WWDs in Masvingo Speak out on the Constitutional Amendment Bill #2

During the meeting held at Flamboyant Hotel in Masvingo workshop participants agreed to the idea that all the proposed 27 amendments under the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.2) 2019 affect women with disabilities in Zimbabwe since they are people living in Zimbabwe.

Participants noted that they are certain provisions which affect these women collectively as a group in terms of the protection of their group rights, participation in politics and decision making positions and these are clause 6, 11, 17, 18 and 20 of the Bill. During the workshop the general sentiment was it is trite to note that women are not a homogenous group. Therefore there is need to look at the different groups of women such as women with disabilities and promote their participation in political matters and decision making positions.

Speaking during the work one participant noted that “WWDs are a vulnerable group in our country who have been marginalised, discriminated against and excluded from decision making positions, over the past years their voices in the political sphere have been relegated to the periphery of the political discussion”. The main cause of this is the lack of political representation and the failure of government to implement policies that will allow and secure seats for the political representation of women with disabilities. 

The ICOD Zim has attached the below position paper and submissions by WWDs which will be shared with Parliament of Zimbabwe.