Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa has expressed the need for a multifaceted approach towards poverty alleviation and provision of social services to women and girls while calling for a gender responsive approach towards investing in economically and socially inclusive systems, efficient services and sustainable infrastructure to accelerate the empowerment of women and girls.
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In a press statement released to mark the 2024 International Women’s Day commemorations, Minister Mutsvangwa reiterated her Ministry’s commitment to meaningful inclusion and participation of women in key economic sectors of the economy.
“As the Minister, I call upon stakeholders to collectively work together in women and invest for the empowerment of women. Let us be bold and be gender-responsive in our approach to invest in economically and socially inclusive systems, efficient services and sustainable infrastructure to accelerate the empowerment of women and girls,”
Minister Mutsvangwa added “Poverty alleviation and provision of social services to women and girls require a multi-faceted approach. We therefore need to collaborate in investing in women in order to meet Vision 2030. The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organisation but is everyone’s responsibility.”
“My Ministry has put in place a number of programmes to ensure that women effectively participate in the following sectors: agriculture, mining, tourism, trade, manufacturing and other sectors. These are being implemented in line with the Gender Policy and the Broad-Based Women Economic Empowerment Framework (BBWEEF) which calls for the participation of women in key economic sectors.”
“My Ministry provides tailor made and affordable loans to women and girls for the purpose of funding income-generating projects. The loans are accessed through the Women Development Fund (WDF), Zimbabwe Community Development Fund (ZCDF) and Zimbabwe Women Micro Finance Bank (ZWMB). The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Cooperation (SMEDCO) also supports entrepreneurs inclusive of women in business,” said Minister Mutsvangwa
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Minister Mutsvangwa added that a lot needs to be done in order to address challenges faced by women saying that when women are empowered and become able to participate in key economic sectors,economies will thrive.
“There is a need to employ a variety of approaches to address the various challenges faced by women, which include; financial inclusion, equal access to health services, quality education, skills training, extensive agricultural extension services, workplace training and training in new technologies.
“Women’s economic participation and their ownership and control of productive assets speeds up development, helps overcome poverty, reduces inequalities, maternal and infant mortality and improves children’s nutrition, health, and school attendance. When women have equal access to education, employment, and financial resources, economies thrive,” she added
The International Women’s Day is a United Nations Calendar Event which is celebrated every year on the 8th of March in all Nation States and this year’s global commemorations are running under the theme “Invest in women:Accelerate progress”.
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This year’s national celebrations will be launched on the 8th of March 2024 at Chitora Business Centre in Shurugwi District, Midlands Province.
Thereafter the launch, Provincial and District celebrations will be organised to highlight and promote the need to accelerate progress in investing in women.
