Gender guidelines for public entities on the cards

Rumbidzayi Zinyuke

Senior Reporter

A SET of gender mainstreaming guidelines will be established by Government for public entities to achieve equality in public administration.

Guidelines are expected to provide a framework for public entities to integrate gender perspectives into their operations, planning, and service delivery.

The initiative, spearheaded by the Office of the President and Cabinet in partnership with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, aims to institutionalise gender-responsive policies across Government departments and public institutions.

Speaking at a workshop to establish the guidelines in Harare yesterday, Zimbabwe Gender Commission chairperson Mrs Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe said addressing systemic gender disparities in decision-making processes was critical.

She said the Office of the President and Cabinet had directed all public entities to ensure gender equality in all board and senior appointments in line with the national development goals and the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular, goal 5, which talks about leaving no one behind.

“As we move closer to the 2030 vision of a prosperous and empowered middle-income society, it will not be possible to do this when more than half of the population is left behind,” she said.

“Social justice is underpinned by values of equality, equity, rights, and participation. The process of gender mainstreaming suggests deep changes in established procedures and cultures of institutions so that the issue becomes integrated.

“The National Development Strategy 1 highlights that gender mainstreaming is important in reducing tension that can arise from gender imbalances in society.”

Mrs Mukahanana-Sangarwe said although women and girls represent half of the world’s population, gender inequality persisted, stagnating social progress.

This was evidenced by the fact that women in the labour market still earned 23 percent less than men globally, despite that women spent about three times as many hours in unpaid domestic and care work as men.

Mrs Mukahanana-Sangarwe said the ZGC is committed and available to assist in the development of the gender mainstreaming guidelines.

“These guidelines should not only reflect our national priorities, but also align with constitutional provisions, our national development strategy, and international normative frameworks which Zimbabwe has ratified,” she said.

Zimbabwe ratified many international normative frameworks on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the SADC Protocol on Gender Development, and the Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, serve as benchmarks against which the country measures its progress.

She said the frameworks underscore the collective commitment that transcends national borders and position Zimbabwe as integral participants in a global movement dedicated to upholding the rights of women and the promotion of gender equality.

Permanent Secretary for the Corporate Governance Unit (CGU) Mr Allen Choruma said the guidelines were provided for in terms of the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act.

“When the President says, let’s leave no one behind, he is saying, let’s not leave both men and women behind. The gender that is behind, let’s pull it so that it is also in mainstream activities.

“It’s also about sexual reproductive rights, it is about the eradication of gender-based violence, about enforcing human rights, about gender balance. This is a platform that we need to use productively so that we contribute to the development of this milestone.

“Let it be guided by our values and norms that define us as a people and as a nation, let’s be guided by our national developmental and social transformation aspirations, by our constitutional provisions and our legal and institutional framework. Let’s also be guided by national and international conventions and protocols on gender and also best practices,” said Mr Choruma.

Giving a brief of the status of gender mainstreaming in Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development director gender mainstreaming, inclusivity and wellness, Mr Stephen Nyaruwata, said the country has made some progress in the past years as more women now hold decision-making positions in various departments and organisations.

Statistics show that out of 20 Cabinet ministers, six are women representing a 23 percent representation.

Out of 280 Members of Parliament in the National Assembly, 86 are female, accounting for 30,7 percent, while 31 out of 80 Senators are female.

The numbers in local government have grown significantly with 1 139 men against 831 women, accounting for 42 percent representation.

“We are happy that there are now directors of gender in the various ministries, where they are providing technical advice so that whatever the Ministries are implementing, the issues of gender are embedded and integrated in the processes,” he said.

However, Mr Nyaruwata said there was a need for more women in positions of power, calling for more efforts to address social norms and cultural practices that continue to affect dynamics between men and women in society.

“Government has put in place laws and policies for the promotion of gender equality across all sectors.

“Progress has been recorded in some areas particularly in education. A lot needs to be done across various sectors including the need to implement the provisions in the various laws and policies,” he said.