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Last Week at a Glance - Issue 70
Women's Coalition
August 24, 2011

My Thoughts

Finally after months of silence the Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) invited civic society and media to a press conference to give an update on the progress in the constitution making process. One will forgive them for going into hibernation for the past weeks and hopes that the process will move as fast as possible considering that a lot of time has been lost during the thematic stage due to political differences and inadequate funding. The COPAC has assured Zimbabweans that it has secured USD1,5 million for the Drafting Stage but no actual dates or time frames have been set. One then wonders, why COPAC has dropped timeframes now. Does the COPAC have enough money for the rest of the process? When will the Draft constitution be in place? As it is the COPAC has informed the media and civil society that the Draft Constitution will be made available in English, all vernacular languages and in Braille. Watch this space for more on the constitution making process . . . .Enjoy

Constitutional Update

On the 18th of August 2011, the Constitution Selection Committee chaired by Honourable Jessie Majome held a press conference to inform the media and civil society that the COPAC has concluded the compilation of District and Provincial Reports. The panel for press conference was represented by Honourable Monica Mutsvangwa (what does this sentence mean, its vague)

Speaking during the press conference Honourable Jessie Majome said that several milestones have been recorded on the constitution making process so far; notably the successful public consultation exercise, collation of all the data collected from the people's submissions as well as the compilation of the ward, district and provincial reports.

"COPAC is forging ahead with the work of spearheading the drafting of a new constitution for Zimbabwe and the focus is on the preparation for drafting by ensuring the production of the necessary report," said the Honorouble Jessie Majome.

The chairperson also briefed the conference that the compilation of the national report will commence soon and once the report is produced it will be forwarded to the drafters of the new constitution. The principal drafters will be Justice Moses Chinhengo, Mrs Priscilla Madzonga and Mr Brian Crozier.

In conclusion, COPAC assured the conference that the All Stakeholders Conference will be held to discuss the draft after which it will be presented to Parliament for debate.

Media Houses challenged on its role in perpetuation stereotypes

The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) board chairperson Mr Wellington Mbofana has challenged media houses in Zimbabwe to reflect the change in society and challenged their role in perpetuating stereotypes in their reports. Mr Mbofona said these remarks at the launch of the report Gender and the Media - A 'Snapshot' Review at a local hotel in Harare recently.

The launch was attended by several journalists from different media houses in Harare and members of the civil society. The key note address was given by the Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Development, Hon Jessie Majome who spoke on gender discrimination and the gender blindness of the media in Zimbabwe. Hon. Majome acknowledged that the media is a powerful force that can influence the way society can think and act.

The objective of the report, "Gender and Media - A 'SnapShot' Review" was to establish the inclusiveness of gender equity principle in the media discourse. The research focused on a sample of five newspapers namely The Herald, The Chronicle, The Daily News, Newsday and the H-Metro and the nation's sole television station ZTV. The research period was from March - June 2011.

The report illustrates that women remain at the periphery of the news, either appearing in limited roles or simply invisible. Women appear in the media in narrow range roles such as domestic workers, beauty contestants, office workers and housewives. In some instances, women are portrayed in an inhuman and degrading manner as illustrated in the H-Metro 14 April 2011 - 'Wife has pimples on genitals'. Other media reports portray women as perpetrators and agents of moral decadence such as prostitution and promiscuity such as 'Wife caught pants down; SA-based man finds wife under tobacco farmer and Sick footballer's wife cheating'.

A copy of the report can be obtained from MMPZ and WCoZ has a few copies for distribution.

Upcoming Events

• 25 August 2011 Cross Provincial meeting for the WCoZ Peace Building Project
• 26 August 2011 WCoZ Peace Building Steering Committee Meeting
• 30 August 2011 WCoZ Members' Meeting

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