Story by Fairstars Mukungurutse
GOVERNMENT in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched the Gender Equality Seal for public institutions aimed at integrating gender equality standards across various organisations.
Positioning Zimbabwe as one of the gender equality champion countries within the Southern African region, UNDP’s flagship programme; the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions was officially launched this Monday with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) becoming the first institution in the country to undertake the certification programme.
“It is a comprehensive and holistic approach that takes public institutions into a learning journey of about 24 months, really working with these institutions to make sure that SDG 5, as well as other gender commitments that Zimbabwe is part of are also implemented through these institutions. Zimbabwe is one of the pioneer countries in the region when it comes to implementing the Gender Equality Seal. We’ve got a number of countries in the region, but beyond the region this is something that is also being implemented across four regions that is Latin America, Asia and others,
“Zimbabwe, is also joining a number of other countries that have been implementing this, like Uganda, Rwanda, and Ghana. So in the context of Zimbabwe, the focus is around helping the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, to really support them to systematically integrate gender into their processes, procedures, as well as policies, and to see how this align with their mandate of tax revenue. But most importantly, to apply the gender lens and make sure that within their mandate, gender is also integrated and upheld,” UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa gender team leader, Mrs Cleopatra Hurungo said.
ZIMRA acting commissioner general, Mrs Constance Shumbayawonda weighed in, “We will be training the trainers who will then go around ZIMRA to train our staff on gender equality in public institutions under fiscal services. We are also going to support the SMEs, UNDP is coming to bridge the gap of educating our small and medium enterprises, not all of them alone, but across the whole tax divide, because we know that without the taxpayers, we are not able to surpass our targets. So we actually have picked hundreds of similar staff that are going to go around the country to train all our staff, so that we’ll be able to educate and reach out to our clients and provide the necessary expertise and reduce the cost of compliance, because We want them to concentrate on payment of tax and not any other costs that come with that.”
The Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, said the initiative aligns with the national strategy to advance gender equality in Zimbabwe.
“ZIMRA’s commitment to implement this initiative as one of the pioneer public institutions in Zimbabwe to implement the Gender Equality Seal framework is commendable and demonstrates strong leadership. This process will enable ZIMRA to enhance its operations and establish a national standard for gender-responsive public service. This also conveys a significant message, gender equality is not solely the responsibility of my Ministry, but rather a priority for the entire government and the whole Zimbabwean society,
“I therefore call upon all other government entities, including the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the Office of the Auditor General, and the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion, to adopt the Gender Equality Seal programme, and we can see that ZIMRA is ready now to work with everybody, more so the SMEs.
“SMEs are playing a very critical role in the economic development of our country. It is important that there is gender equality. We need taxation which is progressive, which will make all the SMEs register. Our job as the ministry is to formalise all the SMEs. We need them. They are playing a critical role,” she said.
Achieving gender equality remains a top priority for government as demonstrated by the ratification and domestication of all major international, regional and sub-regional gender equality instruments.
Section 17 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides for gender balance in all spheres of life, with section 52 providing for equal rights, equal treatment and equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.
