BLESSED ARE THE SISSIES
BLESSED ARE THE BOI DYKES
BLESSED ARE THE PEOPLE OF COLOR MY BELOVED KITH AND KIN
BLESSED ARE THE TRANS
BLESSED ARE THE HIGH FEMMES
BLESSED ARE THE SEX WORKERS
BLESSED ARE THE AUTHENTIC
BLESSED ARE THE DIS-IDENTIFIERS
BLESSED ARE THE GENDER ILLUSIONISTS
BLESSED ARE THE NON-NORMATIVE
BLESSED ARE THE GENDERQUEERS
BLESSED ARE THE KINKSTERS
BLESSED ARE THE DISABLED
BLESSED ARE THE HOT FAT GIRLS
BLESSED ARE THE WEIRDO-QUEERS
BLESSED IS THE SPECTRUM
BLESSED IS CONSENT
BLESSED IS RESPECT
BLESSED ARE THE BELOVED WHO I DIDN’T DESCRIBE,
I COULDN’T DESCRIBE, WILL LEARN TO DESCRIBE AND RESPECT AND LOVE

AMEN

Mark Aguhar, Litanies to my heavenly brown body

Internet security remains a major talking point what with the PRISM controversy where the US government snooped on virtually everyone’s internet traffic.

I recently participated in a training workshop in South Africa themed around protecting ourselves from cyber spies who apparently are now making themselves permanent features in the World Wide Web.

It was instructive that the monitoring of private online conversations has become a matter of concern as Zimbabwe heads for polls amid reports that the former ruling party is pulling all the stops bringing in Chinese and Israeli internet minds to launch an assault on people using cyber platforms to “push the regime change agenda.”

And the presence of characters like Baba Jukwa has made issues of internet security even more pertinent in the aftermath of claims that Zanu PF was hacking into the Facebook page in a bid to unmask BJ.

Yet not many people will consider internet security as something of major concern.

Ours is a country that has become a very bad model of freedom of information and freedom of expression where a simple political comment is enough to get you into trouble, yet as we celebrate social media and how it has provided space for conversations about political developments, it still remains open to snooping by a paranoid State.

The workshop I attended brought insights into a multitude of security options, yet like everyone else who attended, I found it amazing if not scary that we are virtually naked each time we are on Twitter, Facebook, sending emails etc.

There is a huge footprint that we leave, and for anyone seeking to rage against the machine, you are effectively having someone standing over your shoulder watching.

A mobile phone application called Layer enables you to read other people’s Twitter feeds, and if that is not scary, I don’t know what is.

The us of cell phone technology is increasing in Zimbabwe with nine in every ten people having access to a mobile phone. Making calls, receiving and sending text messages are some of the major uses of mobile phones. In a sample size of 1200 adults who took part in a survey conducted by Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) in October 2012, nearly 24% of people have access to the Internet and they access the Internet using mobile phones. Of those interviewed 21% use the Internet for social media and 16% use it to get news.

Radio is still the leading source of information, and among the radio stations in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s radio stations ranked as the most common source of information for public, political and current affairs in the country.

People in Zimbabwe place a lot of trust in information coming from schools and religious leaders both in urban and rural areas. But very few have trust in councils and government representatives as sources of information. Since its inception in 2009, the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee remains unknown to about 62% of the people who took part in the survey, and in areas like Matebeleland North and South people had problems accessing JOMIC.

An overwhelming response from people who took part in the National Census show that almost every household was covered in the census as the country’s ten provinces scored above 90% in visits to households during the census.

As the nation prepares for elections 59% of young people interviewed are affiliated to a certain political party and Mashonaland Central recorded the highest number of youths who are active in party politics whilst Bulawayo youth have less interest as shown by a low figure of 36%.

However fear of political intimidation during election campaigns is still high and many young people are uncomfortable talking about politics. 71% think that in the event of political violence being perpetrated by any political party, reporting it to the police is the most effective way of dealing with the situation. 56% believe the police have the influence to stop violence.

A high percentage of young people interviewed strongly agree that women should have the same opportunities as men in getting elected to political office and of those who agree, 71 % also believe that women should have equal rights and should be treated the same as men.

On democracy and one party rule many youths denounce autocracy, 75 % disapprove of military rule and a majority believe open and regular elections should be used to choose leaders. A democracy with problems is how young people view Zimbabwe but youths are optimistic that five years from now the economy will be better with improved living conditions.

No Laughing Matter? : Humor And Protest Arts
Deadline: 30 July 2013

The University of Zimbabwe and Savanna Trust invites you to submit your abstracts for conference presentations on the 24th and 25th of October 2013 in Harare, Zimbabwe.

In both popular and academic imagination, protest arts have been generally associated with ‘angry’ and ‘gloomy’ ‘subversive’ images. Consequently limited attention has been paid to the use of humour in protest arts. The possibilities, complexities and limitations of humour in protest arts deserve serious recognition. Several questions can be raised in this regard.  Why in the first place do artists and the public include humour in their protest arts?  Is humour compatible with radical transformative protest arts?  What are the aesthetic and ideological implications of deploying humour in protest arts?  How have state actors, elites and the general public responded to humour in protest arts?

Sub-Themes
-Aesthetic quality, humour and protest arts
-Ideological possibilities/complications of humour in protest arts, (eg gender, class, race, ethnicity disability political identity etc)
-The reception of humour in protest arts
-Humour, ethics and morality
-Writing/performing humour in protest arts
-Media/technology, humour and protest arts v    Protest music and humour
-Humour in protest marches and demonstrations
-Humour in protest and graffiti
-Popular jokes and/as protest arts

Submit your abstracts in not more than 350 words to: kchikonzo [at] arts [dot] uz [dot] ac [dot] zw and copy paifst [at] gmail [dot] com

Last month images from the Worldwide Developers Conference depicted that the technology industry was male dominated. Just recently a Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) event was held in Harare and the images too lamented on how males dominate the technology industry. Setting aside an absence of our sistas, I just loved the whole idea behind this RhoK event where the techies used existing platforms such as Ushahidi, biNu and FrontlineSMS to build software to help fight corruption.

TechZim has published a part 1 report from the RHoK team. In this report of the day one, the biNu challenge winning applications were:

- An app which allows you to submit to and read reports in an Ushahidi installation from within biNu and

- A ‘Neighborhood watch’ application which allow you to report crimes so that people are better able to avoid dangerous areas.

Other applications which came up were:
- Work Board – A biNu app which allows people/organisations to outsource skills. It’s going to kill the CV
- biNu Browser – An app which allows you to browse the web from within biNu. Think of it as ‘Opera Mini on steroids’
- Recipes – A cooking assistant for cultural food. Those who watched David Bhers presentation where he said that ‘the internet is currently in America but we can bring it to Zimbabwe’ know the value of this app for Zimbabwe
- Vota – A voter registration app for Zimbabweans. Don’t tell anyone but I’m kinda glad this app wasn’t launched sooner because then I’d have no excuse for not being a registered voter
- Lotto – A mobile lotto from within biNu that lets you bet with small amounts. In his presentation, the presenter mentioned something about there being a gambler in every one of us. Very true (IMHO)
- biNu WhatsApp – An app that lets you send messages to WhatsApp users from within biNu. I know what you are going to ask and the answer is: Yes! It actually worked
- Crime watch – A biNu app which lets you capture what crimes have happened in our area. And I mean capture as in ‘with the camera on your feature phone’
- COZW – A local news aggregator. They are trying to make the RSS news reader that comes with biNu look amateur
- Bonki – A dating application which lets you pick which of you Facebook friends you want to date and will only send you both notifications when you select each other

I found all these interesting. Looking forward to reading the second report on the next challenge carried out. Zimbabwe surely has some creative minds in the technology industry; more should be done to bring this major talent out and who knows in our next election we will register to vote online.

Hey! Need a job? Want to work in the NGO/development sector in Zimbabwe? Check out the job vacancies below and apply today. If you want to receive regular civic and human rights information, together with NGO job vacancies and other opportunities like scholarships by getting our regular email newsletter, please email join [at] kubatana [dot] net

Monitoring and Evaluation Officer: Zimbabwe Aids Prevention Project Department Of Community Medicine University Of Zimbabwe
Deadline: 8 July 2013

Based in Mashonaland Central Province

The Zimbabwe AIDS Prevention Project, a Department of Community Medicine, University of Zimbabwe project has funding to conduct a PMTCT program in Mashonaland Central Province.  The program is aimed at strengthening health facilities as well as increasing ANC uptake through enhancing community level knowledge of PMTCT.  PATH is funding the program through Population Council, South Africa.

The M&E officer will be in charge of all monitoring and evaluation data collection activities, survey work and analytical sessions for the ARISE PMTCT program. The M&E officer should be a team player expected to work closely with MHCW, ZAPP-UZ and Population Council.

Responsibilities and key duties
-Conducting Provincial and district training on M&E for HW and Community Mobilizers
-Review collate and analyze data from sites for accuracy and completeness
-Prepare quarterly progress reports
-Liase with NMRL to ensure EID test and results reach the Laboratory and facilities
-Participate in tools development
-To perform any other M&E tasks as assigned.

Qualifications and attributes
-Minimum degree in statistics, demography or public health
-3 years experience in setting up and implementing M&E activities for HIV/AIDS, RH or MCH
-Knowledge of operational research in HIV and Reproductive health programming
-Highly motivated with strong interpersonal and communication skills
-Proficiency in using the following packages SPSS, STATA and MS ACCESS
-Willingness to travel in the Province

To apply
Please send your application including detailed CV, copies of qualifications to the Zimbabwe AIDS Prevention-University of Zimbabwe, by post, email or hand delivery using the following address:

The Project Coordinator (Arise Project)
ZAPP-UZ
92 Prince Edward Street
Milton Park
Harare

Or email: hr [at] zappuz [dot] co [dot] zw

Please note that only short listed candidates will be notified.

Human Resources Coordinator: World Education
Deadline: 8 July 2013

Job Category: Mid-Level Management
Department/Group: Finance & Human Resources    
Reports to: Director, Finance & HR
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe     
Position Type: Fixed Term Contract
Grade level: 3    

Purpose of position
Under the supervision of the Director, Finance& HR responsible, for providing human resources services in support of the country program.

Major responsibilities
-Assist in the development, implementation and review of the HR strategy and ensure consistency with overall country program strategy
-Assist in the regular review and roll out of HR policies, employment policies and procedures compliance to WEI standards and the country’s national Labour law requirements
-In collaboration with managers, assist in the development of staffing and recruitment plan ensuring that each team is staffed appropriately according to need and funding availability
-Assist in the design, development and implementation of the overall staff learning and development strategy
-Ensure staff hiring is executed efficiently and in compliance with the WEI’s policy and national Labour law   Ensure that pre-employment requirements are submitted and a personnel file with documentation according to HR checklist is opened for new staff on a timely basis
-Ensure that all new staff have undergone orientation and on-boarding
-Ensures the timely and efficient payroll preparation with accurate data
-Ensures the proper and accurate tracking of leave
-Assist in the periodic salary review and analysis, and review and revision of new salary structure, as appropriate
-Ensure the timely processing of new contract, contract extension, staff transfer, promotions, acting capacity, and other change of status
-Manage processes related to disciplinary actions, staff separation, termination, including liaising with the Ministry of labour
-Respond to employee relations related queries and provide service to all HR related inquiries and requests on a timely manner
-Conduct regular assessment for all field offices; assess the filing systems/HR documentation in each field site and undertake immediate corrective measures

Qualifications and education requirements
-A degree in Human Resources or a related field is required
-Post graduate qualification in HR or administration
-A minimum of 3 years’ professional experience in a similar position required
-Experience with USAID funded programs is preferred
-Demonstrated people management experience an added advantage
-Knowledge of local labor laws
-Fluency in English, Shona and Ndebele

To apply
Interested applicants should apply to: recruitment [at] worlded [dot] co [dot] zw submitting a motivational letter and current CV.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted.