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Patience Maturure
Agriculture Reporter
GOVERNMENT is committed to creating an innovative intersectional framework that addresses the connection between food insecurity and gender inequality and remove barriers to accessing response services for gender based violence while encouraging victims to seek help.
Deputy director programmes and coordination in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Mrs Deborah Chinyanga revealed this during the Toose food insecurity and gender inequality meeting held at a local hotel in Harare on Monday adding that her Ministry was obliged to prevent and respond to gender based violence through addressing its root causes in households and communities.
“Toose has been a powerful tool for reaching rural areas and giving voice to those who have often been excluded or marginalised. It has been an essential tool to bridge the information gap, empower communities and foster meaningful participation of women and girls in airing out issues affecting them, as well as those affecting the communities they are part of.
“It is with no doubt that economic, social, and cultural barriers often limit women’s access to opportunities, which is my Ministry together with other sectors take pleasure in working tirelessly to address these barriers through targeted programmes, training and capacity-building initiatives,” she said.
Mrs Chinyanga emphasised that collaboration was crucial in endeavours to promote women empowerment and gender equality and achieve sustainable change to society’s perception of gender issues in isolation. It requires the collective efforts of government agencies, civil society organisations and the formulation of effective policies, implementation of impactful programmes and addressing the systemic challenges that hinder women’s participation in these processes.
“The Ministry is the torch bearer of the National Gender Policy and issues to do with community development – SMEs, girls and women empowerment, inclusion of all stakeholders regardless of gender, disability, religion, social status and creed. These are some of the core mandates that will drive our contribution as a Ministry towards achieving the provisions of Vision 2030,” she said.
The Toose programme is being implemented by Plan International in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), SAFE Communities and Musasa Project. Supported by a robust of research, preliminary findings indicate that Toose has led to marked improvements in communications and conflict resolutions among intimate partners.
SAFE team leader, Mrs Netty Musanhu highlighted that the role of Toose and WFP in Zimbabwe’s food security matters was about bringing together social and economic empowerment interventions.
“We piloted an aisle (mikando yemadzimai), which is empowerment through internal savings and lending schemes (ISALs), psycho-social support and referrals to health and justice services. Our sessions focus on engaging and challenging power, emphasizes communication and sharing positive time amongst couples, sharing household duties, visioning and planning together and IPV,” she said.
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