Summit 2016 – Zvishavane Town Council COE

Zvishavane is a mining town in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. It is also on direct rail links to Gweru and Beit Bridge.  It has a private airport serving the city. The town developed as a residential centre for an asbestos mine which started operations in 1916.

There is a Gender Policy adopted by the council and its target is to ensure equal representation of women and men in both employment and policymaking bodies. The council has 10 councillors, six men and four women.

There are five committees with the council. Women chair three of those. People living with disabilities participate in the work of council through their contributions in the budget formulation process as they always come in as a special group to contribute to the needs for PWD and youth needs.

The council employs 33 women and 125 men. There are four women in the council’s management. In the Finance department there is one lady who is a Senior Accountant, Engineering department has two ladies by which one is a plumber and the other one is an assistant bricklayer and in Administration, there is a lady who is a Firefighter in the Ambulance and Rescue Services section.

Zvishavane Town Council has allocated a budget for promoting gender-related projects, from 2015 and 2016.

As part of the council’s economic development plan, the Council has erected a Vendors’ market in town and the vending stalls were all allocated to women. This was a strategy to help uplift women in relation to economic stability and stabilize their livelihoods.