Need to highlight the launch of the policy in braille….a landmark unprecedented demonstration of leaving no one behind. Young people attending International Day of the Girl child commemorations. 5.C Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels. She commended the special attention paid to women with disabilities, saying that the policy needs to respond to this diversity across the country. Since independence in 1980 the Zimbabwe government has done a lot to promote women’s advancement. Required fields are marked *. The country office is guided by the UNICEF Global Gender Action Plan. “The government is committed to preventing and addressing any discrimination based on gender basis. 5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere, 5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation, 5.3 Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, 5.4 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate, 5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life, 5.6 Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences, 5.A Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws, 5.B Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women. Gender equality is a core value for UNICEF. Swaziland even has a GII index of 0.525 and ranked at number 112, four points higher than Zimbabwe. With respect to electoral issues, the gender divisions of labour among men and women in Zimbabwe may make simple equality difficult because men’s The concept of gender equality is officially recognised in the Constitution. In WASH, women and girls retain the burden of fetching water for household use (84% of water carrying done in Zimbabwe is by women and young girls); while menstrual health and hygiene remain major challenges, particularly for adolescent girls, for whom the consequences include negative impacts on ability to effectively attend school. A recent study by Transparency International Zimbabwe and the Swedish Embassy has been a much-needed initiative in studying Sextortion as a form of bribery and the dynamic nature of this form of harassment. The GII index reflects gender-based inequalities in three dimensions that include reproductive health (measured by maternal mortality and adolescent fertility rates), empowerment (measured by number of parliamentary seats held by each gender and secondary and higher education attainment by each gender), and economic activity (measured by gender labour market participation rate). Georges van Montfort Correspondent If the gender inequality figures given in 2012 Human Development Report are anything to go by then there is need for both state and non-state actors working in the areas of women empowerment and gender equality to do more to address the issues driving gender inequalities. In addition, the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development supports the promotion of gender equality across all government programmes, using the National Gender Policy. The UN efforts include advocating for women and girls’ equal rights, combating discriminatory practices and challenging the roles and stereotypes that affect inequalities and exclusion. March 8 marked International Women’s Day, an event where women, and even men, from around the world gather to celebrate and commemorate the achievements by women in attaining gender equality in all spheres of life. To ensure successful policy implementation, Delphine Serumaga the UN Women Country Representative, in a speech read on her behalf by Caroline Nyamayemombe (the UN Women Deputy Country Representative) called for accountability, resource mobilisation and shared responsibility on the part of stakeholders involved in gender equality and equity, adding that there is needed to track and measure progress in implementing the National Gender Policy. According to the report, the Gender Inequality Index (GII) for Zimbabwe for 2012 was 0.544 ranking the country at number 116 out of 148 countries covered in the report. #NehandaEyes: Tell us what is happening in your area. Gender equality is integrated into all areas of UNICEF’s work in Zimbabwe. Email Us: Contact US, © 2020 The Herald | Disclaimer | Copyright. To date, various studies and frameworks dating back to 1995 have been used to structure development discourses all over the world on how we can create societies that enable women to be empowered economically and socially. In Swaziland and Myanmar 320 and 200 women died from pregnancy related complications for every 100,000 live births respectively.