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Brenda Phiri Entertainment Reporter
The story of the unsung Zimbabwean women that are making strides in various walks of life across the globe will be celebrated at the Zimbabwe International Women’s Awards on October 3 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

The awards will be marking their second anniversary this year and categories are drawn from the arts, fashion, business and sport among other sectors.

The organisers said judges are currently going through all submitted nominees and will release the final list of contenders on August 10.

“Community researchers have been appointed in order to assist in discovering women who are making an impact in the community who are not necessarily ‘popular’ especially through, for example, social media,” said project director Mukunda M’tandari while shedding light on the nomination process.

“It is important to note that Ziwa is dependent on the wider Zimbabwean community from the four corners of the earth to nominate these (heroines).

“The 2015, nomination process proved to be a success, through the active involvement of Zimbabweans across the globe. An external nominations panel, with an external moderator, has been appointed and the shortlisted nominations are set to be released (soon),” she said.

The awards join a growing bandwagon of others that are initiated by Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora.

Commenting on the relevance of these particular awards, M’tandari had this to say:

“Its location is by no means meant to pose a limitation to the full involvement of Zimbabwean women across the globe. Last year, viewers from around the world, and particularly in Zimbabwe, were able to tune in and watch the ceremony through free online live streaming by Zimbolive TV.”

While the awards had a successful first edition, according to the organisers, this year’s ceremony will be limited to 33 tables.

The project director applauded Zimbabwean businesses that supported their endeavours last year.

She said they had received lucrative sponsorships and support in different forms.

She also spoke on the criticism they also attracted for being allegedly elitist.

She added that they had, how- ever, gone back to the drawing board and put in place measures to ensure the nomination process was inclusive.

“More information on this exciting ceremony are due to be released. Zimbabwean women in various industries are encouraged to attend, as this will be the largest gathering of Zimbabwean women in the UK. To keep up to date with the latest developments women are encouraged to keep abreast of developments via social media,” she said.