Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
Zimbabwe has been commended for demonstrating commitment to advancing gender equality and women empowerment at a time when hard-won global gains are under threat.
UN Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Ms Anna Mutavati, said Zimbabwe’s election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2027-2028 was a significant milestone and an opportunity to advance the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
She was speaking in Harare on Friday.
“UN Women remains committed to supporting the Government of Zimbabwe in promoting women’s leadership, participation in peacebuilding, and gender-responsive peace and security initiatives at national, regional and global levels,” she said.
Ms Mutavati commended Government for signing the African union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (AUCEVAWG), saying it demonstrates Zimbabwe’s commitment to preventing and responding to all forms of violence against women and girls.
She said the next critical step was moving from policy commitments to implementation.
“Progress cannot end with policy commitments and legal instruments. The commitments contained in the AUCEVAWG must be translated into tangible improvements in the lives of women and girls,” she said.
She said this includes strengthening prevention efforts, improving access to justice and survivor-centred services and enhancing accountability mechanisms.
Ms Mutavati said sexual and gender-based violence remains one of the most urgent challenges, despite progress in other areas.
She also commended the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe for strengthening the collection and analysis of gender-based violence data, noting that reliable and timely data is essential for understanding trends and allocating resources effectively.
On national development, Ms Mutavati said the new United Nations Cooperation Framework, aligned with National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), recognises gender equality as both a cross-cutting issue and a stand-alone development priority.
She called for full operationalisation of national gender equality mechanisms through strong partnerships among Government, civil society, development partners, traditional leaders and faith-based organisations.
Ms Mutavati said the private sector has a critical role to play, citing UN Women’s partnership with Econet’s Omni Contact as an example of how strategic collaboration can create opportunities for women in entrepreneurship, technology and innovation.
She said shrinking global resources for gender equality requires innovative financing approaches, including domestic resource mobilisation, gender-responsive budgeting and engagement with international financing institutions.
Climate change and recurrent crises disproportionately, she said affect women and girls, making it urgent to invest in women’s resilience through climate-smart agriculture, skills and access to finance.
She said ending violence against women and girls cannot be reserved for the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, but must be a 365-day commitment.
