How well do these themes play into the goals and objectives when the UN called for the celebration of the first IWD in 1975, and more specifically into the future, since girl children are the future?
My next instalment will celebrate IWD and the Zimbabwean woman: the successful woman in the prayer closet and the market place — the woman who is able to balance various roles.
It will also show how tradition has played a major role between generations — from the girl child to elderly women as they pass on skills and knowledge in a manner, which is probably not well understood and/or appreciated by our male counterparts.
But, that’s for the next instalment.
Since this is an international event, it is also good that we take cognisance of what other sisters are doing in other parts of the world.
Recently, I was reading that although women in North Africa were in the forefront of the so-called Arab Spring, now that the revolutionary phase is nearly over, they are likely to be sidelined since all the states (Tunisia, Libya and Egypt) have opted to be Islamic states.
In Zimbabwe, women have always argued that since the colonial era, they have fought side-by-side their male counterparts, thus they should share the national cake on an equal basis — in all spheres.
Our lessons will go a long way assisting our sisters in North Africa — after the revolution.
The presidential elections in Russia have come and gone, but according to Svetlana Kolchik, deputy editor-in-chief of the Russian edition of Marie Claire magazine, in her latest column “Women talk: The same president, but a different Russia?”
“The changes in Russia seem to have started happening not from top to bottom as they always used to, but from bottom to top. This might be a less speedy, but a safer and steadier evolutionary process. I just hope this metamorphosis is irreversible no matter who’s in power.”
That’s a woman’s point of view in an election mired in some controversies. Cuba might be a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean, but it has an impressive resume regarding women’s issues.
The following information was provided by the Cuban embassy in Zimbabwe:
l Cuba was the first country to sign and the second to ratify the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
l The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) has played an outstanding role as the national mechanism that has promoted the advancement of women, and the attainment of their true human rights.
l The FMC brings together more than 4 million members. It is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC since 1997.
l In 2003, a decree extended the maternity leave until the baby is one-year-old.
l It establishes the possibility for the mother and father to share the care of their child while preserving their rights at work.
l Women in Cuba fully exercise their sexual and reproductive rights. Family planning services are available for women and men alike.
l Cuban women gained the right to vote in 1934.
l Cuba ranks among the first places in the world regarding women in parliamentary positions.
l IWD is not about us as women, but it is up to ALL women to be that sensible day when sisterhood brings peace and harmony globally.
Figures
Population: 11 242 628
Women: 49,9 percent
Men: 50,1 percent
Literacy: 99,6 percent (in population between 15 and 49-years-old)
Standard population literacy: 9 grades.
Access to drinkable water: 98 percent
Electrification: 95,5 percent
General unemployment rate: 1,9 percent
Population
Gross fertility rate: 0,75 (girls per woman)
Global fertility rate: 1,43 (children per woman)
Marriage rate: 5,0 (marriages per 1 000 inhabitants)
Households headed by women: 36 percent
Employment
Women in the labour force (civil-state sector): 47,3 percent.
Women represent 65,6 percent of all professionals and technicians in the country.
72 percent of the labour force in the educational sector.
70 percent of the labour force in the health sector; 63,80 percent of the general practitioners in the country.
51,6 percent of all scientific researchers and 25,4 percent of the self-employed workers.
Health
Life expectancy: general — 78,0 years
Women — 80,02 years
Men — 76 years.
Prevalence of HIV and Aids in women: 15-49 years old — 0,1 percent.
Education
University women enrolment: 63 percent
Women are: 65,8 percent of all university graduates
45,7 percent of all technical and professional graduates
40 percent of students in the scientific and technical fields and 53,4 percent of all professors in higher education.
Women and politics
Women in Parliament: 43,32 percent
Women in leading positions: 40,2 percent
Women cabinet ministers: 8 (28,6 percent)
Women deputy ministers: 42(35,6 percent)
Women members of the Council of the State 12  (25,8 percent).
And, for the first time ever, a woman holds the rank of Vice President of the Council of State.  
Cuban women constitute 73,7 percent of all attorneys in the country
71,4 percent of the presidents of provincial courts
71,3 percent of the professional judges in the country
47 percent of the judges in the Supreme Court.
And, out of the 199 scientific research centres in Cuba, 48 are headed by women, which represents 24 percentage points.
As we commemorate this special day, let us remember that there are many women around the world who still have to enjoy what we aspire. The woman’s full actualisation will only be possible when all women enjoy their God given rights.
Ms Priscilla Munyeza head of corporate banking at one of the country’s leading banks and Women Excel non-executive director told diners at a fundraising dinner last Friday, “the idea is to learn, inspire each other and actually grow . . . I believe that each and every one of us here has what it takes to be big. It’s a matter of how we place ourselves”

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