Singing for equality
Women attending a training course on constitution-making, on 13 January, threatened to disrupt the exercise arguing that it was biased towards men.
The women were led by Emilia Muchawa, Director of WOMANKIND’s Zimbabwean partner ZWLA and deputy chairperson of the Thematic Committee on Gender Equality.
They broke into song, denouncing the male-dominated composition of different committees overseeing the constitution-making process.
The Minister of Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Olivia Muchena, then presented a set of grievances to the co-chairs of the Constitution Select Committee.
Minister Muchena said that unless the issue of gender parity was addressed, women were not going to participate in the constitution-making process.
‘Unless there is gender parity, women will not participate in the constitution-making process’ |
‘Zimbabwe has already ratified the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development and this should be respected.’ said Dr Muchena.
Dr Muchena said women were objecting to the composition of the management committee, which was made up of chief negotiators of political parties in the GPA and the co-chairs of the Constitution Select Committee.
Dr Muchena said there were also gender imbalances in the Select Committee, thematic committees and the outreach teams.
After Dr Muchena presented the women’s case, many men argued that the complaints were contrary to the business of the day.
The women refused to be silenced and responded by singing and denouncing their male counterparts, prompting the hotel staff to switch off the lights in the conference centre.
