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Feedback meeting on African Union 68th Pre-Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) Consultative meeting held today at the Bronte Hotel in Harare spotlights the need for a unified approach and adopting a common agenda on gender equality and women empowerment so as to inform global platforms at CSW68.
Addressing delegates at the meeting, the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development said Zimbabwe had an opportunity to input into the Outcome Document/Africa Common Position which will be presented in New York as Africa’s position pertaining to accelerating the achievement of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing for gender equality.
“This Outcome document will inform Africa’s engagement and participation at the CSW68 that will be held in New York. Ladies and Gentlemen, during the consultative I managed to push for the issue of HIV/AIDS and the accountability of non-state actors for financing gender equality to be included in the Common Africa Position. Noting that HIV/AIDS was one of the pandemics that inhibited the participation of women and exacerbated issues of poverty for women, I also highlighted that as a country we have made great strides in responding to HIV/AIDS and have achieved 92-92-95 percent targets close to the target of 95-95-95 percentage target,” Hon Mutsvangwa said.
Recommendations emerged from Pre CSW68 meetings. Among the issues, it emerged women’s poverty can be understood as a process of deprivation and depletion shaped by structural inequalities in the household, labour market, and state institutions, and exacerbated by women’s experience of intersectional discrimination. It deprives women of the right to a decent standard of living, food security and nutrition, housing, quality healthcare, and education.
The disproportionate amount of care and domestic work performed by women limits their time, access to decent work, quality education, and health care also came to the fore. This deprivation can also be seen in women’s unequal access to land and productive assets, finance, and in the restriction of their ability to participate fully and meaningfully and be included in policy decision-making processes, including on issues of financing.
Hon Mutsvangwa said it is therefore imperative to “look beyond level and growth of national output and income, employment and inflation” to address issues of well-being and human rights of people. This would require actions including measuring the value of unpaid care and domestic work to the economy, increasing investment in critical social infrastructure, and ensuring universal access to affordable, quality care services.
To transform the status and condition of women, she said there must be a recognition of the need to transform policies and services of public institutions with a view to promoting transparency and access to information, which is both timely and accessible, so that people, including women living in poverty, can act based on knowledge of their rights.
She added that strong internal policies and accountability systems for women living in poverty are required and deliberate policies and processes that facilitate the effective realisation of women’s human rights are put in place.
There is a need to strengthen women’s organizations and platforms as meaningful spaces to mobilize power, demand accountability, and bring together the voices, expertise, and lived experiences of women living in poverty.
Zimbabwe has already initiated preparations for its participation at CSW68.
Speaking on the same occasion, UN Women Country Deputy Representative, Ms. Loveness Makonese said CSW 68 convenes as intersecting crises intensify persistent, systemic inequalities between and within countries.
“Economic downturns, spurred by COVID-19, combined with other global challenges including climate change, geopolitical tensions, heightened inflationary pressure, food, energy, and cost of living crises, are the result of economic models and social organization that have failed to deliver for. These crises are certainly not experienced equally, with people living in poverty, especially women, disproportionately impacted.
“The theme draws our attention to discuss and confront the situation of women living in poverty due to structural inequalities in the household, labour market, and state institutions, and exacerbated by experiences of intersectional discrimination. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women preamble expressed concern ‘that in situations of poverty, women have the least access to food, health, education, training and opportunities for employment and other needs,’. The Beijing Platform for Action also has ‘Women and Poverty’ as the first critical area of concern recognising women’s overrepresentation among the poor including in Zimbabwe,” Ms. Makonese said.
The theme also draws stakeholders to the spotlight on financing for the eradication of women’s poverty and the empowerment of women and girls.
“Halfway to 2030, bilateral aid prioritizing gender equality is inadequate, unpredictable and inconsistently distributed among countries, characterized by large gender gaps and low levels of women’s empowerment. An urgent boost in finance is needed. Stronger international cooperation, tracking budget allocations, more gender-responsive budgeting, and resourcing the crucial efforts of women’s rights organizations are imperative to achieve lasting, transformative changes for women and girls, and to combat the multiple, interlinked global crises that put their lives and well-being at risk.
“Finally, the theme draws attention to the Strengthening of Institutions to Address Women’s Poverty. Good governance and effective public institutions are key to addressing women’s poverty. Additionally, addressing coordination challenges in the sector is critical in order to be more effective. We commend the Government of Zimbabwe on its successful collaboration under the Spotlight Initiative which invested in strengthening women’s rights institutions. We also recognise the Ministry for their efforts in consulting various stakeholders for the Revitalisation of the National Gender Machinery in Zimbabwe which we are confident upon conclusion will yield stronger and more coordinated institutions,” Makonese added.
She reiterated that UN Women is dedicated to supporting the Ministry to implement the comprehensive approaches that will consider how best to intersect gender, poverty, financing, and institutional dynamics.
“We also look forward to a successful Zimbabwe side event that will showcase all the good work happening in the country and hopefully mobilise interest in funding our efforts. I conclude with a renewal of our commitment in ensuring the delegation is well-prepared to participate at CSW68.”