Summit 2016 – Harare City Council

The City of Harare aims to provide and maintain soft bound infrastructure and efficient services. The Harare City Council is dedicated to provide an enabling environment which offers first class municipal services and goods to its stakeholders while creating investment opportunities, promoting smart partnerships in an endeavour to reduce poverty and develop the city.

Council has a gender policy and an action plan .The Council strategic plan 2017-2010 was also reviewed and gender equality is a key result area for the Town Clerk. If other policies are in conflict with the gender policy, the gender policy takes precedence. There are 46 councillors within the council. Of all of those, 39 are male and seven are female.

The council has eight committees, by which all of them are chaired by men. There is a Junior Council, and the council has many boys than girls.

Youth participate fully in Council work through the Junior Council where they have meetings just like the Senior Councillors. The youths however have developmental projects that they are undertaking to make Harare a child friendly city. These include painting of zebra crossings near schools, embarking of safe cities campaigns and donating various goods to the elderly. The youths also participate in the budget consultative process.

There are provisions for maternity leave. Council has family days where families are invited to attend the social sports festival with their families. It is a fun filled day with all Council employees and their families. Various activities are in place for the whole family. Secondly the long service awards is another example of a family day where long serving employees bring their families to celebrate long service.

City of Harare has allocated budget for promoting gender related projects, from 2015 and 2016.

As part of the economic development plan, 50% of market places are reserved for women, 30% for men, 10% for PWD and 10% youth. This is a strategy to boost the country’s economy and help the people to achieve economic stability.