By Sydney Barson | Church leaders have added their voice to the current 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based violence campaign by committing themselves to living as positive role models, leading by example, educating their congregants and using the pulpit for religious activism.
Speaking at the just ended 3 day workshop held in the sleepy town of Lupane, Mrs. Polite Matibiri Gender and Women’s ministries focal person at the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) said the workshop was organised to take a closer look at GBV “using the transformation and
restoration used by Jesus” Christ.
“Our christian response to Gender is grounded in and motivated by the word of God. As followers of Christ we want to be God’s representatives and respond to God’s calling to you as his children,” said Matibiri.
The 16 days campaign runs annually from November 25 to December 10.
The workshop was organised by Channels of Hope, a program of Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe and UDACIZA in partnership with World Vision Zimbabwe. It is operational in 10 districts spread over Midlands, Masvingo, Matebeleland North and South provinces.
The workshop comes barely a week after Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa’s widely criticized 2016 Budget Statement where he allocated more resources to the Defence, CIO and the police while giving a paltry to gender and women’s affairs.