PhD student, Nolwazi Ncube, was selected out of a 170 applicants and was amongst 40 delegates from across the global to attend the Commonwealth Futures “Reimagining Peace workshop” in Durban, South Africa on the 11th to 14th of March 2020. She returned four days before the Republic closed its borders in order to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Nolwazi is also the chair of the Race and Racism Group which hosts seminar series - sometimes in conjunction with the Sociology Department.
On the workshop, Nolwazi says, “We reflected on the the spectrum of violence and non-violence, considering even the banal acts of buying low-cost clothing and eating meat in order to make ourselves aware of the violence that precedes the consumptions of certain commodities.”
Climate change and gender-based violence (GBV) were at the top of the agenda in light of the forest fires in Australia and GBV still continuing at unprecedented levels in South Africa. Nolwazi was part of a group that presented recommendations for Commonwealth Universities to provide support to survivors of sexualised and violent assault. The strategies focused on prevention and dwelled on the need for transparent reporting processes.
Nolwazi is also an Elphinstone Scholar and international student from Zimbabwe.