Govt to enact gender equality bill

-Government has reiterated its commitment to ensuring gender equality in the country.

Minister of Community Development, Mother and Child Health Emerine Kabanshi disclosed that government was in the process of enacting the gender equality bill.

Ms Kabanshi said the idea of enacting the bill was to start the domestication of international treaties that Zambia had ratified.

She explained that the aim of the treaties is to galvanise women participation in national processes of member states as espoused in the SADC and African Union gender protocols to which Zambia is a signatory.

ZANIS reports that Ms Kabanshi said this when she officiated at the 18^thgeneral assembly of the Non-Governmental Organization Coordinating Council (NGOCC) in Lusaka today.

And Ms Kabanshi said government was equally concerned with the increased cases of gender based violence and the incidences of child pregnancies and marriages.

She said government would endeavour to put in place policies that would ensure that child pregnancies and marriages are addressed.

Ms Kabanshi also commended traditional leaders that have been advocating and championing the fight against child pregnancies and marriages in their chiefdoms.

Speaking at the same occasion, NGOCC chairperson Beatrice Grillo called on the women in the country to reposition themselves in order to overcome their various challenges.

Ms Grillo urged the women to utilize the conference and evaluate their contribution in the country after 50 years of independency.

She noted that women’s participation in decision making was still below the minimum acceptable standards despite having capable women to run the affairs of the country.

Ms Grillo has called on women to think positively and act decisively in discharging their duties and responsibilities.