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Culture Fund initiates new momentum for sector development

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IN June this year the Culture Fund Board awarded grants worth just over $1 million under the Culture Impacts programme which it initiates a new momentum for development in the sector and enhances its contribution to national development processes.

IN June this year the Culture Fund Board awarded grants worth just over $1 million under the Culture Impacts programme which it initiates a new momentum for development in the sector and enhances its contribution to national development processes.

BY MUNYARADZI SIMANGO

Culture Fund continues to grow in its mandate to serve as an active transformative agent for the creative sector. It is focused on strengthening capacities to improve livelihoods while fostering new perspectives and re-imagining the relevance of cultural practice in national development.

Development through Arts and Culture Impacts is an outcome -oriented approach adopted by the Culture Fund programming that sets out new criteria for investment in the arts and culture sector. It is aimed at strengthening the broad participation by Zimbabweans in all spheres of society.

The new programming focuses on projects that deliver measurable results on specific strategic thematic areas. These address development challenges through free expression, gender equality, rights and freedoms.

In an interview recently, Culture Fund executive director Farai Mupfunya said that arts and culture are viable instruments for contributing to national development, the economy and social transformation as it has the capacity to influence mindsets, beliefs and behaviour.

“The overall project objective is to foster social cohesion, peace and poverty reduction within Zimbabwean communities by harnessing the transformative power of the arts and culture with particular focus on free expression, gender equality, improved human rights and cultural diversity,” Mupfunya said.

Farai Mupfunya

The new programme is in line with the development goals of Culture Fund and its partners who include the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Danish International Development Agency (Danida) and the European Union (EU) Delegation in Harare.

Development through Arts and Culture Impacts is also aligned to the Constitution of Zimbabwe and government’s national development priorities through

ZimAsset, which focuses on results-based management approaches to wealth creation.

“The Culture Impacts model seeks to build and strengthen creative platforms of free expression. This provides artists with opportunities to act as development agents by influencing national discourse on pertinent issues. This process fosters a culture of involvement and participation in public life and engages the broader society to reflect and act on issues,” said Mpfunya.

Within the framework of the Development through Arts and Culture Impacts, the trust is working with associates to deliver measurable results on equal opportunities and rights for both women and men. Empowered women play a significant role as economic game-changers and they contribute to lasting development and poverty reduction.

In line with new global trends to development, Culture Impacts incorporates a rights based development approach to enhance national development processes in order to facilitate broader rights awareness and freedoms in Zimbabwe.

The Development through Arts and Culture Impacts is a departure from previous programme funding models.

According to the Culture Fund, this is a result of sector stakeholders’ demand for justifying grants with tangible results while demonstrating the measurable impact and sustainability of funded initiatives.

Culture Funds runs a transparent grant application process targeting Zimbabweans in the creative sector.

In June this year the Culture Fund board awarded grants to 41 projects selected from over 500 applications that were submitted in response to the call for project proposals. Project proposals were assessed for their ability to effectively address the Culture Impacts objectives within the implementation period.

Some of the reasons for failure of project proposals submitted include the proposals being out of programme scope while some were deemed more suitable for other funding streams. Others were unsuccessful in this instance due to failure to meet the new set of criteria under the Development through Arts and Culture Impacts programme.

Culture Fund is a catalytic Zimbabwean arts and culture service institution founded in 2006 with an initial endowment from the Swedish government. Since establishment, it has supported over 1 000 arts projects targeting cultural agents from all over Zimbabwe.

The support by Culture Fund contributes to cultural and economic growth through strategic partnerships and programmes with among others government, local authorities, business and international funding organisations.