Women must speak with one voice

events as she has to fend for her family.
She works 12-16 hours daily, doing menial work on farms.
Her ordeal is not uncommon to many rural women in the country.
Rural women who constitute 82 percent of the country’s women population remain marginalised in all aspects of life as compared to urban women, and this leads to lack of participation in national and political issues.
They work the longest and hardest, often on pieces of land which they do not own.
The majority of women in rural areas do not own resources, and this works against them when making decisions about their lives.
Zimbabwe, a signatory to several international and regional conventions on women and human rights, has registered modest progress towards promoting gender equality by enacting laws and policies that support gender equality; however, there is still a long way to go before women can fully enjoy their fundamental rights.
WIPSU believes that women are equal partners with men and have the same potential.
It is natural for a woman to hold power as it is for a man.
WIPSU continues to provide support to women in politics and those in their wards and constituencies in the rural areas, so as to increase their participation and their representation in political issues.
The organisation has put in place programmes for strengthening women in elected office and those intending to run for office so as to assist them become more effective in their political position.
WIPSU also established the constituency consultative forums in constituencies and wards represented by women MPs and councillors that link the women representatives to the women in their community in both urban and rural areas.
Other advocacy work done by WIPSU for grassroots women includes carrying out political education for women as a political constituency as well as lobbying the media to profile women positively and be more gender sensitive.
Research carried out by WIPSU in Hurungwe East revealed that women’s perception of politics scares them away from politics as they fear being arrested, beaten up, criticised or killed.
There is need to eliminate political violence during elections by prioritising this on the political agenda so that women can contribute to this process.
WIPSU is working hard with other organisations to ensure that women’s rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are met and advocating for their inclusion in governance. As we prepare for the Second All-Stakeholders Conference, the referendum and elections, there is need to work together as women and actively participate in all processes and not forget the plight of the rural woman.
As WIPSU joins the nation in commemorating Rural Women’s Day we encourage women to continue speaking with one voice about what they need in the constitution, equal representation in all decision-making processes, the right to security, the right to making decisions concerning reproduction and in order to ensure our voices are heard, women should effectively and equally participate in the Second All-Stakeholders Conference, vote in the referendum as well as the elections.
WIPSU is an organisation that supports women in politics and calls for the equal representation and effective participation of rural and urban women in all political and decision-making processes.