|
•Promote and strengthen inter-organisational networking activities for the exchange of knowledge, experience and information on Gender and Development (GAD) issues.
• Promote gender awareness by collecting and distributing information on GAD issues.
• Promote (among development agencies) adoption of gender sensitive information systems, so that development programmes are amenable to gender analysis.
• Repackage information in forms appropriate to users.
• Fill information gaps in both formal and non formal ways, such as through formal research and GAD talks.
• Increase the capacity of government officials, MPs, the media, civil society organisations (CSOs) and local authorities in gender budgeting.
• Lobby and advocate for change in policies and practices that affect women negatively, specifically to influence Government to put in place legislation and mechanisms which protect women’s sexual and reproductive rights.
• Facilitate linkages between women constituencies and their legislators, and hence give a voice to ordinary women.
• Raise women’s awareness of their rights, their ability and their potential to influence decision making at all levels.
• Promote and nurture legislators and civil servants’ sense of accountability to their constituents, and to women in particular.
ZWRCN interventions are crafted in the context of the increasing momentum towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that Zimbabwe like many countries in Southern Africa ascribe to.
The programmes are anchored on three MDGs, namely:
Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
Goal 3 Promote gender equity and empower women; and
Goal 6 Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
Attainment of these prioritised MDGs remains a top concern for Zimbabwe.
The Economic Policies and Public Finance component seeks to promote an understanding of the need for, and the adoption of gender budgeting at local authority and central government levels as the key to poverty eradication, thereby working towards achieving MDG 1.
• Human capacity building
• Advocacy, networking and coalition building
• Research and publications
• Institutional strengthening
The Gender and Information component promote access to information and knowledge for women and girls, to enable them to make rational choices about life situations, and enhance their participation as both implementers and beneficiaries of development activities, on par with men, thereby promoting MDG 3.
• Acquisition
• Information generation
• Documentation
• Information processing
• Collation of information
• Publishing in variety of media
• Distribution/ dissemination
• Profiling of ZWRCN & other women’s organisations
• Capacity building of women writers
• Advocacy
The Gender HIV and AIDS component address issues of resource allocation to home based care, and legal reforms to promote the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls, as the key to slowing down the rate of HIV infection , thereby promoting MDG 6.
• Research
• Information dissemination
• Capacity building
• Influencing Policy
Alliances at national, regional and international levels are going to be critical for ZWRCN to consult and reach out to our target groups at the, community level. ZWRCN’s membership of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) will be used to best advantage in the identification and selection of partners.
In order to meet our goals, ZWRCN has set in motion very specific capacity building programmes targeted at:
• Ensuring its staff acquire the necessary skills;
• Enabling them in turn to train and build the capacity of other organisations and government;
• Ensuring the success of the recently introduced performance based management system;
• Increasing the visibility of women’s issues through its work.
• Integration of programmes directs the method in which fundraising is approached;
• Core funding of the organisation’s programmes is essential for the continued existence of the organisation.
|
