THE Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology, Postal and Courier Services permanent secretary Beaullah Chirume says empowering women is critical for Zimbabwe’s economic growth, as they are in the majority.
In a celebration of the achievements of Zimbabwean women, the Professional Women, Women Executives, and Business Women’s Forum (PROWEB) held its annual Women Achievers Awards last Friday, in Harare.
The awards were held under the theme ‘Woman of Impact: Empowering the Present, Leading the Future,’ which honoured women who demonstrated exceptional prowess and accomplishments in diverse categories throughout the year.
Chirume, the guest of honour at the awards, noted as 52% of Zimbabwe’s population were women, it was important to highlight their achievements.
“The director of ceremonies says emphatically that we want to control 50% of the channel (business). But when I go back to the demographics of this country, what is the percentage of women? The demographic percentage for women is 52%,” she said.
“So, what do we mean when we say we want to control 50% of the economy when the demographics are actually saying we are 52% of the economy?”
Chirume challenged the notion that women should merely aim to control 50% of the economy, as their actual contributions far exceeded this figure.
“This event should bring us strength, resilience and acknowledge our achievements as the women of Zimbabwe, but also learning from women elsewhere,” she added.
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“We have this collective power of action. We realise the importance of creating spaces for women’s voices to be heard in which hope is exceptionally achieved for the past 19 years.”
Chirume said acknowledging the accomplishments would inspire future generations to enhance women’s business and entrepreneurial credibility.
“Today we come together to acknowledge the progress we’ve made towards gender equality, economic empowerment and emancipation of women. There’s empowerment, but there’s also emancipation,” she said.
PROWEB president Tendayi Mamvura noted the awards were also held to continue challenging and dismantling the systems that perpetuate socio-economic disparities against women.
“Tonight’s award ceremony inspires me. Looking around this room I am convinced that your individual work and the collective work of PROWEB is deemed for greater achievement,” Mamvura said.
“We must therefore continue to challenge and offer solutions to the systems and structures that perpetuate socio-economic discrimination of women.”
RSVP Events founder and managing director Tapiwa Mukoti was named Business Woman of the Year, and FBC Bank Insurance managing director Alice Shumba was won the Woman Chief Executive Officer of the Year Award.
