Empower a woman, empower the nation: ZWRCN

The single mother of two knows that, with an education as good has her brothers, she would be in a better and respectable class in society today.

I hope that sort of thing is now history, even in rural Zimbabwe. All children need equal opportunities. I have seen some women emerging successful in life and remembering where they came from by taking care of their parents and those in need, she said.

The Zimbabwe Women Resource Centre and Network in conjunction with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development and the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) has marked a new era in making a difference for Zimbabwean women which will see Mukwezvas dream come true by launching the Gender Budgeting and Economic Empowerment Project.

To be rolled out over the next four years with support from the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality, this gender mainstreaming tool will ensure that government policies, programmes and budgets reduce gender inequalities and promote gender sensitive development policies for poverty reduction and economic empowerment.

This will see the government making a difference for women at national level as well as eradicating poverty by empowering the nation through empowering women.

Without the women entrepreneurs the economy of the country could have collapsed. Our (women) power is important and vital, it may not be recognized but it exists, declared Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni.

Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Olivia Muchena, also believes that enhancing womens economic options can boost the economy.

Women lag behind men because historically they have not enjoyed the same rights and equal access to key resources and opportunities such as education, land, credit and decision making. Budgets can reinforce existing inequalities and perpetuate poverty by not taking into account the different roles and needs of the different groups of women and men.

There is need to prioritise and target some women specific issues for funding or subsidisation. The issues that deserve special attention in budgetary allocations include reproductive health to see low cost or free maternal health services to reduce high maternal mortality rates; specific scholarship funds for girls in identified disciplines of study such as science and engineering; increase of the women empowerment fund and targeted resources for implementation of the Domestic Violence Act provisions to eliminate Domestic Violence, said Muchena.