The United Nations has expressed commitment to support the Government of Zimbabwe- through the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development to ensure a successful roll out and monitoring the National Gender Policy.
Speaking at the launch of the National Gender Policy in Harare on Thursday, the United Nations Development Programme Country Director Georges van Montfort said United Nations women had already supported the Ministry to establish a Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Framework.
“A focus on implementation, supported by robust monitoring and evaluation: we are aware of the efforts by the Ministry to follow through with implementation of the policy.
“In this regard, United Nations women have already supported the Ministry to establish a Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Framework which identifies key gender indicators for each line ministry.
“The United Nations stands ready to support the Government further in ensuring a successful roll out and monitoring of the policy,” said van Montfort.
He further called for collective action from line ministries, development partners, community based organisations, private sector, media and other stakeholders in the implementation of the gender policy.
“Given the need for collective action, implementation needs to benefit from links amongst all stake holders-relevant line ministries, development partners, community based organizations, private sector, academia and media.
“The inclusive nature that led to the development of this policy lays a strong foundation for such partnerships, continued popularization and regular updates on implementation progress will help further nurture these partnerships,” said van Montfort.
National Gender Policy
The National Gender Policy seeks to achieve gender just society in which men and women, boys and girls, enjoy equality, contribute and benefit as equal partners in the development of the country. The goal is to eradicate gender discrimination and inequalities in all spheres of life and development.
Ten priority areas were identified namely: Gender, Constitutional and Legal Rights, Gender and Economic Empowerment, Gender Politics and Decision Making, Gender and Health, Gender, Education and Training, Gender Based Violance, Gender, Enviroment and Climate Change, Gender Media and Information Communication Technology (ICTS), Gender and Disability, Gender, Culture and Religion.
These thematic areas form the basis of the development of policy objectives and strategies for period 2013_2017.
