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Nesia Mhaka Herald Correspondent

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, in partnership with the United Nations (UN) Women, is working on transforming the Overspill Flea Market in Epworth into a safe vending site for women and girls.

The project, which is being implemented under the Spotlight Initiative that promotes the establishment of safe cities and markets, is supported to the tune of 500 million euro by the European Union.

The initiative was launched by President Mnangagwa in June this year.

Speaking during an overview meeting on safe markets yesterday, the director in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community Small and Medium Enterprises Development Mr Francis Gondo said the objective of safe cities was meant to empower women and girls, especially those that were being sexually harassed.

“We want to establish a gender-inclusive market place or a trading centre for economic activity, the market place will be designed in such a way that it will be sustainable, self-maintaining,” he said.

“It will be owned by the vendors and will be complemented by other interventions in the area.”

Mr Gondo said the creation of safe cities and safe markets by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and UN Women resonated well with Government’s commitment to achieving socio-economic development through gender equality.

“The ministry and UN Women would like to demonstrate safe women’s market within the safe cities model, recognising that the market vendors are largely women and girls who continuously experience multiple forms of violence in public space,” Mr Gondo said.

He said UN Women and the ministry will establish the safe cities model within three local authorities drawn from 23 spotlight districts which will develop under four main action areas.

“The Spotlight Initiative is an expression of the same political will demonstrated by the international community in adopting the Sustainable Development Goals, with Goal 5 focusing specifically on gender equality with concrete targets on ending violence against women and girls,                                               as well as mainstreaming gender across the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” said Mr Gondo.