Women call for resources to unlock full potential
HUNDREDS of women yesterday gathered at Chatora business centre in Shurugwi to celebrate International Women’s Day, as they called for resources to unlock their full potential in the economic development of their households and the nation.
The commemorations, which were held under the theme “Invest in Women: Accelerate progress”, sought to put a spotlight on the important role that women play in bringing about positive change in their communities.
The theme highlights the essence of advancing the women empowerment agenda accentuated through promotion of economic empowerment of women and community resilience initiatives, implementing gender responsive budgeting, ending poverty emanating from the impacts of Covid 19, climate disasters and socio-economic inequalities.
Speaking during the commemorations yesterday, Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said women should not be left behind in the country’s growth trajectory if the goals of the National Development Strategy were to be realised.
“You would agree with me that budgeting and investing in women yields remarkable benefits for individuals, communities, and societies as a whole,” she said. “Women’s economic participation and their ownership and control of productive assets speeds up development, helps overcome poverty, reduces inequalities, maternal and infant mortality and improves children’s nutrition, health, and school attendance.
“Our population is made up of 52 percent women who play multiple roles in the development of the economy. You cannot leave 52 percent of the population behind and expect to achieve Vision 2030. This is why president Mnangagwa has empowered us that we can move with everyone.”
Minister Mutsvangwa said while the country had made strides in crafting policies that promoted gender equality, Gender Based Violence (GBV) remained one of the biggest barriers to achieving this.
She said it was important for issues that affected women the most in their lives and their families to be brought to the fore during this year’s celebrations.
Besides, GBV, these include technological change, digital marketing, climate change, access to finance, control over markets and ownership of productive resources.
Minister Mutsvangwa said for all this to be possible, men had to be part of the solution and play their part.
“When we talk of women empowerment, the men shouldn’t be scared that women want to displace them. It is not that we want to do that but we do it to make sure that this country develops. We want our homes to be peaceful,” she said.
“As a Ministry, our interventions target issues that curb gender based violence. We want to enlighten our men that raising children in an environment that is violence free is important. It is only when our homes are peaceful that we can begin to see economic development as it starts from the home, to the community, to the province and the national level.”
UN resident coordinator Mr Edward Kallon said International Women’s Day was not only about celebrating women, but also acknowledging the gap that remained between men and women in many areas of society and advocating for the elimination of these gaps.
“To catalyse actual change in achieving gender equality, I cannot over-emphasise on the need for strategic investment, data utilisation, inclusive finance, and engagement of men and boys as allies. As we work together, I call on the Government, and all stakeholders to allocate resources to programmes that empower women economically, socially, and politically, utilise gender-disaggregated data for informed decision-making on gender, ensure women’s access to financial services, credit, and entrepreneurship opportunities as well as engage men and boys as allies in the pursuit of gender equality,” he said.
The Swedish Government has implemented at least 24 projects addressing gender inequalities in Zimbabwe and according to Ambassador Per Lindgard, this is crucial for achieving a just and prosperous society.
“Girls and women face greater limitations in the resources, decision making and mobility. They experience higher rates of violence and poverty. Investing in their economic empowerment, health and well-being is not just morally right, it is indeed a strategic investment in Zimbabwe’s future and indeed key to achieving NDS 1, accelerating progress towards a more equitable and prosperous society,” he said.
He added that economic empowerment was the key to unlocking development potential in women be it supporting conditions for them to pursue their entrepreneurial aspirations or to achieve financial autonomy within the household.
Women who attended the International Women’s Day celebrations expressed their hope that more resources would be channelled towards their progress.
Said Gogo Esnath Kudinha: “We are here to celebrate our day as women and I am happy to see that as women we have started to see the importance of working for ourselves and our families so that we can develop.”
Another villager Ms Anna Masiiwa said: “We are happy to be here on this day that celebrate us as women. We have various projects that we do but the lack of resources usually hinders us from growing these projects. We pray that we will get assistance for us to grow.”
Ms Joyce Togarepi, a woman with disability said the International Women’s Day was a day to celebrate all women in their diversity.
“Today we celebrate the educated women, those who are not educated, those who are poor, the rich, those with disability and those who are living with albinism among many others.
“As women with disabilities, we are at a more disadvantaged position. We face all the challenges that women face including gender based violence but we always encourage each other to report cases of GBV,” she said.
She said women with disabilities could take up leadership positions and thrive as they could do anything that an able bodied woman could.