By Priscilla Makondo
Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe this year celebrated International Women’s Day in style as the organization launched a new chapter in Zvishavane, a fulfillment of its mission to bring together women and girls from diverse locations for collective activism.
The commemoration and launch was held on the 9th of March 2023 in Makwasha.
The global theme for IWD 2023 was “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”.
The new chapter will allow Zvishavane women who are WCOZ members to collectively engage and advocate for their rights under clusters which include health, constitutional rights, media and ICT, environment, peace building and conflict resolution among others.
Zvishavane has always lagged behind in terms of inclusion because of its geographic location and other factors.
The launch of a new chapter was welcomed by Zvishavane women and various stakeholders present, as it is a giant step towards decentralisation and capacitating women with knowledge and skills so they can actively participate in socioeconomic and civic processes.
WCOZ members in Zvishavane were elated by the development, saying this will help them push for gender responsive service delivery.
They added that being given a voice means their grievances will be timely responded to.
The new chapter members selected an interim committee as they are getting ready to be fully operational.
The launch was also graced by the office of the District Development Coordinator, Zvishavane Town Council, Runde Rural District Council, Zimbabwe Republic Police among other stakeholders, in solidarity with Zvishavane women, and they pledged their full support.
WCOZ, in their IWD2023 press statement, called for the digital empowerment of girls, young women and women in all their diversity and strengthened response and access to justice which addresses online violence against women and girls.
The statistics in the press statement indicate that as of 2022, 62% of men were using the internet compared to 57% of women, indicating a 8% gap as women’s participation on digital platforms is limited due to online violence.
Read the full statement below: