The government has reiterated that women remain more vulnerable to natural disasters like climate change, cyclones and storms which hamper the
Addressing the media , Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister, Sithembiso Nyoni, said women’s continued exclusion from key decision making makes it impossible to address challenges that befall them and find solutions.
“During extreme weather such as droughts, cyclones, and floods, women tend to work more to restore and secure household livelihoods. This will leave less time for women to women to access training and education, develop skills or participate in the economic mainstay, thus gender equality remains low,” she said.
Nyoni said women represent a high percentage of poor communities that are highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihoods, particularly in rural areas.
“The government has supported solar-powered community gardens in eight rural provinces through the Zimbabwe Community Development Fund and these gardens were thriving under the harsh effects of climate change as they were using sustainable smart technology,” she said.
Nyoni also said gender-based violence has significantly increased, not only in Zimbabwe but across the world, and this has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said GBV and exploitation are increasing while resources and incomes are dwindlling, arable land is becoming increasingly scarce, and effects of climate change are progressively being felt more and impacting negatively on the achievement of gender equality.
“Gender-based violence against women is often employed as a way to reinforce gender imbalances and maintain control of limited resources in these situations. When girls and women are displaced, they are often unable to continue their education and pursue economic opportunities. Women and girls also face higher rates of child marriage, domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking due to climate change.
“It is imperative that we economically empower women and girls as a sustainable way to achieve gender equality and this can be achieved through various empowerment programs that my Ministry and partners provide, such as access to finance and markets, capacity building, provision of technology and workspace, amongst others,” she said.
Climate change expert, Veronica Gundu Jakarasi, said the effects of climate change are not gender-neutral but women are affected more as they depend on natural resources which climate change threatens the most.
“Women representation in different structures is still limited due to various socio-economic and cultural issues and limited access to information, resources and decision-making power,” she said.
She said women-led SMEs were leading in taking climate solutions to the vulnerable and marginalized communities
“Therefore, there is a need to support women to play an active part in decision-making processes, promote access to information on agroforestry and support access to climate finance to scale up and replicate climate-smart solutions,” said Jakarasi.
The day is being celebrated under the international theme, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”.
The national theme is, “Gender mainstreaming and women empowerment in climate change and disaster risk management”.
