Staff Writer
Global reports predict that at the current rate, it will take an estimated 300 years to end child marriage, 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership in the workplace, and 47 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments.
Additionally, one in three women between the ages of 20-49 in the country were married before they turned 18. Globally, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and UN Women have reported that over five women or girls are killed every hour by a family member.
The COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts, and climate change have further exacerbated violence against women and girls, intensifying existing challenges and introducing new threats.
Speaking at Beyond Spotlight: Achievements, Gains & Areas of Work for Creating the Enabling Environment for the Advancement of Gender Equality, Women’s Rights and Empowerment in Harare, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon, said Gender equality was a fundamental right.
“We can no longer half-step or tiptoe around a fundamental development and human rights issue. Gender equality is a fundamental right, but often in our programming and work, we lessen the importance of this human right by referring to it as ‘gender issues’ or we hear reference to gender-based violence as a ‘soft’ social issue,” he said.
“We launched the 16 Days Activism Against Gender Based Violence on Sunday 26 November 2023 in Hauna, Manicaland Province with the Honourable Minister. We sadly noted during discussions that violence against women and girls remains a widespread human rights violation. Despite the existence of laws to combat such violence, enforcement challenges and discriminatory social norms continue to persist.”
In Zimbabwe, for instance, the 2019 Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey reported that 39.4% of women aged 15-49 experience physical violence at least once in their lifetime, while 11.6% experience sexual violence.
“If we talk about ‘evidence-based’ policies and programmes, then this evidence, along with the data on gender inequalities that we have at the national level, is telling us we need to:
- Stop, but not halt, and reflect.
- Re-direct resources in the most effective ways possible and mobilize more resources.
- Create and implement in all sectors more dedicated programmes that directly contribute to the attainment of SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
The Spotlight Initiative to Eliminate Violence against Women and Girls has been one such example of a dedicated, comprehensive model approach for addressing an issue of gender inequality,” he said.
Mr Kallon said the unique comprehensive approach and holistic model to eliminate violence against women and girls addressed the issue on multiple fronts: education, reproductive health, economic empowerment, strengthening institutions, tackling systemic and cultural barriers, strengthening, and closing gaps in laws and policies, creating Standard Operating Procedures, and strengthening the capacity of service providers, among others.
In Zimbabwe, the wide partnerships created for the implementation of Spotlight were a huge strength.
“As we look at how to sustain and expand the gains of the Spotlight Initiative in Zimbabwe, we must look at the need for dedicated and holistic approaches that contribute to SDG 5 and at how we can together develop and finance such programmes,” Mr Kallon said.
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