Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, from Zimbabwe, joined the World YWCA in 2007. She has over 10 years of experience with the United Nations, where she served as Regional Director for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Eastern and Horn Africa covering 13 countries. She had previously worked as a human rights officer with UNICEF in Liberia and Zimbabwe. Gumbonzvanda also served as interim coordinator for the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association during its formative stage and in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in Zimbabwe as a law officer. For the last twenty year, Gumbonzvanda has been working on issues of women and children's human rights, with a special focus on crisis countries. Active in the women's movement, Gumbonzvanda has focused on issues of violence against women, peace with justice, property rights and HIV and AIDS. Gumbonzvanda is a trained human rights lawyer with extensive experience in conflict resolution and mediation.
Notable recent achievements include work on the integration of gender equality issues in the peace processes for the Sudan, Somalia and Northern Uganda and a lead role in the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region that resulted in the adoption of the Protocol on Sexual and Gender Based Violence as well as property rights for returnees. She was involved in the development of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on Women’s Rights in Africa. She has also worked for many years on issues of gender and HIV and AIDS and was a resource person for the International Women’s Summit on HIV and AIDS hosted by the World YWCA in 2007.
Gumbonzvanda has a Master’s degree in Private Law with specialisation in Constitutional Property Law from the University of South Africa and completed post-graduate work on conflict resolution at Uppsala University, Sweden. She is active within the women’s rights movement and is a member of such organisations as Women in Law and Development in Africa, Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association and the World Conference on Religion and Peace. She serves on the Advisory Board for the African Centre for Women, Information and Communications Technology. She recently founded the Rozaria Memorial Trust (RMT), a charity organisation established in honor of her late mother who died a role model in her community in Murewa, Zimbabwe. Gumbonzvanda has been awarded life membership status by the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation, a grassroots organisation with over 4 million members, in recognition of her approach to empowerment of women in communities.
Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda is widely published and enjoys writing poetry.
.