Women empowerment critical to economic development

Admore Mbonda in Kariba

ACTION Empowerment Zimbabwe has said women empowerment was critical in the development of the country. This was said by the organization`s chief executive officer, Violent Nkathazo at a workshop held in Kariba last Wednesday. Nkathazo said access to resources by women has mostly been overlooked.

"In my view women`s access to resources, whether be it financial, land, information has mostly been overlooked, said Nkathazo.

"Yes, there was a lot of hype in early 2000, but it never really translated, according to my view to actual or tangible empowerment, so as AEZ we thought it is of paramount importance to see that women are considered and empowered in every aspect of the economy; be it mining, agriculture, fisheries, retail, just to mention but a few.

Founder and president of AEZ Alson Darikai, said as an organization they were committed to see champion empowerment of women, starting from grassroots levels.

"Our dream and vision are to see women prospering, socially and economically, and we will continue supporting their projects, said Darika.

"Women economic empowerment helps women and girls gain the skills, resources, and opportunities to participate equally in markets and to control and benefit from their earnings. It is known that women`s full economic participation helps businesses perform better and supports economic growth overall.

"Boosting women`s economic empowerment is key to achieving gender equality, but pervasive social norms and discrimination, continue to keep women from rising, within the ranks, in workplaces.

Women are less likely to get employment than men, and women`s participation in the labor force is limited in both developed and developing economies.

 There are laws, in some countries that do restrict about 2.7 billion women from having the same jobs as men, globally. In 2018 a survey carried out globally, showed that18 economies, still allowed husbands to prevent their wives from participating in formal employment.