By Sukuoluhle Ndlovu
Masvingo – Women’s Coalition Masvingo chapter is advocating for more women participation with focus on the 50/50 gender equality and parity in all spheres.
The aim of the initiative is to provide collective and personal safe spaces for women.
This was revealed during a workshop held by different stakeholders and the media.
During the advocacy for gender equality, WCOZ is in partnership with AWDF in implementing the Women’s Rights Advocacy Campaign.
The campaign is aimed at providing collective and personal safe spaces for the women movement and women’s rights defenders to exercise feminist agency and prepare the ground to hold the government to account through collective mobilisation.
The interfacing platform will enable the women’s movement and women’s rights defenders together with duty bearers at all levels to redress gendered challenges which hinder the attainment of 50/50 as constitutionally enshrined in section 56.
“The campaign aims at creating democratic space for sustainable inclusive government and political participation. Secondly; to create different platforms for dialogue between women’s movement and other civil society organisations and donors. Thirdly, to engage duty bearers to implement section 56 of the constitution which speaks to equality and non-discrimination in all spheres promising women’s rights and equal political participation. Lastly to monitor the proper establishment of independent commissions that have women’s rights as their mandate and lobby and demand accountability for the full implementation of such mandate,” said Joyce Mhungu, a Masvingo Chapter official.
Mhungu said there is a need to discuss the challenges women are facing and find ways to support the strategies around the operating space for women’s rights organisation.
A member who was part of the discussion said, “Women are the primary care givers and through gender roles, they are normally relegated to non decision making positions in organisations because they have to be at different places at the same time. Gender roles are a scourge to woman participation.”
