New Zimbabwean Government appointments commit to economically empowering women

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of meeting The Zimbabwean Government Minister for Women Affairs, Community and SME’s and the Chief Director of Gender Policy Planning and Programme Management.

I met with Minister Monica Mutsvangwa on day one of the her new role in office, following the recent elections on the 23rd of August.

She introduced herself as a passionate female empowerment activist and we talked about her vision for Government, which is centred around economically empowering women, in the knowledge that it will transform the country overnight.

The Minister is working closely with the Ministry for Agriculture to improve access to resources, markets and funding for women.

There are huge challenges around women growing crops but not having anywhere to sell them and the Ministry is working to try and formalise the sector, so women can get more money selling their produce and access better markets opportunities.

Training is also being delivered to support women to grow climate resistant crops, avoid post harvest losses and work is ongoing to improve access to land, as women currently are left with poorer land to grow on than men, and are often not fairly treated in land inheritance settlements.

She left me with the message, “If we can empower women, we are going to fly as a country.”

It was fascinating to also meet with Mrs Lilian Takaendisa, the Chief Director of Gender Policy Planning Programme Management.

Her key focus is in the area of gender based violence and the Ministry is working to address child marriages and teenage pregnancies, which she explained involves trying to enlighten communities that men and women are equal partners and working with chiefs to advocate for gender equality. A transformation she sadly believes will take 200 years.

My takeaway from both of these conversations is how important the economic empowerment of Zimbabwean women is, to turning the tide on many other pressing societal issues.