Summit 2016 – Murehwa Rural District Council COE

Murewa is situated, 75 kilometres northeast from the capital of Harare. Murewa Centre is the business hub of the inhabitants though their close proximity to Harare means they also render services to the capital, particularly vegetables. The Local authority is quite unique as it is one of a very few which has a stakeholder coordinated gender committee in place.

Council has an adopted Gender policy and reviewed action plans aligned to SDGs, Post SADC Gender Protocol and other relevant targets. There is also a work plan for the Gender committee and council as a whole. A strategic plan for council is also in place. Council also makes use of its budget for implementation of tasks. The budget is used as an administrative monitoring tool. The council has 30 councillors, of which six of them are females.

The council has eight committees and women chair two of those. There is a Junior Council and there are more young girls than boys.

Women, men, people living with disabilities and youth are all given equal opportunities to participate in public meetings and events. For example, women being the director of ceremonies at functions like women’s days, 16 days of activism. The percentage of women participation was low but they now have the courage to participate even during consultation meetings.

The council has three months’ provision for maternity leave. There is a policy against sexual harassment. Sexual Harassment cases are dealt with in terms of the Sexual Harassment policy and the council’s code of conduct. A case in point where a male nurse at a council clinic was harassing expecting mothers, he was dismissed from council employment.

Council reserves 30% of all its stands for women as part of its economic plan. The allocation policy is gender-sensitive meaning that it allows both men and women to benefit equally.

A climate change policy is in place and it integrates women, men, PWD and youths. Environmental by-laws are also in place. The climate change policy is gender-responsive in the sense that women are environment managers since they are directly involved in environmental issues.