The Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development ministry in conjunction with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion has stepped up efforts to streamline gender issues by targeting all government departments in Zimbabwe.
Forty-four senior officials from different ministries attended the Gender Responsive Economic Policy Management course in Mutare.
Secretary for Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Sylvia Utete-Masango said the initiative would go a long way in empowering women.
“Everything revolves around the economy and if you don’t infuse the issue of gender in your plans, then it’s difficult to bring in programmes of gender equality,” she said.
“With this programme, it will be easy for planners to incorporate gender mainstreaming in their policies at ministry level.
There is a paradigm shift in the way government is doing things. We are doing this with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion so that gender sensitivity plays a role in the economic blueprint launched recently.”
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Acting Secretary for Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Philip Hamadziripi added the Mid-Term Plan would only succeed with support from different government institutions.
He said the issue of gender sensitivity was vital in bringing the much-needed support as all players would work towards a common goal.
The programme is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is the first of its kind in Zimbabwe.
Several countries in Africa and Asia have benefited from similar programmes, where planners are brought together and apprised about the need to improve gender mainstreaming in their operations.
UNDP country representative Christine Umutoni said: “This programme helps to build a critical mass of policymakers with necessary skills and expertise on gender awareness economics that could assist in the formulation of coherent policies and strategies that could consolidate with gains achieved during this transitional phase.”