Zimbabwe is joining the rest of the world in celebrating International Women’s Day with the launch of national celebrations at Chitora Business Centre in Shurugwi, Midlands Province.
With March being women’s month, the national launch will be followed by a series of provincial and district celebrations to highlight and promote the need to accelerate progress in investing in women.
This year’s festivities are running under the theme ‘Invest in women : Accelerate progress, which speaks to the need to advance women empowerment across all spaces.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Hon. Monica Mutsvangwa said the day is a special one to celebrate the economic , political and social achievements of women and girls.
“Women around the world have shattered glass ceilings, broken barriers, and proven overwhelmingly that they are capable of achieving greatness in every field. Their contributions to society, culture, science, politics, and the economy are invaluable. Yet, in spite of these achievements, we still have a long way to go in ensuring factual equality for all. If we work collectively as a people, we can achieve this by accelerating progress in investing in women,” she said in a statement to the media.
She also highlighted gaps that need to be plugged for women to achieve their full potentia
“There is need to employ a variety of approaches to address the various challenges faced by women, which include; financial inclusion, equal access to health services, quality education, skills training, extensive agricultural extension services, workplace training and training in new technologies.”
The International Women’s Day is a United Nations Calendar Event which is celebrated every year on the 8th of March in all Nation Statest. It is a day also to reflect on and track the progress.of policies put in place to advance to address gender inequalities and what can be done to plug emerging gaps.