Stephen Chifunyise

Mr. Stephen Chifunyise is former Secretary for Education Sport and Culture in the Government of Zimbabwe (1994-2000) and the Principal of the Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education for Development. He is a holder of a Bachelor of Arts in Education of the University of Zambia and a Master in theatre arts from the University of California at Los Angeles. From 1978-1981 he was the Director of Zambia Cultural in the Government of Zambia. In 1981 was a UNESCO/ICA consultant who reviewed cultural policy formulation in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe. From 1994 to 2000 he was a prominent member of the government officers who played a key role in the establishment of the SADC Arts and Culture Festival. Mr. Stephen Chifunyise is a founding member of the Observatory on Cultural Policies in Africa (OCPA). From 1990 to 1996 he chaired the Southern African Film Festival (SAFF). From 2004 to 2006 he was one of the four consultants engaged by Botswana to join a team of cultural in reviewing and classifying the cultural sector and in the formulation of a national Action Plan on Culture for the cultural sector for Botswana. In 2011 he became a member of the pool of experts for the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Mr. Stephen Chifunyise is a performing arts educator, story -teller and playwright who has published three volumes of plays and two collections of stories. Since 1973, he has written 65 plays which have all been performed by different theatre companies in Zambia and Zimbabwe. In the last nine years, he has facilitated workshops on the implementation of the UNESCO 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2012- 2014) in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Currently, he chairs the Zimbabwe Writers Union, The Zimbabwe National Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee, the Specialized Standing Committee on Culture of the Zimbabwe National Commission for UNESCO and the Board of CHIPAWO Arts Education for Development and Employment (CHIPAWO).