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Trust Freddy and Rumbidzai Mushonga
The World Bank has hailed Zimbabwe for making significant strides in achieving gender equality and fighting gender-based violence.
World Bank Zimbabwe country manager Ms Eneida Fernandes commended the country yesterday during the launch of the Zimbabwe gender assessment and the Zimbabwe gender-based violence assessment.
These reports, inaugurated by the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Mrs Monica Mutsvangwa, seek to provide valuable insights into the policies and strategies critical to tackling these issues head-on, advancing gender equality, and combating gender-based violence in Zimbabwe.
In her keynote address, Ms Fernandes commended Zimbabwe for its unflagging stand in fighting for gender equality.
“I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the significant progress made by the Zimbabwean Government towards achieving gender equality,” she said.
“Notable achievements include achieving gender parity in primary education, increasing female enrolment in tertiary education and increasing women’s representation in Parliament.
“The significance attributed to gender equality and the fight against gender-based violence is also evidenced through the inclusion of gender equality in Zimbabwe’s Constitution, National Development Strategy, and national gender policy, as well as the recently launched Zimbabwe national strategy to prevent and address gender-based violence 2023- 2030.”
She, however, noted that more resources were required to be channelled towards fighting gender-based violence. “The widespread occurrence of gender-based violence, high rates of child marriage and teenage pregnancies, the under-representation of women in wage employment and leadership positions, and limited access to formal labour markets for women are clear indications of this problem.
“The reports we are unveiling today provide a thorough analysis of the policy environment, the challenges, the institutional framework and the opportunities for addressing gender-based violence and fostering gender equality in Zimbabwe,” she added.
Minister Mutsvangwa reiterated Government’s commitment to the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights in Zimbabwe.
“The gender and women’s rights guarantees in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the integration of gender as a core element for consideration across all sectors as outlined in the National Development Strategy 1 (2021–2025) attest to this commitment. ”
Minister Mutsvangwa said there was need to bolster institutional capacities.
“While we take pride in some of our success stories, the assessments provided insights into areas where we are lagging behind and proffered strategic recommendations to overcome the challenges.
“The need to bolster institutional capacities, increase gender equality financing thus including devising innovative ways of ensuring the allocation of dedicated domestic funding to combat GBV, upscaling GBV prevention and response and accelerating the implementation of the high-level political compact on ending gender-based violence and harmful practices were underscored.”
Online Reporter