Women Caucus

• Advocate for legislation on gender mainstreaming;
• Facilitate the effective implementation of the national gender policy;
• Provide a Forum for discussion on matters affecting women in the country, regionally and internationally across party lines;
• Develop and establish norms and standards that promote the effective participation of women in Parliament;
• Promote and help sensitize all Parliamentarians to the principles of gender equality in the country, regionally and internationally;
• Facilitate networking with other organizations and institutions within and outside the country, in activities aimed at promoting gender equality and participation.

It comprises of all female Parliamentarians across party lines who regularly meet to discuss and advocate for women empowerment programs in Parliament and beyond. Currently, the membership of the ZWPC stands at about 34.5% of the total membership of Parliament.

Disaggregated statistics from the 2018 harmonized elections reveal the following;

• 5% of the National Assembly, made up of 85 women of which 60 of them fall under the quota system, while the remainder of 15 are those directly elected out of 210 Constituencies (i.e. 11.9%).
• 48% in the Senate, made up of 38 women against 42 male senators owing to the use of proportional representation under a zebra formation.
• Only 6 young women under 35 made it to Parliament, making up only 2,85%.

Key Strategic Goals

The ZWPC is guided by its Strategic Plan document, which was successfully crafted to guide the operations of the Caucus for 5 years.  The Strategic Plan 2018-2023 identifies three Key Result Areas as follows;

• Key Result Area 1: Increased women’s participation in Parliament politics and decision making
• Key Result Area 2: Enhanced institutional Reforms to advance women’s rights
• Key Result Area 3: Strengthened resource mobilization for the Women’s Caucus

The operations of the Caucus are guided by a Constitution which provides for, among other things, membership and management of the Caucus.

Membership

Membership to the Caucus is open to all Zimbabwean Women Members of Parliament and Associate Members, upon payment of a prescribed fee. An Associate Member is any former woman Member of the Parliament of Zimbabwe.

Highlights of Achievements

The ZWPC has recorded notable achievements since its formation in 2001, which includes, among others the following:

• Influenced the enactment of the Domestic Violence Act -2007 by successfully lobbying political parties, traditional leaders, and male MPs to support the Bill,
• Increase of Women in decision-making positions, including Parliament, e.g. representation rose from 10.6% – 17% in the House of Assembly and 36 seats achieved in the Senatorial seats in 2005.  In the 7th Parliament representation stood at 18.2%, in the 8th Parliament and at 34.9% in the current 9th Parliament,
• Successfully lobbied for a gender-sensitive Constitution – in 2013 through awareness campaigns and encouraging active participation of women to advocate for women’s issues to be included in the new constitution, particularly, the introduction of a women’s quota in Parliament in 2013,
• Lobbied for the extension of the women’s quota to expire in 2033 as well as to extend it to Local Authorities,
• Launch of the 50/50 advocacy campaign in the 8th Parliament,
• Establishment of  a pressure group –  the G20,  which was responsible for developing a ‘Position Paper on the 50/50 Campaign’ and monitoring progress on the attainment of the 50/50 representation and participation,
• Successfully lobbied for some reforms of the marriages laws, which culminated in the new Marriages Act of 2022,
• Since 2018, the ZWPC tables a position paper at the Pre-Budget Seminar (i.e. an annual budget-making process by the Parliament of Zimbabwe) advocating for Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in all sectors,

Capacity-building programmes are aimed at the personal empowerment of female Parliamentarians and enhancing women Parliamentarians’ understanding of parliamentary business with a view to strengthening their capacities to mainstream gender issues.  Areas include, among others;

• Media Engagements
• Gender Responsive budgeting
• Legislative analysis
• Conflict Resolution Management and Transformation
• Transformative Leadership Skills
• Economic and Political Empowerment
• Diplomacy, Etiquette, and Grooming
• Gender and Climate Change
• Human Trafficking of girls and women

Publications

• 8th Parliament ZWPC Photobook “Counting the Gains”
• ZWPC Newsletter for the First Session of the 9th Parliament
• ZWPC Strategic Plan (2015 – 2018) for the 8th Parliament
• ZWPC Strategic Plan (2018 – 2023) for the 9th Parliament
• Women’s Manifesto (2018-2023)
• 9th Parliament ZWPC Photobook 2nd Edition of “Counting the Gains”

Awareness Campaigns by the ZWPC on Women’s Issues

The Caucus actively participates and commemorates in the celebrations of International Days such as the:  

• International Women’s Day,
• World Breast Feeding Week,
• 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence.