Govt women empowerment efforts hailed

A NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisation (NGO) Plan International that advances children’s rights and equality for girls has commended the New Dispensations’s efforts in ensuring women participate fully in the country’s economy and governance structures.

Speaking during the annual girls’ conference which drew 100 girls from 23 schools in Bulawayo and Tsholotsho hosted by Plan International, the organisation’s programs director for Matabeleland region Miss Noreen Makhurane urged girls to take up the lead in any leadership role in line with the new government’s vision for equal opportunities.

“All the girls gathered here, you are at the heart of everything we do, we strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. Ladies, the new dispensation calls for us to work hard for the development of our nation. This does not mean that as girls and women we sit back and allow men to take the lead, it calls for you girls and women to stand up and strengthen your networks so that your voices can be heard in the highest offices,” she said.

Miss Makhurane said the involvement of as many women and girls in the Government was a way towards alleviating poverty in the community and in the country.

“We believe discrimination against girls is one of the main underlying causes of child poverty. We believe that investing in girls and young women has a beneficial effect on alleviating poverty, not only for girls themselves but for their families, communities and the country. We are glad that there are so many women appointed in the Government, it is upon you girls to follow their steps and be inspired to lead because girls lead,” she added.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Mrs Jane Ndebele the district schools inspector for Khami District who was representing the Provincial Education Director (PED) for Bulawayo said girls’ conference were very significant in nurturing them and teaching them that the sky is the limit to what they wished to do.

“Such conferences are of paramount importance in cultivating confidence and creating space where girls can tap into their individual and collective power, so that they can be equipped as leaders through sharing experiences and leaning from accomplished leaders. We also wish to build and grow a local girl movement that can amplify and make visible the rights issue in Zimbabwe,” she said.