Source: The Herald
Women have been called upon to take advantage of the new Constitution to campaign for posts in the impending harmonised polls. This was said during the launch of the Vote For a Woman campaign, an initiative of the Women In Politics Support Network, on Thursday.
Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Dr Olivia Muchena said the Zimbabwean community was well matured hence it was time for women to occupy their rightful places in decision-making.
"As a society we have grown up. Young women should be prepared to go occupy these positions in addition to the not so young," she said.
The vote for a woman campaign is meant to accelerate the number of women taking up positions in Parliament and local government. The campaign would raise awareness among the general populace to vote for a woman in the upcoming elections.
Minister Muchena hailed contributions made by Zimbabweans in their different capacities to come up with a gender-sensitive constitution.
"People of Zimbabwe should not forget that to be where we are today and to have what came up in the constitution was not just about women speaking for women.
"Both men and women spoke about the need for women to occupy the decision making space," Minister Muchena said.
In seeking positions, Minister Muchena said, women needed to abide by the precepts of the political parties where they were members.
"You are entitled to stand wherever you are if you qualify and meet the criteria of your party," she said.
The new constitution allocates 60 "affirmative action" seats for women for the first two terms after the new constitution is adopted. Zimbabwe's Parliament consists of 210 members and the draft constitution provides for an additional 60 seats reserved for women.
Minister Muchena said the reserved seats were a systematic opportunity of preparing women for leadership.