Summit 2016 – Rushinga Rural District Council

The Rushinga Rural District Council is in the Mashonaland Central province of Zimbabwe.

The council has made progress on responding to gender-related issues. This includes the council complying to the ZimAsset action plan. It is now well known by everyone within the Council. Currently there are 25 councilors, 24 are male and 1 is a female councilor. The council has 5 committees including a junior council for the Rushinga district and all committees are chaired by men.

The council has a low rate of women participating in public consultations – between 0 to 25 percent of women form part of public participation. The workforce of the council totals to 35 individuals where 10 women are employed. The council also has a youth workforce of 15 employees. The management sex breakdown of the council has 0 percent of women representation.

An example of women in non-traditional areas of decision making within the council is a female engineer. The council has a female engineer, who has been engaged on temporal basis for three months, as the council does not have the resources to pay the engineers. Moreover, the council has applied to the ministry of Rural Development Promotions and Preservations for National Heritage and Culture for grant to pay the engineer.

The council gives provision for maternity leave which is a 3 months long paid leave. The council also provides flexi time. The council has a code of conduct but not a sexual harassment policy; all sexual harassment issues are reported to and handled by the police.

The council currently does not have an allocated budget to gender-related projects.

Click here to read more about the Rushinga Rural District Council.