MARTIN MAWAYA
GWERU-Gweru City Council Deputy Mayor, Cllr Nyaradzo Madzukura (pictured) has challenged women organizations to escalate women’s economic empowerment programmes.
She said economic empowerment programmes for women are a lever for change and gender equality drive, adding that “women are resourceful economic agents who can built informal or formal businesses from little capital”.
Madzukura said this during a post-election discussion organized by TellZim News in Gweru last week.
She added that deliberate service delivery programmes targeting women will be prioritized during her tenure of office.
“Women organizations must come up with tangible projects that can help to uplift women. I would like to see women getting stands, malls and other benefits that help to improve their lives,” she said.
Ward 1 Councilor, Mercy Mangwanya also said the local authority will be rolling out projects targeting commercial sex workers.
“We have a lot of commercial sex workers in Greenvale where there is an influx of artisanal miners. Some find themselves in those situations due to circumstances beyond their control, hence they need some projects so that they can improve their livehoods without risking their lives,” she said.
Mangwanya pointed out that some commercial sex workers are teens who can change their lives if they get better opportunities.
Meanwhile, a local based women organization, Ebenezer Women Social Empowerment Trust trained more than 80 commercial sex workers in soap and petroleum jelly making in an effort to economically empower them and drive them from the red light zones.
