{"id":454,"date":"2025-11-19T07:55:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T07:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/?p=454"},"modified":"2025-11-19T07:55:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T07:55:26","slug":"wlsa-strengthens-gender-policy-at-health-service-commission-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/2025\/11\/19\/wlsa-strengthens-gender-policy-at-health-service-commission-workshop\/","title":{"rendered":"WLSA Strengthens Gender Policy at Health Service Commission Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Harare, Zimbabwe<\/em> \u2014 Women and Law in Southern Africa \u2014 Zimbabwe (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlsazim.co.zw\/\">WLSA<\/a>) is leading a capacity-building workshop with the Health Service Commission (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hsc.org.zw\/\">HSC<\/a>) as Zimbabwe gears up to implement its new <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zim.gov.zw\/index.php\/national-gender-policy-2025\/\">2025 National Gender Policy<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The policy aims to promote equality, inclusion, and gender-responsive governance across public institutions. WLSA says the workshop is part of a broader effort to ensure that the policy\u2019s ambitions translate into real-world change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1441\" src=\"http:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6Bjvv5WoAAe_Ot-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6Bjvv5WoAAe_Ot-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6Bjvv5WoAAe_Ot-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6Bjvv5WoAAe_Ot-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6Bjvv5WoAAe_Ot-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6Bjvv5WoAAe_Ot-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6Bjvv5WoAAe_Ot-2048x1153.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Themes &amp; Lessons from the Workshop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Gender-Sensitive Budgeting<\/strong><br>Chengetai Kanyangu presented on <a href=\"https:\/\/zimbabwe.un.org\/en\/297442-insights-ffd4-transforming-economies-through-gender-responsive-budgeting\">gender-sensitive budgeting<\/a>, emphasizing that public budgets must actively address structural inequalities rather than just mention gender.<br>Zimbabwe has been implementing a <a href=\"https:\/\/kukurigoupdates.co.zw\/minister-mutsvangwa-highlights-zimbabwes-progress-on-gender\/\">gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) framework<\/a> since 2022, ensuring that all stages of the budget cycle\u2014from planning to execution\u2014are informed by gender-specific goals. In the 2025 national budget, ZiG\u202f196.9\u202fbillion was reportedly allocated to programs benefiting women and girls.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public Sector Gender Mainstreaming<\/strong><br>HSC highlighted its progress in institutional gender mainstreaming. Key achievements include:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A <strong>50\/50 gender policy<\/strong> for recruitment and graduate trainee intake<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unwomen.org\/en\/what-we-do\/ending-violence-against-women\">zero-tolerance stance on sexual exploitation and abuse<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ongoing gender training for staff, including recognition of gender specialists<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pursuit of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.genderseal.org\/\">Gender Equality Seal<\/a>, reinforcing women\u2019s participation and embedding gender-responsive practices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Partnerships &amp; Support<\/strong><br>The workshop brought together WLSA, HSC, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/world\/organisations\/british-embassy-harare\">UK embassy in Zimbabwe<\/a>, the Foreign, Commonwealth &amp; Development Office (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/foreign-commonwealth-development-office\">FCDO<\/a>), and gender activists like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/vanyaradzayipost\/\">Vanyaradzayi Post<\/a>. This collaboration signals strong political and financial backing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6BjvyAXcAAvpuA-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6BjvyAXcAAvpuA-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6BjvyAXcAAvpuA-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6BjvyAXcAAvpuA-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6BjvyAXcAAvpuA-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G6BjvyAXcAAvpuA-2048x1153.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why This Matters \u2014 Bigger Picture &amp; Challenges<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Persistent Gender Inequality<\/strong><br>Despite progress, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/news\/feature\/2024\/04\/29\/persistent-gender-disparities-hinder-women-s-safety-and-productivity-in-afe-zimbabwe\">39.4% of women in Zimbabwe<\/a> report experiencing physical violence, and 11.6% have faced sexual violence. Labour force participation remains unequal: about 34% for women versus 53% for men.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Representation &amp; Political Power<\/strong><br>Women held only <a href=\"https:\/\/data.unwomen.org\/country\/zimbabwe\">28.9% of parliamentary seats<\/a> as of early 2024. Some legal reforms are still needed: despite constitutional protections, women\u2019s representation at local government levels remains below the 50% target.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Better Data &amp; Monitoring<\/strong><br>Monitoring has been a challenge due to fragmented and outdated data systems. Zimbabwe is now rolling out a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uneca.org\/stories\/zimbabwe-moves-to-streamline-gender-data-reporting\">Gender Monitoring &amp; Reporting Framework<\/a> to track gender equality indicators across government and enable evidence-based policymaking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>WLSA\u2019s workshop with HSC is more than a training event \u2014 it signals that Zimbabwe\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zim.gov.zw\/index.php\/national-gender-policy-2025\/\">National Gender Policy 2025<\/a> could move from paper into practice. Real change will require sustained political will, consistent financing, and strong data systems. If Zimbabwe can back its policy with action, it may finally start closing the gaps that have held women back for too long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harare, Zimbabwe \u2014 Women and Law in Southern Africa \u2014 Zimbabwe (WLSA) is leading a capacity-building workshop with the Health Service Commission (HSC) as Zimbabwe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-southern-africa","category-zimbabwe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":458,"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions\/458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leoninelive.africa\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}