About Us
Founded in 2009, the Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD) is a young women’s organisation with proven experience in promoting young women and women’s participation and leadership in order to inform and influence socio-economic and political decision making. IYWD is committed to mobilising and strengthening young women and women (YWW)’s voice and power to challenge injustice and reconstruct alternative societies centred on openness and equality. Grounded in young women and women’s realities, we collectively create pathways to imagine a better future and position ourselves to lead our families, communities, our country our continent and the world at large. We do this through community organizing, raising political consciousness, movement-building, peer-to-peer and intergenerational mentorship and coaching fostering alternative economies that challenge inequalities and injustices.

Approach to work:
Grounded in young women’s realities, our work uses a grassroots and movement building approach to activate young women’s agency to tackle structural inequalities and injustices that violate our rights. Working with a diverse group of young women of different ages, class, geography, ability/disability, sexual and political orientation our programming is intersectional. We build alliances with community based, civil society organisations and social justice movements at local, national, regional and international levels for greater impact. We acknowledge that power is negotiated and where possible our alliance building includes key certain progressive individuals and institutions including but not limited to governments across levels, traditional leaders, faith -based leaders/organisations and business. We believe that ‘There is no revolution without music and dance’, and we infuse arts and theatre to energise our work.

Our strategic Goals
Our work is guided by our programmatic goals of:
Strengthened Young Women and Women’s Leadership and Activism
We strengthen young women and women leadership and activism to build a robust movement that promotes young women and women’s rights, eliminates violence against women and girls (VAWG) and holds governing
bodies accountable. Strengthened Political participation and Representation of Young Women We promote young women and women’s political participation and representation in order to inform and influence policies and practices, advance constitutionalism and shift unjust forms of power.

Strengthened Feminist Economics
We promote young women and women’s access to, control and ownership of economic resources for sustainable livelihoods. Our understanding of the now moment requires us to promote climate resilient
livelihoods options and to shift the burden of unpaid care work in the post Covid-19 reconstruction agenda. Environmental care and well-being We are raising political consciousness and strengthening agro-ecology for sustainable food systems and
production systems. We acknowledge the gendered relationship between women and the environment and raise the awareness of climate adaptation and resilience as a way of nurturing the environment and women’s overall wellbeing. We also hold local and national governments accountable on climate adaptation and promote policies and practices that centre people and planet, without leaving anyone behind. Environmental care and holding governments accountable are our other entry points to mitigating structural violence against women and promoting natural resources governance.

What we have achieved:
Our journey since our formation in 2009 has impacted us as an organisation, young women we work with and our broader communities. IYWD has successfully built a movement of more than 20 000 young women and
women in Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, West, Manicaland, Midlands, Matebeleland North, Bulawayo and Harare Provinces who are:
a) organised through active community leadership structures from ward level to national levels (Ward
Dariro Committees –(WDCs) and Dariro Executive-DE)
b) self-organising and exercising their agency in fighting structural violence against women and girls,
promoting young women and women’s access to economic resources and mitigating natural resourcesbased
conflicts
c) conscious of and are defending their voice, power and exercising their agency informing decision-making
in their families, communities, national and at regional levels. Since 2009, we have seen more than
5000young women take up leadership in community development committees, local councils and both
the Lower and Upper House of Parliament.
d) reconstructing alternative economies that promote organic food and food production systems, climate
adaptation and resilience and food security that centre people and planet.
e) self-organising and mobilising communities towards just, inclusive and gender responsive communities
for democratic governance, sustainable economic models and environmental justice
f) Building and strengthening alliances with other social movements and organisations at national, regional
and global levels
g) Recognising our community rootedness, we have been mandated by the Alliance of Community based
Organisations (ACBOs) to convene the platform

Contact details:
Institute for Young Women Development
399 Claverhill Road
Bindura
Zimbabwe
Phone: +263 772 481 273/ +263 718 290 301
Email: youngwomeninstitute@gmail.com
Website: www.iywd.org
Facebook: Institute for Young Women Development
Twitter: @YoungWomenInst