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International
Women’s Day
Lovemore Matombo, President, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU)
March 10, 2004
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to welcome you all to this important gathering which
has become an annual and important day in the calendar of the entire
world, Zimbabwe and trade unions in general.
We meet to day
to celebrate the International Women’s Day at a time when women
Zimbabwe are facing greater challenges than ever before. One of
the greatest challenges facing women in Zimbabwe is that of HIV/AIDS
which has devastated the country and left most families in limbo.
It is women who are left to care for their sick husbands and children
in homes, and at the same time, they are expected to find money
to bring food to the tables of their homes.
I would like
to call upon the government to look into the issue of providing
anti-retroviral drugs seriously to help not only our women folk,
but also their families who are dying every day from the pandemic.
The National Aids Fund must also come in handy to help widowed women
and orphaned children in the face of the AIDS crisis that we are
facing.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
it would be amiss if I do not mention the issue of state-sponsored
violence against women that has become almost like a norm in our
society. Zimbabwean women have borne the brunt of political dictators
who see women as a weaker and docile sex that can be manipulated
for personal political benefit.
Recently during
valentine’s day, women, under the auspices of WOZA were beaten up
by state security agencies for demonstrating their desire to be
loved. During the last Parliamentary and Presidential elections,
women were beaten-up, some were burnt and other had sharp instruments
used on them in most unpleasant places. Such is the situation in
Zimbabwe today and we expect that to happen as we approach the 2005
Parliamentary elections.
I call upon
women not to be used by politicians who will dump them later. The
days when women would go and kneel for someone’s husband at the
airports are over.
Then there this
animal called national service. There are several press reports
of rape, torture and all sorts of inhuman treatment of women and
young girls that have been forced the join the National Service
by the government ostensibly to instil a sense of patriotism into
them. If the reports are true, then we are creating a generation
of killers and sadists. Although the government may deny this, there
is no smoke without fire, I would like to urge it to institute an
investigation or an Independent Commission of Inquiry into these
allegations in order to clear the air and set the record straight.
Although women
constitute a significant number of Zimbabwe’s population, they still
are poorly represented in the corridors of power and in decision
making structures – be it in government, unions, companies, or non-governmental
organisations . We in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions have
made great strides in this direction. Today, the ZCTU has three
women in its top decision making structures, that is the presidency,
secretariat and the treasury. We are probably the only trade union
organisation in Africa, if not the world, in which women occupy
such top posts and we are proud of that. Only recently, the ZCTU
vice-president, Ms Lucia Matibenga, was elected to the top post
of the president of the Southern Africa Trade Union Co-ordination
Council SATUCC), an umbrella labour body for SADC countries, a great
feat indeed since the position has never been held by any woman,
let alone a Zimbabwean woman.
One of the greatest
achievements of the ZCTU in recent years is its ability to convince
the government on the need for a 100 % pay for women who are on
maternity leave. We are proud that we have achieved that, but what
is now left is to fight for a tax- free pay for women on maternity
leave. Every women needs every cent of her pay during the period
when she is on maternity and I hope with everyone’s backing, we
will be able to achieve this.
Besides campaigning
for tax free maternity leave, the ZCTU would also want to see affordable
sanitary pads in our shops and stiff penalties imposed for perpetrators
of sexual violence and domestic violence. At the same time, there
is need to embark on educational programmes that will ensure that
women are recognised as equal and have to be treated the same with
members of the opposite sex. However, of great concern to the ZCTU
is the small number of women at shop-floor level who are eager to
participate in union activities. There is need to unionise all working
women and most of whom are now in the informal sector due to the
prevailing economic climate. This is a challenge I am leaving to
you women gathered here today.
Women are the
least protected workers in the world and that is why the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) is launching a new initiative
as part of its three year campaign to unionise women. In the year
2005, the ICFTU, in its campaign, Unions for Women and Women
for Unions, will focus on women working in the informal economy
and export processing zones.
Although this
year’s International Women’s Day’s theme is Women and HIV/AIDS
the ZCTU celebrates this theme with a sub-theme Women Against
Corruption and Poverty. It is our belief that if we fight corruption,
we will also be addressing the issue of poverty among women folk
and the population in general.
Women are and
will remain the backbone of every nation.
I THANK YOU
Visit the ZCTU
fact sheet
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