Women to get mines

Lungile Tshuma Sunday News Correspondent
THE Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development is working on modalities to ensure that women acquire mines and also get a quota from diamond revenue.
The measures, Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Nyasha Chikwinya said, were aimed at generating money to empower women as most of them remained marginalised.

“Women empowerment is essential for eradicating poverty and also giving them an opportunity to stand for influential positions.
“There are few women in politics and the reason is not that they do not want to participate but the challenge is financial muscle which will give them confidence and an edge to stand against their male counterparts,” she said.

“They are hard-working and this can be seen by the number of women who have defied all odds and taken their children to school. It is from this position that if possible, women get a quota from diamond proceeds so that their lives can be transformed.”

Despite being economically empowered, the minister said she was concerned with the increasing number of abuse cases that were making headlines in local newspapers.
She encouraged women to adopt a “name and shame” mindset which will help expose abusive men, most of whom, she said, were high-profile figures in religious circles.

Said Cde Chikwinya: “We cannot talk about empowerment without mentioning abuse of women. In most cases, what we have seen is that women are being abused by men who will be taking advantage of women’s poor financial status. In some cases, we have seen pastors raping women claiming to be under the instruction of the Holy Spirit. Women should therefore, use these tabloids and expose male rapists who are masquerading as church pastors.”

Her views are in line with the regional protocols which call for the empowerment of women.
The Sadc Protocol on Gender and Development calls for equal representation of both men and women in positions of power. The African Union acknowledges the increasing role women are playing in Africa’s development.

The union calls for the effective enforcement of current policies, requiring a shifting of mind sets and the allocation of more resources to women.
As advocated by Cde Chikwinya, the continental bloc says the focus should also be on areas where there has been the least progress, including agriculture, economic empowerment, peace and security.