Gender programmes need more funding

Lazarus Sauti

Women in Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries face greater challenges that are not only hindering their emancipation, but also halting socio-economic development.

Violet Nkathazo, a Harare based gender analyst, says women in Southern Africa are still haunted by widespread confronts such as limited access to education, healthcare, land, agricultural equipment and irrigation, discrimination in employment, gender-based violence, cultural practices, poverty, high levels of maternal mortality as well as child marriages.

She adds: “A number of women in most nations are still in the informal sectors of their respective economies, with little or no prospects of social and economic development.

“This means they have limited opportunities in trade, industry and government.”

Further, Nkathazo notes that the primary development policies in most, if not all, countries in Southern Africa still do not take into account differences in income and power between men and women; thus, hampering efforts to finance programmes that reduce inequality.

As a result, Nkathazo advices countries in the region to increase funding for gender programmes as well as to fully endorse the role of women’s empowerment and gender equality as key drivers of the process of social and economic sustainable development.

She believes increasing funding for gender strategies is a core development objective in its own right, a fact supported by Malawi’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Jane Kambalame, who added that increasing funding for gender programmes and investing in women is not only a right thing to do, but the only smartest move for SADC to move forward.

Simbarashe Namusi, a Zimbabwean social commentator, also stresses that increasing funding for gender programmes is the only way for states in Southern Africa to create a future that will result in durable peace, security, freedom and social justice, equitable development as well as sustained economic prosperity.

“Increasing funding towards gender programmes is the only avenue to enhance poverty eradication and stimulate political, economic, social and technological expansion in the region. SADC countries must increase funding in order to ensure that the historical and asymmetrical imbalances that exist in opportunities for men and women are addressed,” he said.

Speaking at a media briefing at the SADC Ministers of Gender and Women Affairs meeting held in Harare recently, Zimbabwe’s acting Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Sithembiso Nyoni said there is a general consensus that limited funding for women’s rights and gender equality is a crucial factor restraining the achievement of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.

She also encouraged SADC nations to increase funding for gender programmes at both national and regional level to provide for the empowerment of women, to eliminate discrimination and to achieve gender equality and equity.

“Economic empowerment of women not only positively impacts on their own lives, but is also essential in poverty eradication and the overall development of the region.

“As a result, countries in the region need to increase funding for gender programmes,” Nyoni said.

Daphne Jena, journalist and gender activist, also points out that gender issues and programmes are still viewed as women’s issues in most SADC states yet they are about power balances between men and women.

“There is, therefore, need to get rid of this misconception which needs more awareness and work.

“For this to see the light, SADC member-states need to ensure that resources are channelled towards women emancipation initiatives and programmes for gender equality,” she said.

Jena added that countries simply need to allocate an increased percentage of their national budgets towards women and gender issues.

South Africa’s Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Susan Shabangu, concurred.

“Gender allocations in most SADC countries are not enough; therefore, the need to increase allocation along with focusing more on women as equal participants in economic matters,” she said.

Shabangu added: “What we need is gender mainstreaming in every sector of the economy so as to effectively involve women in empowerment schemes; we know that the money is not enough, thus the need to come up with strategies from each member-state which empowers more women.”

Jena believes a gender fund for the regional grouping, where member-states contribute equally towards gender programmes, should be part of any strategy.

She urges member-states to also establish women banks in their respective countries as strategies to increase funding for gender programmes as well as to effectively empower women.

Zimbabwe, for example, has established such a bank with an initial capital outlay of US$5 million as a strategic response towards women’s economic empowerment.

Namusi believes private sector support is crucial.

He, therefore, urges SADC governments to work with players in the private and public sectors as well as generous development partners if the region is to provide women with greater access to credit and other sources of funding.

“Funding can only be increased if government sectors partner with non state actors in gender and development fraternities to upscale their contributions to gender programmes,” Namusi summed up.