National Gender Policy 2013 - 2017.

This second National Gender Policy replaces the first National Gender Policy of 2004. It is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at a gender just society where men and women enjoy equality and equity and participate as equal partners in the development process of the country, as for the Vision statement. The overall goal of the Policy is to eradicate gender discrimination and inequalities in all spheres of life and development by following the principles of gender justice, equality, integration and inclusiveness.
The NGP sets out eight priority policy interventions around which policy objectives and strategies, implementation, monitoring and evaluation are formulated. The policy intervention areas are (i) Gender, Constitutional and Legal Rights; (ii) Gender and Economic Empowerment; (iii) Gender, Politics and Decision Making; (iv) Gender and Health; (v) Gender, Education and Training; (vi) Gender Based Violence; (vii) Gender, Environment and Climate Change; and (viii) Gender, Media and ICTs. To fulfill to the goal, the following objectives have been formulated around the eight priority areas (i) ensure that the provisions on gender justice are implemented and gender equality targets set in the national, international and regional protocols, to which Zimbabwe is part, are achieved; (ii) promote equality and equity in access to economic opportunities and to the benefits from the economic development of the country; (iii) create a supportive environment for gender parity in politics and decision making positions; (iv) promote gender sensitivity in health service delivery; (v) promote equal access to all levels of education for boys and girls, and access to training opportunities for men and women; (vi) reduce all forms of Gender Based Violence; (vii) increase gender responsiveness of the environment and natural resources management strategies and in climate change adaptation and mitigation initiatives; and (viii) promote equal access to, control and ownership of, media and ICTs.
Rural poverty will be tackled by (i) supporting efforts to transform informal livelihood income generation into viable economic activities and broaden agro-entrepreneurship in disadvantaged rural areas; and (ii) advocating for, and supporting efforts to implement programs aimed at creating an enabling environment for the retention of girls at secondary school levels particularly in rural areas.
To enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the Policy suggests to (i) conduct a review of current environment and natural resources management policies and strategies and audit for gender considerations, identify gaps, recommend advocate for the incorporation of gender perspectives; (ii) support interventions aimed at increased participation of both females and males in the sustainable utilization of natural resources for economic benefits including opportunities for carbon trading; and (iii) develop and support affirmative action initiatives that enhance business skills and competences and access to finance, land, other productive resources and technologies.
In respect to the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, the attention will be given to ensure that the national level strategies for climate induced disaster management and risk reduction and coping mechanisms are gender responsive.
As for the Governance, Zimbabwe recognizes that sustainable development and good governance is dependent on women taking part in all decision making processes. For this reason, interventions will be directed to (i) eliminate cultural and traditional customs that inhibit equal participation of men and women in traditional governance and other grassroots structures; (ii) open to new opportunities for equal participation in the workplace, market place and governance structures; and (iii) support training and capacity-building programs to prepare women to advance to positions of power in the private and public sector institutions and in political and other governance structures.