MINISTER of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development Oppah Muchinguri yesterday said elimination of maternal mortality and access to reproductive health had been slow and uneven especially for the rural poor.
Muchinguri said this during the launch of the United Nations +20 review process and campaign attended by different women’s groups.
She said achieving millennium development goals (MDGs) by 2015 was impossible as long as women’s rights continued to be trampled upon, and as long as the participation of women in the formal economy continued to be stagnant due to gender discrimination.
“Achieving goals under MDG five on reducing maternal mortality and achieving universal access to reproductive health has been slow and uneven, especially for poor rural populations. There are concerns over significant gaps in funding of unmet needs for sexual and reproductive health care,” said Muchinguri.
“Safeguarding achievement of MDGs requires full participation of women into the formal economy and decision-making processes.”
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Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development Biata Beatrice Nyamupinga said the legislature should make government departments accountable for failure to implement programmes to ensure equality between men and women.
“There is need to re-align laws with the Constitution because if we do not do that it will be difficult to hold the Executive or whoever is responsible into account for non-implementation of gender sensitive programmes. There is also need to sensitise women on issues like climate change from village level, as well as on issues of land ownership because without land we will be unable to empower women,” Nyamupinga said.
Chairperson of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe Virginia Muwanigwa said there was need to look beyond 2015 and demand for gender budgeting and research, as well as strengthening the watchdog role to ensure gender parity.
Deputy country representative of United Nations Women Revai Makanje Aalbaek said 2015 will mark 20 years since women adopted the Beijing Platform of Action. She said there was need to hold national reviews and consultative forums to discuss the challenges in achieving MDGs to do with women issues and proffer solutions.
“We also need to engage the post-Beijing generation and raise our voices around non-implementation of women’s programmes,” Makanje Aalbaek said.
Gender director in the Women Affairs ministry Caroline Matizha said poverty impeded women empowerment and called for complete elimination of violence against women and girls, early child marriages and discrimination.
