Women's Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE)

WALPE is a women’s political empowerment and leadership academy set up to advance knowledge and deepen the capacity of women who want to successfully run for public elected positions. It seeks to provide women with technical and practical trainings that empower them to run for public office. The academy is driven by the need to challenge the status quo, through creating platforms and opportunities for women to get into decision making and leadership positions.

Mission

Equip Zimbabwean women with necessary skills, tools, means and confidence, to successfully compete for elected positions; assume leadership roles; and promote a culture of participatory, transparent, inclusive, results oriented and accountable democratic governance ideals.

Vision

A Zimbabwe where women show leadership excellence at all levels and facets of development.

Goal

Change the face of politics and policy by identifying, educating and empowering women in Zimbabwe to engage actively in political process as citizens, activists, voters, candidates, and leaders.

Values

Aim Higher - Get out of your comfort zone and aim to do better than what you did yesterday. We can and we will shatter the glass ceiling.
Initiate. Lead - Be bold, be courageous. Do not wait for opportunities, grab them.
Don’t be counted as Others - Inspire to make a difference. Whatever you do aim to leave an indelible mark. You must not be counted as others. Stand out!
Respect the past. Change the future. - Appreciate those who walked the journey before you and aim to take it from where they left and make a difference.
Innovate - Constantly look for opportunities and make good use of them. Never be stagnant. Be innovative.
Be Principled - Do not lose your principles with the floor. Be grounded, be unshaken.
Be an authority. - Communicate with confidence, rationale and clarity. Answer questions with answers, not more questions, and demand the same in return. Be attentive. Be understood. Understand. Be respected. Respect others.

WALPE Offers capacity development and enhancement in the following thematic areas:

Leadership.
Political career development.
Building and managing a campaign
Introduction to Public Service and Volunteerism
Constituency outreach and mobilization strategies.
Negotiation and consensus building skills.
Non- violent campaign strategies.
Introduction to Feminism
Resilience Building and social accountability
Public speaking and speech writing
Etiquette and confidence building.
Post-training coaching and mentoring.
Internship opportunities in public institutions.

Target population: Any Rural or Urban woman in Zimbabwe aspiring to run for any of the following elected public positions:

Councilor
Member of Parliament (MP)
President
School Development Committee (SDC)
Health Centre Committee (HCC)
University/ College Student Representative Council
Unions

Volunteers:

Women Leadership Networks (WALANs)
International volunteer expert trainers
Intergenerational leadership mentorship clubs

Benefits of Participating:

Learn from experts and other women leaders.
Make a difference.
Networking – putting participants in touch with role models, mentors, and inspiring coaches.
Acquire skills and techniques to boost your political and leadership career.

Why Women?

It is estimated that, women in Sub Saharan Africa account for 50% of the population and 60% of voters in any given general election, yet their representation in political leadership and governance is dismally at an average 10%.
According to the UNWomen, globally women occupy only 23,4% parliamentary positions and less than 1/3 of senior and middle management positions.
Talented women who would make effective public leaders are excluded from the pool of available candidates due to financial, social, cultural and legal barriers to the detriment of their communities.
Women come into the political race with different level of experience and training needs.
Women are underrepresented in decision making and leadership positions and processes.
There is need for extra efforts to ensure the appointment of women in leadership positions.
Women have demonstrated inclinations for fostering accountability, transparency and responsiveness, women in their nature possess these skills in abundance.
Women leaders have a different understanding on socio-economic needs and place priority on policy issues that are related to food security, education, healthcare, infrastructure, housing, water and sanitation, enterprise development and employment.