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Columbus Mabika Herald Reporter

Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) remains committed to upholding gender equity in human capital development which is a constitutional requirement for all ministries and Government departments, Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri has said.

Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri made the remarks yesterday while giving a keynote address during the graduation of local and foreign personnel who completed the Junior Staff Course at Zimbabwe Staff College.

The course had a 17 percent female intake and 24 percent allied students from the region.

She said women empowerment remained critical pursuant to the vision of the Second Republic on mechanisation and modernisation of the ZDF.

“I am glad that the graduating course today had a female participation of seven female officers which represents 17 percent. Let me commend the Zimbabwe Defence Forces for continuing to uphold gender equity in human capital development in the ZDF, which is a constitutional requirement for all ministries and government departments.

“We will continue to support the empowerment of our uniformed women” she said.

Turning to participation of allied students, she said it is a deliberate effort aimed at strengthening regional defence and security cooperation and to enhance interoperability of forces within the SADC Standby Force.

“The Zimbabwe Defence Forces will continue to participate in military exchange programmes with other defence forces from the region and beyond in order to keep abreast with modern developments in both technology and doctrine.

“The Ministry of Defence also participates in international defence exhibitions that are hosted by various friendly countries in Africa and beyond in order to get access to modern technology,” she said.

On training, she said Government was attaching great value to training of officers of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to ensure a versatile force capable of the constitutional mandate of defending Zimbabwe’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and interests and dealing with emerging with 21st century threats.

“The thrust is to ensure that the Zimbabwe Defence Forces maintains a formidable defence capability to deal with external aggression and also contributing to international peace and stability.

“At the same time, the ZDF should continue to create a peaceful environment, conducive for socio-economic development in the attainment of Vision 2030,” she said.

The global security landscape she said has drastically shifted and has been dominated by hegemonic and unilateral actions by some powerful nations who are undermining the confidence in the international security architecture.

The behaviour by these nations, she said has shaken the foundations and principles of collective security as enshrined in the United Nations Charter, thereby threatening the power of the United Nations in international affairs.