Lucy Muyoyeta

Lucy Mutumba Muyoyeta
Alma mater	University of Zambia, University of Reading
Occupation(s)	women's rights activist, social development consultant and writer
Employer(s)	Oxfam, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, Women for Change, Non-Governmental Co-ordinating Committee (Zambia), Action Aid International and Comic Relief
Notable work	Women, Gender and Development (2004)

Lucy Mutumba Muyoyeta is a Zambian women's rights activist, social development consultant and writer. She has worked at Zambian organisations including Women for Change, Opportunity Zambia and the Non-Governmental Co-ordinating Committee, and for international organisations including the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, Oxfam, Action Aid International and Comic Relief.

Background

Muoyeta is a Zambian women's rights activist and social development consultant. She is polylingual and speaks Lozi, Tonga, Tumbuka and English. ^[1] She holds a bachelor's degree in political science and government from the University of Zambia and a master's degree in rural sociology from the University of Reading in England. ^[2]

Career

From 1994 to 1998, Muoyeta worked as Oxfam's Zambian representative. ^[3] During this employment she travelled to a meeting of the International Monetary Fund to deliver over 1,500 letters to Kenneth Clarke MP, then the British chancellor of the exchequer, and call for debt relief for African nations. ^[4]

Muoyeta then worked as executive director at Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa from 1999 to 2004. ^[2] She also served as the chair of Women for Change in Zambia ^[5] and on the board of the Non-Governmental Coordinating Committee. ^[6] She has also worked as Oasis Forum spokesperson ^[7] and with the Women's Development Network. ^[8]

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Muoyeta condemned the United States and Britain's unilateral decision to take military action against Iraq without a United Nations sanction in place. ^[9] That year, she also criticised then President of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa's comments that women's attitudes hindered gender equality. ^[10]

In 2006, Muoyeta criticised how the number of women in decision-making positions was very low in Zambia, as well as how both the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and Zambian gender and development declaration targets had not been met. ^[11] She also spoke about the need for social sectors to be improved in Zambia, to support a sustained reduction in poverty alongside the country's economic growth ^[12] and urged local journalists to fight the marginalisation of women. ^[13]

From 2006 to 2010 Muoyeta was country director at Action Aid International. ^[2] From 2012 to 2016, she held the position of project director at the Norwegian Disability Consortium/Opportunity Zambia. ^[2]

Since 2022, Muoyeta has worked as a Project Lead at Comic Relief. ^[2]

Publications

Muoyeta published the 28-page booklet Women, Gender and Development (2004, 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World), ^{[14] [15]} which outlined ideas and international agreements reached on women in global development. It also explained the challenges facing Zambian women in the traditional dual legal system, which varies from ethnic group to ethnic group but generally permits polygamous marriages and entrenches the view of women as minors in the law. ^[16]

References

1. "Lucy Mutumba M." DevelopmentAid. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
2. "Lucy Muyoyeta - Project Lead at Comic Relief". THE ORG. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
3. Banda, Gabriel (1991). Adjusting to Adjustment in Zambia: Women's and Young Peoples's Responses to a Changing Economy. Oxfam. ISBN   978-0-85598-179-2.
4. Dalton, Dave (1995). Rights Now!: World Poverty and the Oxfam Campaign. Oxfam. p. 13. ISBN   978-0-85598-338-3.
5. Larmer, Miles (8 April 2016). Rethinking African Politics: A History of Opposition in Zambia. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-317-06441-1.
6. Minnie, Jeanette (2006). Outside the Ballot Box: Preconditions for Elections in Southern Africa, 2005/6. Media Institute of Southern Africa. p. 182. ISBN   978-9916-621-38-7.
7. Phiri, Brighton (5 November 2003). "Zambia: Inquiries Act Amendment Bill Doesn't Address People's Concerns - Muyoyeta". The Post . Retrieved 23 March 2025.
8. Hurlich, Susan; Agency, Canadian International Development (1986). Women in Zambia. The Agency. p. 351. Archived from the original on 8 July 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
9. Phiri, Brighton (19 March 2003). "Zambia: US, UK Setting Dangerous Precedence - Muyoyeta". The Post . Archived from the original on 17 April 2003. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
10. Phiri, Brighton (27 March 2003). "Zambia: Levy is Missing the Point - Muyoyeta". The Post . Archived from the original on 26 April 2003. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
11. Phiri, Brighton (10 May 2006). "Southern Africa: Zambia Has Missed SADC Gender Mark - Muyoyeta". The Post . Retrieved 23 March 2025.
12. Chakwe, Masuzyo (18 January 2006). "Zambia: Much More Needs to Be Done to Social Sectors - Muyoyeta". The Post . Retrieved 23 March 2025.
13. Noyoo, Inonge (3 February 2006). "Zambia: Fight for Women's Rights, Muyoyeta Urges Journalists". The Post . Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
14. Muyoyeta, Lucy (2004). Women, Gender and Development. 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World. ISBN   978-0-9535136-7-3.
15. "Welfare Citizenship and Intersectional Feminism, 1940-2000 - A Leverhulme Trust-funded project". University of Bristol . Retrieved 23 March 2025.
16. Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada (13 April 2005). "Zambia: Forced marriages, particularly within the Bemba ethnic group, and availability of state protection; existence, among the Bemba people, of the practices called "Ichisungu" and "Ndembo" prior to such a marriage, and if so, information on how those practices are conducted, including the persons who conduct them (April 2005)". The United Nations Refugee Agency . Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2025.