MUTARE Zimbabwe must take a policy position with regards to the SADC and African Union Protocol and work towards reforming the constitution to include gender equality, a womens rights advocacy group has said.
Addressing participants at a media workshop on electoral reforms in Zimbabwe, the Executive Director of Womens Trust, Luta Shaba, said electoral laws should be reviewed to ensure they specifically stipulate the 50 per cent requirement for women in decision-making. The issue of providing incentives, including funding to political parties on compliance with the 50 percent quota should not be condoned. There is need for the enactment and implementation of laws and policies that protect women from all forms of violence, she said.
Shaba added that there was need for gender awareness and policy sensitization for political party leadership and legislators. She said the current electoral system in Zimbabwe did not facilitate womens participation either expressly or by implication. Shaba said: The composition of Parliament is not guided in terms of the principles of the representation of women who are 52 per cent of the population. This electoral system provides for elections based on constituency representation, which limits the political contestation.