Let’s reflect, invest in women to speed up change
TODAY Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in commemorating the International Women’s Day. This year’s commemorations are running under the theme; “Investing with women to accelerate change”.
The International Women’s Day is important in that it gives people and organisations the opportunity to reflect on the challenges being faced by women in communities and how best they can be addressed.
The important role being played by women in most cases has not been recognised.
Women play a critical role in caring and providing for their families and ensuring their well-being.
In many cases, women are the primary caregivers for children and elderly family members, as well as the primary home-makers.
There is little recognition as culturally, people believe they will just be doing their duties.
Women also often take on a significant amount of emotional labour, such as providing support and encouragement to family members.
All of this hard work is often done without adequate compensation or recognition.
A number of women have worked hard, but failed to reach the top because of challenges that include lack of education and financial support.
Thus access to education and economic opportunities is critical for women’s empowerment.
Research has indicated that increasing women’s access to education and economic opportunities can have a profound impact on reducing poverty, improving health outcomes, and promoting gender equality.
Many countries are now recognising the crucial role that women play in economic development and are taking steps to create more opportunities for women.
For example, the United Nations has launched the Sustainable Development Goals, which include a specific goal to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”
The SGD goal 5 emphasises on the need to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. There has been progress over the last decades, but the world still needs to do more to achieve gender equality.
Many countries, including Zimbabwe, have introduced policies aimed at promoting gender equality and promoting women empowerment.
Gender equality and establishing a conducive environment for women and girls are top priorities for the Second Republic as evidenced by several initiatives.
This has seen many women rising to influential high positions in different sectors.
The Constitution in Zimbabwe upholds gender equality as one of its principles.
Gender mainstreaming has been embedded in Government policy as a critical strategy for the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment across all sectors.
The Second Republic has been reaching out to women across all sectors right from grassroots level to see how best they can be assisted and thus empowered.
Government, working with partners, has come up with initiatives including income generating projects to promote women empowerment.
For instance, the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank (Ltd) has empowered thousands of women who, for long, had been marginalised from accessing funding for various life-changing projects.
The bank came up with tailored funding models which suite most women even those without collateral and those who were not formally employed.
COMESA Member States have also made efforts at regional continental and global levels to ensure equality for all and work towards uplifting the disadvantaged in society, especially women and girls.
There has been low participation of women participation in politics globally.
Patriarchy has remained rooted in cultural and religious beliefs, stereotypes and myths and societal construct which shape the notion of men being comparatively abler to lead, making leadership a predominantly male domain.
This has seen few women participating in politics and in some cases promoting male leadership.
To create meaningful change, it is important for women to have a voice in the political process.
Women make up more than half of the world’s population, yet they are under-represented in politics and decision-making positions.
It is essential to increase women’s participation in politics so that their needs and concerns can be properly represented.
In Zimbabwe, Government is committed to ensuring women’s free participation in politics and decision-making processes.
More still needs to be done to promote participation of women in politics.
It is important that political parties ensure gender responsive budgeting and funding of candidates.
Political parties must create a special independent fund available to financially support women of all ages and abilities accepted as electoral candidates.
Access to healthcare is another critical issue affecting women’s empowerment.
In many parts of the world, women lack access to basic healthcare services, including reproductive health services, maternal care, and mental health support.
This lack of access can have a devastating impact on women’s health and wellbeing, as well as their ability to participate fully in society.
In many parts of Africa, deeply entrenched religious and cultural beliefs and practices can pose significant barriers to women’s empowerment.
For example, some cultures have strict gender roles that limit women’s ability to participate in the workforce or make decisions about their own lives.
And in some cases, religious beliefs can be used to justify practices like child marriages.
It is important that such issues are addressed if women are to be fully emancipated.
Women should not just sit, but rise and advocate for their rights. Women can be the most powerful advocates for one another.
They can support each other by sharing resources, information, and networks.
Women can also mentor and encourage one another, and help to create a culture of support and empowerment.
There is a saying that “a rising tide lifts all boats” in other words, when women support each other, they can help all women to achieve success. Women need to support each other. They should be proud of their accomplishments and celebrate the successes of other women.