Online Reporter
Gibson Mhaka
Zimpapers Politics Hub
AS all 92 local authorities across the country embark on the crucial process of adopting comprehensive master plans, 20-year roadmaps for growth and service delivery, there is a vital need to ensure that these plans are gender-sensitive and integrate Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB).
This will ensure that these local authorities recognise and address the different needs and priorities of all segments of the population, including women, men, girls, and boys.
This also aligns significantly with the national push for gender mainstreaming in development, firmly embedded in national development blueprints like the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), which prioritises gender equality and women’s empowerment.
As the primary instruments guiding local development in line with these national priorities, the master plans serve as overarching land use planning documents.
They detail policies and strategies concerning land utilisation, development processes, future water supplies, road networks, housing, environmental management, and transportation.
These plans typically include reports, aerial photographs, illustrations, maps, and statistical data to support the planned vision.
Careful consideration and integration of GRB within these detailed components will enable local authorities to ensure their development trajectories equitably benefit all residents.
To effectively implement this, it is important to understand that GRB, as a fiscal planning and allocation process, examines the entire government budget from a gender perspective, assessing how it will address the gender-specific needs of the population.
To date, most GRB efforts focus on increasing the gender responsiveness of budget allocations. However, challenges persist, as funds are often shifted between sectors and programs during budget implementation in ways that can disadvantage women and girls.
According to a recent IMF survey, while all G20 countries (a forum that brings together 19 of the world’s major economies, plus the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) have enacted gender-focused fiscal policies, the budgetary tools to operationalise, evaluate, monitor, and audit these policies remain more limited.
Gender and local governance experts argued that integrating GRB into Zimbabwe’s local authority master plans is not just a matter of fairness or social justice but a crucial step towards reducing existing gender inequalities in access to resources, opportunities, and decision-making power at the local level.
Beyond its direct impact, this integration is also essential because GRB aligns with national and international commitments to gender equality and women’s rights, ensuring that local development respects and promotes these fundamental human rights.
Gender Links (GL) Zimbabwe Country Director Priscilla Maposa said the adoption of GRB in the master plans ensures that budget allocation for the specific needs of women, men, girls, and boys are met.
“In addition, there is potential for improved gender-responsive service delivery because the master plans outline key areas that need to be tackled, such as health care, transport (roads), education, and water among others.
“Integrating GRB into master plans can also lead to more sustainable and inclusive development outcomes for all community members in Zimbabwe. This is because GRB ensures that resources are allocated on a needs basis, thus promoting fairness.
“It also promotes citizen participation, as they are given a voice to contribute to planning. Ultimately, integrating GRB into master plans improves service delivery, reduces inequalities, and promotes sustainable development,” Ms Maposa said.
She emphasised that the failure to apply a gender lens in local authority planning and budgeting disproportionately affects women and girls in Zimbabwe.
“Ignoring a gender analysis often leads to a perpetuation of gender disparities, more so in local authorities’ planning. This may also lead to inadequate access to basic services required by women and men such as water provision.
“Women may also be excluded from local economic processes if local authorities fail to include a gendered analysis when planning and budgeting,” she said.
Social justice and gender rights defender, Ms Bekezela Mguni, said that by systematically integrating GRB into the development and implementation of local authority master plans, Zimbabwe can ensure its local development efforts are truly inclusive and contribute to the empowerment of women and the achievement of gender equality, ultimately leading to more sustainable and equitable outcomes for all.
“A gender-responsive master plan should involve the active and meaningful participation of women and marginalised groups in all stages of its development, from initial consultations to finalisation.
“Assessing the mechanisms used to ensure diverse participation is crucial. This inclusive participation is vital because it ensures that when local authorities plan and allocate resources through their master plans, they consciously consider the different needs, priorities, and impacts on women, men, girls, and boys.
“Finally, this conscious consideration is a vital step towards ensuring that local development benefits all members of the community equitably,” she said.
It is important to note that while local authorities are increasingly incorporating and implementing gender-sensitive policies and programmes aimed at ensuring that planning and development efforts consider the needs and perspectives of both men and women, effectively integrating GRB into their master plans is crucial.
This is because it not only strengthens the consideration of diverse needs but also more effectively ensures that the majority of women and girls will not suffer from multi-dimensional poverty, inequality, and discrimination on the basis of gender.
Bulawayo City Council (BCC) Councillor, Perseverance Nyathi, said that in the context of Zimbabwe, where women constitute a significant portion of the population and face specific socio-economic challenges, integrating GRB into local authority master plans is particularly crucial for achieving the nation’s development goals and building a more just and equitable society at the grassroots level.
“This integrated approach also helps address specific challenges faced by women. For instance, women are often disproportionately affected by issues such as climate change.
“Integrating GRB can ensure that climate adaptation and mitigation strategies within master plans consider the specific vulnerabilities and capacities of women.
“Furthermore, the availability of GRB toolkits for local government in Zimbabwe further underscores the importance and growing recognition of this approach,” she said.
Proportional representation Councillor for Zvimba Rural District Council, Denicah Makota, said that integrating GRB into local authorities’ master plans would benefit women to a greater extent if properly and effectively done.
“However, our councils are still far from achieving this initiative. In the case of our council, we are contributing only three percent to this cause. If properly planned and implemented, integrating GRB into local authorities’ master plans would help empower women and girls, who are usually excluded from decision-making, thereby leading to their social, political, and economic empowerment.
“Additionally, from my experience as a female councillor, a key inequality that integrating GRB into local authorities’ master plans could help address is that mostly when budget consultations are done, meetings are attended by men and women often remain at home. This lack of diverse input undermines effective planning.
“Integrating GRB is crucial because it inherently requires understanding the gender-specific needs of the population and promotes inclusive participation to achieve this.
“As I believe, ‘there should be nothing for us without us.’ Therefore, ensuring women are consulted separately on issues that affect them is vital to get a true reflection of what women want. Furthermore, those women who attend meetings often don’t contribute, perhaps due to patriarchal reasons,” she said.
Local governance expert Mr Leopold Bhoroma, who is also Country Project Manager for the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, said that integrating GRB directly into a local authority master plan is crucial because it ensures that gender considerations are woven into the core of local governance and development processes.
“Rather than being treated as a stand-alone policy or initiative, GRB integrated into the master plan guarantees that gender equality is systematically embedded across all sectors, from infrastructure to service delivery.
“In Zimbabwe, local authorities are at the forefront of addressing development challenges, and this integration ensures that resource allocation is not only equitable but also reflective of the diverse needs of both women and men.
“By embedding GRB in the master plan, local governments are required to prioritize gender equality at every stage of decision-making and budget allocation.
“This helps avoid gender-blind budgeting, which often results in the neglect of women’s unique needs, such as maternal health services or safe public spaces,” said Mr Bhoroma.
Furthermore, Mr Bhoroma said this integration fosters a long-term commitment to gender equality, as opposed to a separate policy that might not always be reflected in the overall development framework. “It also allows for coordinated efforts between various sectors, ensuring that gender considerations are not isolated but addressed within the broader context of community development,” he said.
Mr Bhoroma further explained that integrating GRB into the local authority master plan goes beyond simply identifying gender disparities; it provides a practical framework for addressing those disparities sustainably.
“By embedding gender analysis into the budgeting process, local authorities can ensure that resources are allocated according to the actual needs of all residents, irrespective of gender.
“For example, GRB allows local authorities to prioritise investments that address the unequal burdens placed on women, such as unpaid care work.
“It ensures that public services like healthcare, education, and water supply are designed to reduce the gendered time burdens on women, enabling more equitable access.
Moreover, it helps local governments make informed decisions about infrastructure investments, such as the construction of women-friendly spaces, safe transport, and healthcare services tailored to women’s needs,” said Mr Bhoroma.
