CSW69: WCoZ reports progress towards women empowerment in Zimbawe

Speaking during a side event yesterday titled “Beijing+30: Breaking Barriers and Shattering Glass Ceilings – Overcoming obstacles to women’s leadership in Africa through the intensive implementation of the Platform for Action”, Muchanyara Mukamuri, the Chairperson of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe(WCoZ) and also the Executive Director of the Self-Help Development Foundation alluded to the coalition’s work in aiding the breaking of barriers and shattering the glass ceilings around issues of women’s leadership as well as overcoming the various obstacles that face women, not only in Zimbabwe but in Africa in general.

She was responding to questions by the facilitator of the side event, Sitabile Dewa, the Director of the Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE) who had inquired about the coalition’s success story and strategies they are implementing to address issues of gender inequality in society.

In attendance from Zimbabwe was Virginia Mwanigwa, the Chief Executive Officer with the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, which is a product of the 2013 constitutional review. Muwanigwa is also a former chairperson of the Women’s Coalition, former chairperson of Women and Land in Zimbabwe, and former deputy chairperson of Gender and Media Connect.

Mukamuri said the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe is an organization that has created a safe space for women’s rights organizations where women come together to put their voices louder by discussing issues that affect them.

“The women’s coalition exists in all the 10 provinces and it has spread its wings in various districts where it works towards the emancipation of women, empowering them in thematic areas like economic empowerment, gender equality,  GBV, decision making, education, and environment clusters among others. It also consists of individual activists who also voice or think in their voices in terms of what is working well in Zimbabwe,” Mukamuri said.

It was established in 1999 but it continues to advocate for women’s rights across the country. WCoZ is also a member of the FEMNET and other women’s rights organizations across Africa.

There are several success stories that demonstrate effective women’s leadership in Zimbabwe. One notable example is their work in promoting

women’s participation in governance and decision making processes. WCoZ has been instrumental in advocating for women’s rights and empowerment, particularly in the area of policy and advocacy, and peace building and publication.

There was increased women’s participation in local governance and electoral processes. Some key factors that contributed to WCoZ success include

collective activism – women’s ability to bring together women’s rights organisations and activists across Zimbabwe, creating a collective voice that advocates for the rights of women and the empowerment thereof.

“We also are in strategic partnerships with local and international organisations such as Womankind and also Womankind Worldwide, which is providing critical support and resources for our work. We also focus on building the capacity of women’s rights activist leaders for them to effectively advocate for women’s rights and empowerment.

“In community engagement, women’s coalition with local communities, particularly women, has helped to raise awareness about women’s rights and empowerment and has mobilised women to take action. We also unpacked the constitution to the people, also ensuring that there is a pocket size which is easy to read,” she added.

Despite this progress, women leaders in Zimbabwe have faced several challenges in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action. The most significant challenges include lack of resources, limited funding among all the women who often struggle to access funding, which hinders their ability to implement projects and programs that promote women’s empowerment.

There is also inadequate infrastructure, where in rural areas, they lack access to basic infrastructure, such as the healthcare facilities, educational and economic opportunities. Urban women and rural women, have differences in terms of access to basic infrastructure, in terms of how they access information, and for that, it’s actually a hindrance for rural women and those that are in the farms.

“We continue to see social and cultural barriers in our country, where patriarchal norms, deeply ingrained stereotypes often limit women’s participation in decision making processes and leadership positions. We’ve also witnessed violence against women in Zimbabwe, who continue to face high level violence, including domestic violence. We also have some institutional and policy barriers, where we have lack of policy implementation,” Mukamuri added.

She said despite the existence of policies and laws that promote women’s empowerment, implementation remains a challenge. Inadequate representation exists, with women underrepresented in leadership positions, including government positions.

“How then do we intend to address these? We continue to engage in policy and advocacy dialogues, where we have advocated for policy

changes that promote women’s empowerment and gender equality. We also continue to do budget tracking. Women’s Coalition tracks government budgets to ensure that the processes and resources are allocated to support women’s empowerment programs.

“We continue to do capacity building and empowerment, work-industry training. We provide leadership training and capacity building programs for women leaders. We have also a mentorship program, where Women’s Coalition established the mentorship programs to pay all the women leaders and the experienced mentors to those that are upcoming. We also have the young women’s forum that we have. We continue also to social mobilise our resources to social mobilise women’s empowerment.”

WCoZ mobilises women and girls to take action and also demand their rights. It is in partnership with government as well as government agencies to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality. The coalition continues to collaborate with other civil society organizations to amplify women’s voices and demand accountability.

On digital innovation, WCoZ continues to offer digital literacy programs to equip women with skills needed to effectively use technology and social media.