Government courts partners in gender equality campaign

THE GOVERNMENT needs partners to fight for women’s empowerment as it cannot work alone in the fight against gender inequality, said Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Monica Mutsvangwa.

She was speaking at the launch of two gender assessment reports by the World Bank in Harare this week.

According to the World Bank, the maternal mortality rate in Zimbabwe has remained high at 363 per 100,000 live births, below the Sustainable Development Goal target of 70 deaths by 2030.

The World Bank report said the majority of these deaths were due to teenage pregnancies, adding that the impacts of HIV, unsafe abortions and inadequate maternal care contributed to this worrying trend.

Mutsvangwa, however, said the government was committed to working with other stakeholders to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment.

“The gender and women’s rights guaranteed in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the integration of gender as a central element to be considered in all sectors, as outlined in the National Development Strategy 1 (2021-25), attest to this commitment,” he said.

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“My ministry has also been mandated to lead and coordinate work on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues; However, my ministry alone cannot maintain national attention on gender equality and women’s rights nor can it reduce the gender inequality gap alone. “

Mutsvangwa admitted that the government still had gaps that needed to be filled in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV).

“While we are proud of some of our success stories, the assessments provided insight into areas where we are lagging and offered strategic recommendations to overcome challenges.

“The need to strengthen institutional capacities, increase financing for gender equality, including the design of innovative ways to ensure the allocation of specific national funds to combat gender violence, improve prevention and response to gender violence and accelerate the implementation of the High Level Political Pact to end gender violence. Violence and harmful practices were highlighted.

“Normally, for data related to gender and gender-based violence, we rely on the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Surveys and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys which are conducted at five-year intervals,” he said.

In the report, the World Bank said women aged 15 to 49 were disproportionately affected by HIV, with a prevalence rate of 13.7%, almost double that of men in the same age group.

“This disparity is related to gender power imbalances, limited access to health care, and lack of resources for prevention, underscoring the urgent need to address the underlying social determinants that drive higher rates of disease among women. women,” the report says.

It also indicated that 44% of women over 15 years of age have experienced sexual or physical violence by an intimate partner, exceeding the global average of 27% and the regional average of 33%.