BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA UNITED Nations Women (UN Women) has donated over 300 bicycles for use in gender-based violence (GBV) awareness campaigns in the remote parts of Manicaland and Matabeleland South provinces.
The donation is part of the UN Women Spotlight Initiative which is supported by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations. The programme is aimed at ending violence against women and girls, as well as harmful practices.
UN Women country representative Delphine Serumaga said the programme will be implemented by the Lower Guruve Development Association in Mashonaland Central Province.
“In an effort to advance gender equality and secure its sustainability, UN Women remains committed to continuing supporting the on-going work by implementing partners and gender champions in Mashonaland Central and other Provinces in advancing gender equality in communities,” Serumaga said in a statement on Tuesday.
“In carrying this work forward, we recognise some of the challenges slowing you down. Passion, commitment, and dedication are evident, however, in getting work done transportation remains a challenge in the hard-to-reach areas of the district and therefore we are here to support.”
UNAIDS director Sophia Mukasa said the bicycles will go a long way in facilitating mobility for women and the community in need of access to HIV medication regardless of the distance.
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Lower Guruve Development Association representative Sekai Janga said: “Our gender champions now form the backbone of our footprint in the community and this capacitation with mobility will strengthen our response to GBV and all forms of violence and discrimination against women.”
Katswe Sisterhood representative Fadziso Maunganidze said the bicycles will go a long way in ensuring cases of sexual and gender based violence continue to go down as the response to such cases becomes possible and swift amid the prevailing need in the district”.
Ministry of Women Affairs provincial director Judith Hove said the bicycles will assist in plugging the gaps existing in the fight against GBV.