Women for Economic and Social Empowerment (Wese) positively noted Finance minister Mthuli Ncube‘s announcement that the government would allocate $2.4 billion to social welfare programs for women.
This decision will go a long way to addressing and correcting the anomalies caused by years of inequality and gender discrimination against women at all levels of social, political and economic strata.
Wese would also like to encourage the government to say that while this is a step in the right direction, much more needs to be done to address the existing imbalances that are evident in Zimbabwe, particularly in the outlying and rural areas of Zimbabwe.
These imbalances have doubled due to COVID-19 and girls are severely affected as the number of teenage pregnancies has increased at a staggering rate and these are the biggest barriers to achieving gender equality.
The government should implement a national community engagement initiative to address this issue and start prioritizing sex education to educate young people about the dangers of engaging in early sexual activity.
Women’s sanitary health issues also need to be addressed urgently, especially since many women do not have access to basic hygienic clothing or healthcare facilities.
Social issues affecting women, such as gender-based violence, require a collective effort to inspire society to reform a set of stereotypes that have undoubtedly been a false narrative and a form of injustice.
Wese also encourages the government to disburse funds in a fair and transparent way that benefits those who really need this kind of support, they should identify the most vulnerable societies and work with advocacy groups to promote women’s empowerment .
- Wese Information
