Platform For Youth and Community Development - PYCD

PYCD Introduces Paralegal Training to Strengthen Community Response to Land Displacements and Dispossessions in Chipinge

The Platform for Youth and Community Development (PYCD) has intensified its long-standing commitment to defending vulnerable communities in Chipinge District through the introduction of a community-based paralegal training programme aimed at strengthening legal awareness and grassroots advocacy on land rights and constitutional protections.

As a demand-driven and solution-focused social justice movement, PYCD continues to respond directly to the lived realities and everyday challenges confronting rural communities. Since its establishment in 2008, the organisation has remained consistent in championing community rights, social accountability, and inclusive development through evidence-based interventions that place affected communities at the centre of decision-making processes.

Following more than a decade of programming dedicated to supporting communities facing land displacements and dispossessions, PYCD has now introduced paralegal training as a sustainable and empowering intervention designed to equip communities with practical legal knowledge and advocacy skills. The initiative seeks to strengthen the capacity of local leaders and affected villagers to better understand constitutional rights, land governance systems, and available legal remedies in cases involving evictions and property disputes.

The programme, which commenced in April 2026 and will run until December 2026, is being implemented in partnership with researchers and lecturers from the University of Zimbabwe. The initiative is supported by Gerda Henkel Stiftung and forms part of a broader study examining land dispossession trends in Zimbabwe, with particular focus on constitutional protections provided under Sections 71(3) and 74 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, as well as legal frameworks governing property rights and protections against unlawful evictions.

From 13 to 17 April 2026, the project successfully trained 30 community leaders drawn from Chinyamukwakwa, Mahachi, Kondo, Munyokowere, and Maunganidze. The training sessions provided participants with foundational legal literacy on land rights, constitutional protections, court procedures, and mechanisms available for resolving land-related disputes.
Community leaders were also equipped with practical advocacy and mobilisation skills to enable them to engage effectively with institutions and local support structures, including community-based organisations such as PYCD. The training further emphasised that land disputes extend beyond legal dimensions and are deeply connected to environmental, political, economic, and social justice concerns affecting the sustainability of rural livelihoods.

During the engagement sessions, participating communities commended PYCD for its grounded and community-centred approach to development programming. Villagers further appealed to the organisation and its partners to broaden interventions toward emerging social challenges affecting the district, including school dropouts, child marriages, stock theft, organised crime, and the growing scourge of drug and substance abuse among young people.

Over the years, PYCD has distinguished itself as a credible and responsive grassroots institution committed to addressing the structural and social barriers that undermine community development. Through sustained engagement, research-informed advocacy, and community empowerment initiatives, the organisation continues to strengthen the voices of marginalised communities while promoting justice, dignity, and sustainable development in Chipinge District and beyond.

PYCD’s engagement with Maunganidze village on the 16th of April 2026 confirms that the organisation remains a seasoned and genuinely community-based institution that is deeply rooted in the day-to-day struggles of marginalized communities since its establishment in 2008. The engagement in Ward 1 of Chipinge RDC demonstrated PYCD’s continued commitment to defending community rights, promoting social justice and strengthening grassroots participation in development processes affecting local people.

The meeting focused on unresolved disputes relating to displacement, dispossession and compensation issues surrounding communal land and the delayed development of Maunganidze Growth Point. Community members also raised concern over the prioritisation of residential stands ahead of an irrigation scheme that offers sustainable livelihoods to villagers. Through the engagement, PYCD capacitated local leaders on constitutional protections, consultation processes and community rights in development planning.

The discussions further addressed emerging social challenges affecting the area, including rising cases of child marriages, teen pregnancies, increasing crime and arbitrary arrests allegedly associated with some police officers. By engaging directly with affected villagers and community leaders, PYCD continues to demonstrate that it is socially embedded, community-driven and responsive to the lived realities of the people who have shaped the organisation’s identity over the years.

PYCD is working closely with a team of Researchers and Trainers who are academics from the University of Zimbabwe ,Dr Eric Makombe,Advocate B.Kusena and Advocate Debra Machena

Fepa
Media Centre - Zimbabwe
MISA Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Zimbabwe Council of Churches
Zimcodd
Green Institute
Alliance of Community Based Organisations - ACBOs
Vemuganga Community Radio
International Republican Institute (IRI)