Zambia: Gender activists criticise first draft constitution

Gender activists in Zambia have criticised the first draft of the proposed new country constitution, saying it still lacks provisions to protect women rights.

The Chairperson of NGOCC Beatrice Grillo announced the declaration of women rights in the first draft constitution at Mulungushi conference centre.

The draft for the new constitution was recently launched by the Technical Committee on Drafting the Zambian Constitution (TCDZC) , and it provides a series of procedures aimed at protecting women, but activists says more need to be done to have a gender friendly constitution.

Another gender activist Grace Manyonga from NGOCC had concerns with Article 23 and clauses (4) (5) and (7) ofthe draft constitution. While they prohibit discrimination based on sex, they allow discrimination on the basis of custom and other traditional practises especially in areas of marriages, inheritance and death (burial rites).

“We would like article 23 with its claw-back-clauses to be deleted completely,”Manyonga said. Click here to read more

Source:http://zamwa.wordpress.com