Youth Invest

Youth Invest A pro-youth and feminist oriented NGO promoting equitable and inclusive communities in Zimbabwe.

Monday Motivation: Calm Not ChaoticHappy New Week from Youth Invest.Let this week be calm, not chaotic.Not every moment ...
03/08/2026

Monday Motivation: Calm Not Chaotic

Happy New Week from Youth Invest.

Let this week be calm, not chaotic.

Not every moment needs to be rushed. Not every problem needs to be solved in a day. Progress does not have to be loud to be real.

Breathe. Focus. Move with intention.

This week, choose peace over panic. Choose clarity over clutter. Choose steady over scattered.

You can do this. One step at a time.




So, what came out of all of this?A lot more than just a conversation.At the Ward Learning Session, something shifted. Re...
31/07/2026

So, what came out of all of this?

A lot more than just a conversation.

At the Ward Learning Session, something shifted. Residents walked in with frustrations and walked out with answers. The Council walked in to observe and walked out having listened — really listened.

But we did not stop there.

We identified Devolution Champions — community members who will carry this work forward. Their job? To make sure that the voices raised at Chinotimba Hall do not disappear into meeting minutes. They will stay on the case, track progress, and keep the conversation going with the Council.

Because that is how devolution becomes real. Not in policy documents. Not in speeches. In the everyday work of communities holding power to account.

This is the work Youth Invest is committed to — one Ward Learning Session, one conversation, one Champion at a time.

When communities speak, we listen. When they act, we support.

That is the wrap for this week.



So, what did we actually talk about at Chinotimba Hall?A lot. And it was real.Residents did not hold back. They raised c...
30/07/2026

So, what did we actually talk about at Chinotimba Hall?

A lot. And it was real.

Residents did not hold back. They raised concerns that hit close to home:

· Water bills that do not add up
· Broken meters
· Old sewer pipes leaking into neighbourhoods
· An ambulance that takes too long
· A school road that ambulances cannot even access
· Graveyard fees that feel like a burden on grieving families

These are not small issues. They are everyday struggles that people live with.

And here is the thing — the Victoria Falls City Council Public Relations Office did not dodge the questions. They responded with clarity. They cleared up confusion around water pricing and disconnections. They gave answers.

Residents left with something rare: not just promises, but actual answers.

That is what happens when citizens and duty bearers sit in the same room and actually listen to each other.

Still with us? There is more.



We asked ourselves a question: what happens when citizens and their council actually sit down and talk?Not a formal meet...
27/07/2026

We asked ourselves a question: what happens when citizens and their council actually sit down and talk?

Not a formal meeting. Not a lecture. Just a real conversation — the kind where people speak freely and those in power actually listen.

That is what Youth Invest is doing with the I Belong I Participate project. We are showing up, pulling up chairs, and making space for honest conversations — one Ward Learning Session at a time.

We are working in Victoria Falls City and Hwange Rural District. Why? Because too often, community voices are heard in meetings but never make it into council decisions. Too often, Ward Development Committees exist on paper but not in practice.

And that is not good enough.

So we convene Ward Community Learning Sessions — open forums where communities raise concerns, ask the questions that matter, and hold local authorities accountable for the services they are supposed to deliver.

Recently, we held a session at Chinotimba Hall in Victoria Falls. Community members, their Councillor, and the Victoria Falls City Council Public Relations Office came to listen and engage, not just observe.

The energy was electric. The conversation was raw and honest. And we walked away with something powerful.

More on that tomorrow.



Monday Motivation: Let Nothing Stop YouHappy New Week from Youth Invest.Let nothing stop you from reaching your goal.Not...
27/07/2026

Monday Motivation: Let Nothing Stop You

Happy New Week from Youth Invest.

Let nothing stop you from reaching your goal.

Not the setbacks. Not the doubts. Not the voices that say it cannot be done.

Every step forward counts. Every effort matters. Every small win builds the momentum you need to keep going.

This week, stay focused. Stay determined. Stay unstoppable.

Your goal is waiting. Go get it.




Monday Motivation: New Week, New WinsHappy New Week from Youth Invest.A new week brings new opportunities. New conversat...
13/07/2026

Monday Motivation: New Week, New Wins

Happy New Week from Youth Invest.

A new week brings new opportunities. New conversations. New steps forward.

Whatever you did not finish last week, pick it up again. Whatever you started, keep going. Whatever you have been putting off, start today.

This week, show up. Speak up. Step up.

Clock it.👌🏽




Monday Motivation: Youth Voices in GovernanceHappy New Week from Youth Invest.At the recent Local Governance Conference,...
06/07/2026

Monday Motivation: Youth Voices in Governance

Happy New Week from Youth Invest.

At the recent Local Governance Conference, Alison Ncube – then Programs Associate at Youth Invest – spoke powerfully from the youth perspective.

She reminded us that Zimbabwe has one of Africa’s youngest populations, yet young people face high unemployment, limited governance participation, and exclusion from decision-making spaces.

The central question for NDS2, she argued, is whether youth are recognised as legitimate governance actors – not just beneficiaries. Drawing from Youth Invest’s work in Victoria Falls and Hwange, she showed that inclusion must move from consultation to institutional participation embedded in law.

She named three governance gaps:

• Participation Gap – Youth attend meetings but lack voting power, agenda-setting, monitoring, or oversight. Consultation becomes symbolic, not substantive.

• Representation Gap – Youth are absent from budget committees, audit committees, procurement structures, development planning, and natural resource governance committees. Without institutionalised representation, participation depends on goodwill, not legal guarantees.

• Accountability Gap – Youth feel the effects of failed projects (incomplete schools, lost jobs, poor services) but have no mechanism to enforce corrective action.

Building on Dr. Moyo’s Local Economies pillar, Alison urged local authorities to create jobs for local youth – the future ratepayers – with a concrete example: adding local employment conditions to tendering processes.

Real devolution requires real inclusion. Not consultation. Not symbolism. Institutionalised participation.

This Monday, let us carry this message forward. The work continues.



30/06/2026

Is devolution a reality or just a decoration?

Councillor D. Nkomo of Bulawayo puts it plainly: without an enabling Devolution Act, devolution remains ornamental — a beautiful idea with little substance. The result? Delayed disbursement of devolution funds and poor service delivery by Local Authorities, leaving communities to bear the weight of broken promises.

The solution lies in alignment. The Urban Councils Act, the Rural Councils Act, the Traditional Leaders Act, and the Public Finance Act must all be brought into harmony with Chapter 14 of the Constitution. Only then can devolution become a lived reality — not just a policy on paper. Perhaps economic blueprints are not failing on their own merit. Perhaps they are failing because the legal framework meant to support them is fragmented and misaligned.

If devolution is to transform lives, it must first be legally empowered. Until then, communities will continue to wait for what they were promised — not as a favour, but as a right.

Conference Reflections.We still on that Local Governance Conference note…During our recent Local Governance Conference o...
22/06/2026

Conference Reflections.

We still on that Local Governance Conference note…

During our recent Local Governance Conference on Devolution, we reflected honestly on why Zimbabwe’s past economic blueprints failed to deliver sustainable devolution. Previous plans were marked by weak local participation, unfunded mandates, and no post-implementation review. NDS1 ended without any formal review – a gap that cost us learning and accountability.

Devolution cannot remain a constitutional principle without binding fiscal and administrative decentralisation. Any new framework must institutionalise citizen oversight, resource accountability, and local decision-making authority.

It is against this backdrop that Dr. Gorden Moyo – a Zimbabwean academic and public policy expert – took the floor. His intervention was intentional: to move us from diagnosing past failures to defining what success actually requires.

He redefined devolution through three deliberate terms:

1. Local Democracy – power lived and exercised at the local level.
2. Local Economies – community-anchored resource retention and enterprise development.
3. Local Development – solutions designed and delivered locally.

He then outlined five non-negotiable prerequisites for successful NDS2 implementation:

🔌 Purposive Leadership
🔌 Autonomous Bureaucracy
🔌 Social Contract
🔌 Accountability
🔌 Digital Economies




Happy Monday.Are you struggling with drug addiction?Or do you know someone who is?Help them.Help yourself.One conversati...
22/06/2026

Happy Monday.

Are you struggling with drug addiction?
Or do you know someone who is?

Help them.
Help yourself.

One conversation can save a life.
One call can be the turning point.

Do not let drugs control you.
Your future is worth more than any high.
So is theirs.

Reach out today.
You are not alone. Neither are they.

Address

Victoria Falls

Opening Hours

Monday 08:30 - 16:30
Tuesday 08:30 - 16:30
Wednesday 08:30 - 16:30
Thursday 08:30 - 16:30
Friday 08:30 - 16:30

Telephone

+263779074634

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