Summit 2016-Bulawayo COE

The City of Bulawayo is one of 2 metropolitan councils in Zimbabwe, and a leader in local excellence in local governance. The council is committed to excellence in local governance through provision of quality services to the satisfaction of stakeholders.

There is a gender action plan and gender is incorporated in the City of Bulawayo strategic plan. The council has 29 councillors. There are 21 male councillors and eight female councillors. This council is dominated by men.

There are eight committees in this council, with only two of them being chaired by women. There are more girls than boys. The Junior Council is a female.

The council has employed 900 women. The council’s management has two women in its management. The Engineering Services Department has one female Senior Engineer, one female Senior Town Planning Technician, one Female Senior Chemist, the Chamber Secretary is female, the City Legal Officer is female and one Clinical Medical Officer.

The council has provision for maternity leave that takes up to three months. There is also a flexi time for breast-feeding mothers. The council has a policy against sexual harassment. Grievance procedure entails the following steps when the staff member has a grievance they begin with the most immediate supervisor who in turn handles the case but if he/she is the alleged perpetrator the staff members escalates the grievance to the next level. The grievance procedure has six stages with a time frame of five days.

City of Bulawayo has allocated budget to support gender-related projects from 2015 and 2016.

Women and men benefit from housing stands allocation by Council as well as any economic opportunities that may arise. For example, Vending Bays, Kiosks, Commercial bays, and/or Shops allocated 2015 to date.

Council has a local environmental action plan which include the collect medical waste thrice weekly incinerate all medical waste Set up database of major e-waste handlers. Education of residents on reuse and proper disposal.