Women Affairs ministry gets 16 vehicles

Rejoice Makoni-Herald Correspondent

Gender-based violence and issues of early child marriages in the hard-to-reach areas of the country are set to be addressed timely following the handing over of 16 off road vehicles to district development officers from eight Provinces by the Minister of Women affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Monica Mutsvangwa in Harare yesterday.

Speaking at the handover ceremony Min Mutsvangwa said the Ministry’s mandate was to look after women and girls’ issues.

“We are excited and grateful as the Ministry to President who put a lot of great importance on woman affairs and community development. Our officers have been finding it difficult to work without tools of trade, more so transport. They work in areas where there is gender-based violence and malpractices such as early childhood marriages children are being abused in homes and school and we have a mandate to look after such issues,” she said.

“I am very excited that I am handing over 16 cars to eight Provinces and that will make sure that the works of the Ministry will be visible across the country. We started with hard-to-reach areas mainly because most of them are hot spots for gender-based violence and early child marriages so that they are quickly addressed.

“I am excited that getting into the ministry hardly a month and I am very grateful to those who have been working hard to make sure that we empower our staff out there. These cars are supposed to do the work of empowering communities. The Ministry mandate is to deal with everyone, all women and girls understanding issues that are affecting them.”

Hurungwe district development officer Mirriam Kagoro applauded the Ministry for the handy gesture saying it will go a long way in addressing transport challenges they faced before.

“We are excited as Ministry officials to receive these cars. These cars will go a long way in helping us move around in our areas educating people and addressing issues of gender-based violence and early marriages. There was a huge gap in terms of accessibility,” she said.

Districts that received vehicles are Muzarabani, Rushinga, Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe, Mudzi, Nyanga, Chipinge, Chiredzi, Gutu, Bulilima, Matobo, Tsholotsho, Nkayi, Zvishavane, Mberengwa, Mhondoro-Ngezi and Hurungwe.