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ZELA implores Gvt to include women in resource mgnt

BRIDGET MABANDA

The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) has called on the government to go a step further and develop gender sensitive policies that will help reduce Gender Based Violence (GBV) on both women and girls brought by challenges related to the extraction of resources and climate change.

ZELA joined the global campaign to advocate for the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls and called for communities to make deliberate integrated efforts to amplify the voice of women and girls in natural resource management.

In a statement, ZELA said it is crucial to acknowledge that combating GBV necessitates collaborative action, as reflected in this year’s global theme, “UNITE, and invest to prevent violence against women and girls, which calls for joint action.

“As a premier natural resources’ governance organisation, we want to see women in resource rich areas reclaiming their power and voice by participating in the management of these resources,” reads the statement.

ZELA is optimistic that these efforts would lead to the reduction of GBV against women and girls which thrives by silencing, and marginalizing women through condemning, trivializing, and omitting them from any development centered activities.

It said it has noted that resource extraction practices, such as mining and deforestation, lead to increased violence against women and girls while the harmful effects of climate change, such as natural disasters and environmental degradation, disproportionately affect marginalized communities, especially women.

“Considering this situation, we call upon communities to recognize the intersectionality of violence against women and the impact of climate change and resource extraction.

“We re-iterate the need for a gendered approach to promoting responsible business investments, addressing climate change challenges, promoting service delivery and in allocating natural resources, including extractives.

“We believe that making progress towards fighting GBV in the context of natural resources governance is crucial in tackling several of its root causes including climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution,” reads part of the statement.

ZELA said it is conscious of the fact that GBV is still a major human rights issue around the world and will require global attention for years to come.

It said it will amplify women’s voices during the 16 days of activism against GBV and beyond by documenting the stories of women’s experiences with natural resources and their management, supporting women led movements through capacity building initiatives across the natural resources sector.

To amplify the women voices, ZELA added that it will be advocating and lobbying for the participation and inclusion of women in forums that discuss natural resource management in and around Zimbabwe as well as providing technical support for women to be able to develop strategies that respond to shocks induced by natural resource extraction and climate change.

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