As young women’s organizations under the banner of YET Trust, we are deeply concerned about the continued harassment of the Director of YET, which is clearly turning out to be a new and subtle form of gender-based victimization.
We are also concerned that the unilateral actions of the ZYC director in suspending YET Trust’s registration are not only illegal in terms of provisions of the ZYC Act,
but are a clear violation of the provisions of CEDAW and the SADC Protocol on Gender. The government has ratified these and other statutory instruments that work for the advancement of women, yet such misdirected efforts by the ZYC director clearly violate and negate government efforts to empower women and afford them equal opportunities.
Having studied the letter of suspension carefully and consulted other parties, we stand in solidarity with the YET Trust Director and assert the following:
• The alleged suspension of registration is null and void as proper procedures were not followed by the ZYC director. The Registration and Compliance Committee of the ZYC Board did not meet to discuss this issue prior to the suspension and the suspension was clearly a unilateral move by the male chauvinistic ZYC director;
• The Ministry of Women’s Affairs Gender and Community Development, under the inclusive government should investigate the actions of the ZYC which are in clear contravention of some of the policies it has adopted;
We will challenge this suspension of YET Trust on purely legal grounds. We will also mobilize our constituencies to challenge this new form of harassment and discrimination.
Post published in: Politics