Soul Beat Africa
African development action with informed and engaged societies
Soul Beat Africa
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Katswe Sistahood

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Founded in 2007, Katswe Sistahood (formerly known as Young Women’s Leadership Initiative) is a movement of young women fighting for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for women in Zimbabwe. It is a platform designed to enable young women to mobilise, organise, and articulate their needs and aspirations in respect of SRH education, SRH services, and legal protection, as well as to communicate these to policy makers and implementers. A core strategy is building feminist leaders to ensure young women have a strong voice, understanding, and presence to deepen SRHR activism at the level of the individual, organisation, and broader social movements. This is achieved through mentoring, training, and multi-generational dialogues.
Communication Strategies

Katswe Sistahood is working for gender equality by enhancing women’s knowledge about their judicial, social, and economic rights, in order for them to become agents of change in a more just society. One of the key activities of Katswe Sistahood are Pachoto (Shona for 'by the fireside') Meetings, regular group discussions held in communities around the country where women talk openly about sexual matters. These discussions seek to demystify issues of sex and sexuality by holding frank discussions with women about sexual health and reproductive issues. Working with women in high density suburbs and tertiary institutions around the country, women are encouraged to speak freely about their sexuality. The meetings use creative discussion techniques, such as storytelling, discussion-based performances, art, and reading groups. These relatively small discussion groups are intended to be a space to mobilise young women leaders.

Katswe Sistahood is also using information gathered from Pachoto Meetings to produce theatre, dance, and poetry. According to the organisation, the meetings are private, giving women the platform to speak without anyone prying. These concerns are then taken to the community through theatre, so that people know what is happening and can influence policy makers. These community stakeholder platforms are intended to allow young women to voice their concerns with service providers, community leadership, local members of parliament, and portfolio committees.

The Pepeta Platform is designed to be a regional SRHR network to unify young feminists voices on SRHR and collectively engage on regional policies. This includes the Pepeta Training Institute (PTI), which is a spring board for networking and movement building. The intention is to create a strong network of strong SRHR activists in Southern Africa (through the PTI), who can advocate effectively for the review and implementation of SRHR policies in line with the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender, the Maputo Plan of Action on SRHR, the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and other instruments.

The Katswe Sistahood website features news and opinions about SRHR, and people can share their views through the Katswe Sistahood facebook page.

Development Issues

Gender, Rights, Reproductive Health

Partners

Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) and Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT)

Sources

Katswe Sistahood website, The Zimbabwean website website, and Young Women's leadership in the Field of SRHR: Report on: Young Women’s Leadership in the Field of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) [PDF] on May 16 2013.