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Update on the constitution making process - Last week at a glance issue 39
Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe
July 13, 2010

Last week the Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) convened a press conference and encouraged women to participate more in the process. COPAC has made a standing resolution that it will hold weekly briefings with civil society and WCoZ is facilitating for its members to be part of this process including observing the outreach process.

Low representation of women in COPAC Outreach Teams

The Constitution Outreach Programme commenced on the 21st of June 2010 and statistics received to date indicate that the overall percentage of female representation in the Outreach Teams is only 25%. This is despite repeated assurances by the political leaders that women would be represented equally. WCoZ has held several meetings with policy makers and submitted a petition early this year in January to COPAC on equal representation in the Constitution Making Process. WCoZ is disappointed by this anomaly and is calling on the Management Committee, COPAC and the political parties to respect the 50% representation of women in constitution making.

Low turnout of women at COPAC outreach team meetings

Initial reports indicate that there is a low turnout for women at the COPAC outreach meetings. For example in Mashonaland West 5825 women attended meetings in the province against 8588 men. A total of 526 meetings have been held so far in eight provinces. WCoZ is calling to women of Zimbabwe to participate in the outreach meetings and to attend in large numbers as this is their right to be part of the process!

Code of conduct for NGOs observing the COPAC outreach process

COPAC gave a code of conduct to non governmental organizations intending to observe the ongoing constitution outreach programme. The purpose of the comprehensive code of conduct is to govern the conduct and the ethics of the observers and was drafted and agreed upon by civil society and COPAC. Every monitor would sign this code of conduct. It was agreed that civil society was free to deploy observers to observe the Constitution making process and all observers would be issued with accreditation cards to identify them as such in the event of an enquiry. However the civic society will pay for the production of the accreditation cards and it's a pity they COPAC is introducing these halfway through the outreach process. We expect them to have anticipated that civic would want to observe the process that will probably bring a new constitution for Zimbabwe. A copy of the code of conduct can be obtained from Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe.

WCoZ Clusters

During its Strategic Review Retreat WcoZ membership formed thematic clusters to improve participation of members and strengthening networking and synergies among member organisations. The clusters are Economic Empowerment; Health; Education; Peace Building and Conflict Resolution; Culture, Media and ICT; Politics and Decision Making; Environment; Gender Based Violence and the Legal and Constitutional cluster. The secretariat is in the process of developing TORs in consultation with membership. WCoZ will be convening cluster meetings shortly and these will meet o a monthly basis.

WCoZ to send a delegation to the AU Summit in Uganda

As a follow up to the visit by Mary Robinson and the seven eminent women from the African region, the Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe will send a delegation of five members to attend the Gender is on My Agenda (GIMAC) meeting on the sidelines of the AU Summit in Uganda and also participate in other fora at the summit. The objective of participation at the AU Summit is for Zimbabwean women to shape the narrative of the country, share experiences and mobilize support for their contribution to nation building & healing with the continued and consistent support of the women leaders who participated in the solidarity visit, as well as other sisters and organisations on the continent and beyond. Through participation at the GIMAC, which is a pan african women's platform for monitoring the Solemn Declaration, Zimbabwean women will have a platform to share their experiences, vision and give recommendations on action areas for support.

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