacebuilding training workshops. Some of the projects in Z.O.Y.P's pipelines are as listed below;
- Community Peace Village.
- Trainings for Peacebuilders from remote Communities.
- Peace Watch (A quarterly magazine covering peace advocacy issues in various communities in Midlands Province).
- Conflict Transformation Workshops.
- Using sports for peace (Tournaments for youth from different political parties).
For more details you can contact Nkosilathi on zoypdirector@gmail.com or whatsapp +263775037579
