Zubo will promote the strategic sharing of expertise and experiences among the collaborative government partners especially Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Ministry of Small, Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development, Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality, Ministry of Health and Childcare, Forestry Commission, Environment Management Agency, Lake Navigation, Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (PWMA) and Binga Rural District Council (Natural Resources). It will also partner with NGOs such as Basilwizi, Binga Craft Centre, Lupane Women Centre, Zimtrade and Padare (a specialised men’s NGO tackling gender equality issues from a men’s point of view); and at ward levels, the Ward and Village Women Forums. Partnerships with local government, relevant government ministries and agencies and like-minded organisations are significant for the effective implementation of the project activities, especially in terms of sharing resources and expertise.

Recognizing that development choices are the result of the decision-making processes employed, Zubo will integrate a rights-based approach into decision-making processes to ensure that rights-holders are involved in key decisions and that rational choices are made which reflect their needs and interests.

Capacity Building is an integral part of the project strategies and involves strengthening of rights-holders with knowledge and skills on key issues such as policy advocacy and lobbying, gender and knowledge that citizens can hold leaders accountable (civic education).

Zubo will put emphasis on two approaches - Women in Development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD). The first approach will focus much on women empowerment given the lagging behind of Tonga women. The process will enhance women’s power in making choices, gain access to resources and information and improve their wellbeing and develop a sense of self-confidence, self-efficacy and self-determination. To cement this approach, there will be gender mainstreaming in all the Zubo programming in bid to transform unequal relations between women and men. This is a necessity in the long run of Zubo programs in Binga District. There will be need to have a situation where women and men have equal conditions for realizing their full human rights and potential and are able to contribute equally to national economic, political, social and cultural development and benefit equally from the results

The establishment of six Ward Women’s Forums (comprising of 25 women per ward) and 30 Village Women’s Forums (comprising of 25 women per village) to give women a voice, end marginalization and promote women’s active participants in the household and in the communities in which they reside. The Women’s Forums were established in 2010. Since then, they have been instrumental in reaching out deep into the dispersed rural communities. Each of the 25 members of a Women’s Forums was selected in a participatory manner by local leadership (Village heads, Ward Councillor and the traditional chiefs) to represent the villages. The forums have facilitated open discussion of women’s issues in a friendly atmosphere without fear of the presence of their male counterparts. The space (forum) enabled women time to reflect on the different gender issues that promote male domination in their daily lives and how they (as women) participate in promoting such actions. This further enabled women to share ideas and support each other on issues affecting women, children as well as other vulnerable groups. The Women’s Forums are a unique and crucial feature in Zubo’s organisational structure. In partnership with Padare , Zubo formed the Men’s Forums to sensitise the men of Binga on Gender issues. Men’s Forums were formed in 2012 and again the members of the forums were selected by the local leadership of each ward. The main task of the Men’s Forum members is to share information and knowledge on women’s rights and to exchange their experiences and progress in mobilising other men to participate in the movement for a gender just society.

Since 2012, Zubo together with the 750 women in the six wards of operation, have commemorated international Women’s Day, 16 days of activism among other events as a way of sharing womanhood, solidarity and unity with other women in the country. The thrust has been to broaden women’s understanding of gender issues from a broader perspective and enable them to copy some lobbying strategies and skills from others.

Cultural beliefs and norms coupled with socialisation has contributed to the deprivation of women in the public space, suppressing the legal rights or the girls from tender age until they become old women. The organization worked closely with the local leaders and other partner organizations to influence the change in attitude towards such practices in Binga District. An example of ‘breaking new grounds’ was when the rural women were allowed by the traditional leadership to venture into a male dominated space like kapenta fishing.

Ilala palm basket making has traditionally been practiced by the rural women throughout the Binga District and the BaTonga are well known for their unique baskets within and outside the country. Communal craft weaving is another social space created for women’s coherence and teamwork. To increase weaver’s income, the organization has linked the craft weavers with local partners such as Lupane Women Centre, Handcraft Zimbabwe and Collaborative Craft Projects

Six Community Based Facilitators (CBFs) from the six wards and two staff members have been trained to lead and produce their own media. Most podcasts produced were in the local language ChiTonga. The recordings have built up as resources archives for the organization while some have been uploaded to the website. Through the strength of media, the organization has partnered with Empower, Mentor, Inspire, Connect (EMIC) to reach out to an international audience on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) see website EMIC-SDG Review 01 (The importance of collaboration in the digital economy) or visit https://twitter.com/emicmedia. Through support from EMIC, the organisation has been approved as one of the “GiveBack” project for multimedia representation. The two year project will include fully funded and on-going multi media coverage.

In 2015, a jatropha soap-production workshop was built to house an oil extractor and soap accessories for a soap manufacturing business. A group of 12 women was trained in the soap-making processes by Zubo and a Soap Manufacturer from Germany in August 2017. The women have now started to make soaps for sale to test the markets, such as selling to local lodges and reaching out to national markets through organized fairs the organization is involved in.

VS&L groups were initially established by Zubo in Binga District in 2012. 694 women participated from the six wards. A total of $23,487 was raised by the women groups by end of 2012 through pooling their own resources together. However, the project ceased operating in 2014 due to reasons beyond women’s control such as food insecurity caused by climate changes. VS&L groups started again in 2017 through support from Cotswold Foundation. There are currently 31 groups in the six wards of operation. Each ward was given a soft loan of $500.00. Within 6 months, the groups had raised $5,504.92. VS&L schemes enhance social cohesion and team work among women groups, which is an essential ingredient for Zubo Women Bank, which Zubo plans to establish in the future at the Women’s Centre stand located at Binga Centre. The long-term impact of the VS&L scheme is the change in the rights holders’ qualities of life. For example, there has been a gender balance in terms of responsibilities within families. Some women have been able to send their children to school, especially the girl child who for long has been disadvantaged. In a situation where a family is poor and cannot afford to take children to school, usually the boy children are given a priority to attend school. More so, some women have managed to build some low cost houses because of the money they got from the VSL scheme.

The on-going Siamuloba biodiversity and ecotourism project aims to strengthen and expand the economic empowerment of the rural women and community at large in Simatelele Ward through access and utilizing natural resources such as forestry, water, wildlife and land. The project will be Fair-Trade accredited focusing on culture comprising village life. The main products identified for the tourists by the project right holders include Siamuloba Campsite, Nemande Mountain, Malala and Siamuloba Cultural Village.

Construction of a well-equipped Centre is a necessity for the advancement of rural women in Binga District. The Centre will be a central place for women’s activities. Currently, the stand has been sourced from the Local Authority (Binga Rural District Council). Through support from Welthaus Bielefeld, a workshop has already been built at the project site for the production of jatropha soaps; Zubo Administration Offices have been constructed too with support from the same funding partner and BMZ. The construction of a Training Conference is underway through support from the partner Bread for the World. Zubo intends to have a fully-fledged centre including construction of Accommodation facilities, small kitchen and microfinance facilities among others for rural women. The centre will be a ‘hub’ for all the women’s activities in the District.