Women aspiring for political office must be supported

THE Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) in partnership with Women Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ), Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (Walpe), Women in Law Southern Africa (WLSA) and the Parliament of Zimbabwe (POZ) held a breakfast meeting at Meikles Hotel in Harare on November 21, 2022 with members of the Parliamentary Male Gender Forum.

The meeting sought to bring male gender champions in Parliament to discuss pressing concerns around women’s political participation.

Zimbabwe remains lowlyranked when it comes to women representation in elected and appointed offices, including in the Cabinet. After Zimbabwe’s 2013 elections, the number of elected women fell from 34 to 26 in Parliament and from 373 (19%) in 2013 to 261 (16%) in 2018 for local authorities. Additionally, the number of women who contested seats as National Assembly candidates fell from 105 in 2008 to 90 in 2018. During the 2018 National Assembly election, 243 candidates were women but only 26 of them were elected.

As of July 2021, women in the National Assembly occupied 81 (33%) of the seats whereas men occupied 163 seats (67%). In the Senate, women occupied 35 seats (44%), while men occupied 45 seats (56%). Similarly, there were limited numbers of women participating in electoral processes and mainstream politics as voters and political party supporters. Furthermore, in the by-elections held on March 26, 2022, only 16 out of 118 candidates running in the overall election were women.

Speaker after speaker at the meeting highlighted the need to deal with the barriers that affect the participation of women in political processes. Speaking on male involvement in women’s political participation, Paul Vingi from Padare emphasized that men need to challenge the narrative to address cultural norms in order to enhance women’s participation in all spheres of life as men and women are equal and should access equal opportunities as well.

He further articulated the importance of setting equal standards for both boys and girls within the family. Vingi cited that there is a need to promote positive masculinity and raising resources and opportunities for it.

Zimbabwe Election

Support Network