Zimbabwe: Gender analysis of the Global Political Agreement shows that the agreement recognises women’s land rights

The recently published gender analysis of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) commended the drafters recognising the rights of women to access to land. The peace agreement (GPA) gave birth to the current set up of the Zimbabwe coalition government.

Article 5.8 of the GPA states that, ‘Recognising the need for women’s access and control over land in their own right as equal citizens.’ According to the analysis, this specific reference to the rights of women is both commendable and is a classic example of gender-sensitive provision in the document.

Article 5.9 extends the recognition of the right to land for all and, by inference, to women. Articles 5.9(c),(e) and (f) are in line with the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms OF Discrimination against Women Article 14 (2) (g),which provides for access to land by women.

While the report does not refer to the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, the recognition of women’s land rights is in line with Article 18, which calls on States to ensure that by 2015; they review all policies and laws that determine access to, control of and benefits from, productive resources by women in order to end all discrimination against women and girls with regard to water rights and property such as land and tenure thereof.

“It is noteworthy that, because the application of the law in Zimbabwe has not always protected women, there is a real possibility that there will be challenges for women related to issues of access, ownership and control of land due to the interpretation of policies and laws, despite gender-sensitive language in the GPA,” reads part of the analysis.

Overall, the analysis called for the need for women in the country to be sensitised on the provisions of the GPA, this would involve women reading and understanding the document and its implications with a view to providing periodic gender-sensitive evaluations of the agreement.