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PRESIDENT of the Senate Cde Edna Madzongwe has called on women legislators to raise gender sensitiveness in law making. She made the call during the Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus (ZWPC) strategic planning workshop held in Juliasdale last weekend. The workshop was aimed at advocating for gender sensitive legislation and improving the visibility of women’s work in Parliament.
The ZWPC has been operating without a strategic plan to guide its programmes due to the paucity of financial resources and other logistical constraints since its formation in 2001.
“In fact, much is expected of women parliamentarians especially their arrival in the previously male dominated arena of parliament. In order for Zimbabwe Women Parliamentary Caucus to live up to expectations in execution of their mandate, it is paramount that a clear vision, objectives and work plans are developed,” she said.
The ZWPC chairperson, Cde Monica Mutsvangwa, who is also Deputy Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, said the country had an enabling environment to empower women.
“There is a lot of goodwill from the President to empower women in our country and we only need to continue taking affirmative action to address the imbalances. We have been carrying out capacity building workshops aimed at strengthening women participation through understanding how the parliament works,” she said.
The Strategic Plan drafting process also provides an opportunity for the ZWPC to align gender mainstreaming and National Gender Policy implementation activities to Parliament’s mandate.
Online Reporter