RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: ”Women Politicians There to Serve The Men”

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Tonderai Kwidini

HARARE, May 25 2007 (IPS) - ‘‘In terms of the number of women in government, yes, we are making progress. But if you dig deep about why these women were appointed you will find that they are only important when it is voting time,” says Zhean Gwaze, a gender activist and journalist.

She contends that women in government are simply there to serve the interests of male politicians. Human rights activist Alice Chibwe agrees: ‘‘We have a female vice-president but what matters is the job that she is doing. She is not doing any qualitative work to further the interests of women.

‘‘This is one of the reasons why the realization of gender equality by 2015 becomes a big joke,” says Chibwe, who works for the Southern African Human Rights Trust (SAHRIT), a non-governmental organization with a special interest in human rights work. The United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals set 2015 as the target year for the advancement of gender equality.

In Zimbabwe, gender disparities characterize all aspects of development. The country was ranked 113th in the global gender-related development index in 2004. This reflects the generally low status of women with respect to access, control and ownership of economic resources and positions in decision-making processes.

Gwaze says Zimbabwe has ‘‘a long way to go before achieving gender equality. In terms of politics, we have not even reached the 30 percent quota system in parliament. The proposed 50-50 percent parliamentary representation by 2008 is unattainable”.

In the 150-member lower house of assembly, 23 of the parliamentarians were female in 2006 while women filled 24 of the 66 seats in the upper house of the senate in 2005 (the last available figures).

According to Chibwe, the country ‘‘has made some strides in adopting policies and a legal framework that promotes gender equality but the socio-economic situation in the country impedes progress”.

In 2004, the government adopted the National Gender Policy (NGP). The policy seeks to promote the integration of gender perspectives into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes. The policy was developed with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

As part of the NGP, President Robert Mugabe this year promulgated the Domestic Violence Law. It was drafted by the government, NGOs, the UNDP, female politicians and women’s organizations. The law seeks to provide protection and relief to victims of domestic violence.

Levels of domestic violence in Zimbabwe are alarmingly high. Police records of 2006 show that one in every four women suffers abuse during her lifetime. Almost 60 percent of murder cases going through the High Court are related to domestic violence.

The UNDP is this year supporting the development of the Zimbabwe National Human Development Report. The report will be focusing on gender and development to give a precise account of those aspects which stifle the full participation of women in decision-making.

The UNDP is also actively assisting with women’s participation in national budgetary processes in Zimbabwe. It wants to link governance and poverty reduction to the participation of women in decision-making processes. As a result of this move, the government in April this year launched the Gender, Budgeting and Women’s Empowerment Programme.

Gwaze feels strongly that the adoption of the latest gender programme is a way for the government to buy time in the current political crisis gripping the country.

The enactment of these policies aimed at eradicating discrimination against women is yet to be seen in practical terms. ‘‘I feel men still have more advantages than women,” states Clotilda Chidawanyika, the founder and managing director of Transafrik, a Zimbabwean money transfer company.

‘‘Yes, the government is doing something but it can do better. For a woman to be successful, she has to put in twice the effort and go an extra mile in order to be recognized. There are more chances in life for men than there are for women. I think 2015 is too early for Zimbabwe, unless there is a radical change in policies and politics.”

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) still has a male face. Investing and dealing in stocks has largely remained a male domain and only a small number of women deal on the ZSE. Of the 35 stockbrokers involved in the day-to-day trading on the local bourse, only four are women and three of these are not yet registered brokers.

But while many people in Zimbabwe complain about society’s token approach to gender equality, Chipo Mtasa, the managing director of a leading Zimbabwean leisure company, begs to differ. ‘‘It was initially not easy for me to be so visible, but I made a strong effort to establish good contacts from the very beginning.

‘‘I never found it a challenge being a woman in business and I never felt marginalized. For me, the playing field has been even,” says Mtasa.

Women are not alone in the fight for gender equality. Padare/Enkundleni Men’s Forum is a male anti-sexist organization dedicated to fighting gender inequality.

‘‘We are working to develop a men-based social movement that contributes to the elimination of discrimination against women. We will do this through the promotion and facilitation of ideas and actions that enable the participation of men in the struggle for a gender-just society,” says the organization’s advocacy officer, Eddington Mhonda.

The law enables Zimbabwe to fulfil its international obligations as required by the various international human rights instruments, including the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Zimbabwe is also a signatory to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Declaration on Gender and Development of 1997. Under the declaration countries committed themselves to the achievement of a target of at least 30 percent women in political and decision-making structures by 2005 and the promotion of women’s access to resources.