New Constitution must empower women - Masaiti

HARARE – A new Constitution must improve the economic and social status of women in the country, the deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Hon. Evelyn Masaiti has said. She said her ministry was running some training programmes on the Constitution-making process for women across the country so that they would be able to articulate their views in an informed manner during the consultation period. “The writing of a new Constitution is an opportunity for the women of Zimbabwe to improve their social, political, and economic and human rights,” Hon Masaiti said. “The women in Zimbabwe are still facing serious challenges and these challenges should be looked into in the drafting of a new Constitution.” She said women had been marginalized for a long time and there was need to address these disparities in social status.

Deputy Minister Masaiti explained that her ministry had deployed officers at national, provincial, district and ward level to raise awareness on the Constitution-making process and empowerment of women. “Women constitute 52 percent of the population in the country and it only makes sense if we have 50–50 percent representation in all sectors, both private and public. Women and men should move side by side,” said Hon. Masaiti. She told The Changing Times that research carried out by her ministry had shown that six out 10 women were poor while two thirds of young girls were out of school. Zimbabwe is in the process of writing a people-driven Constitution that is expected to dilute draconian legislation that has been used to suppress the people’s freedoms and perpetuated human rights abuses and misuse of public office. Hon. Masaiti, who is also the secretary in the MDC’s Women Assembly and the MP for Dzivaresekwa in Harare, said her ministry was still concerned about the high levels of domestic violence in the country. “But we have programmes that we have set up as a ministry to advocate for anti violence and how best to curb the scourge,” she said.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development is made up of three departments; the women’s affairs that deals with issues that affect women, gender equality that looks at the welfare of both women and men and; community development, that promotes developmental projects across the country.  The deputy minister also raised concerns over the high handedness of State security agents who arrest and assault women for demonstrating. “What the police and other State security agents do in the arbitrary arrest of women demonstrators is uncalled for.

We need to promote tolerance. It is an infringement of their rights to be stopped from demonstrating,” she said. She blamed this disrespect of the rule of law on some residual elements in the inclusive government who are against the unstoppable change in Zimbabwe. She said as she marked her one year in office as the deputy minister since the formation of the inclusive government last year in February, things have not been easy for her ministry. “We are dealing with marginalized groups and it has not been easy as the government has no resources to target the grassroots women. We inherited a bankrupt government,” she said. Deputy Minister Masaiti however, said her ministry remained committed with its vision and mission of seeing a prosperous woman and a healthy nation.  She also saluted the women of Zimbabwe for desisting from abusing their positions along political lines.