Background
Kudzai Makombe is a communicator with a passion for gender advocacy and environmental issues. Since completing her first degree in English and Economic History in 1990, she has written and/or edited numerous articles and publications in processes that involved negotiating complex procedural and content analysis terrains with government officials, leading academics, politicians, journalists and stakeholders against very tight time and financial deadlines. The scope of the work has often required her to not only drive the process of conceptualization, research and targeting of audiences, but also to write, edit and, in some cases, design the outputs. Amongst others, she was editor of the high profile publication, “Sharing the Land: People, Wildlife and Development in Africa”, which was published for launch at the World Conservation Union (IUCN) World Congress in 1993.
Kudzai has been engaged in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment for over a decade, working for various development organisations and agencies, including the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), where she was Communications Specialist providing services for the Southern African Regional Office and as Gender Advisor for the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF), where she has consistently provided training and advice on gender and parliamentary leadership for women legislators.
An eight-year stint as Africa Radio News Editor working daily and remotely for international news agency, Inter-Press Service (IPS) Africa, has honed her language accessibility editing skills, analysis of different issues, ability to provide quick turnaround, to work consistently, and without supervision.