DC advises women to take leaf of government support, improve their welfare

DC advises women to take leaf of government support, improve their welfare

Mkushi, March 9, ZANIS ——— Mkushi District Commissioner Christopher Chibuye has urged women in the district to take note of the successes scored by the Patriotic Front government on improving the plight of women.

Gracing the Women’s Day celebrations in Mkushi, Mr Chibuye said that the PF had accelerated the efforts to attain gender equality, adding that this was evidenced in the participation of women in decision making positions.

He said that the stance adopted by the PF with regards to gender equality was in tandem with the Theme for the 2013 Women day celebrations, which read as’ Gender Agenda-Gaining Momentum’.

He stressed on the need for men and women to work together in efforts aimed at fulfilling this theme, saying that the quest to attain gender equity could be lost through complacency.

Mr Chibuye noted that government had set the tone and shown lots of commitment towards economic welfare of women, citing government initiatives such as Women Economic Empowerment Fund.

He elaborated that the PF had brought in a new approach of empowering women according to their local needs, saying that livestock, rice polishers and other processing equipment were now available in the empowerment package.

He further mentioned that the PF government was striving to improve service delivery in aspects such as Health, Education and Agriculture, for the good of entire communities including women.

Mr Chibuye also pointed out that President Michael Sata’s vision of creating new districts such as Luano, was in tandem with the aim of making the national De-centralisation policy manageable for improved service delivery.

He said that in this regard, government had identified the need for extensive improvements on roads as being amongst the interventions that would enhance the delivery of various services.

The District Commissioner cited the Zambia Road Development program as being amongst the grand interventions that would have positive impact on accelerating development through improved roads.

Mr Chibuye commented that this project was key to many aspects of service delivery, adding that it would be conducted in 10 provinces and would create 24,000 jobs.

During the same event, Representative of Mkushi’s Clergy Women, Tupelo Malokota, observed that the quest for gender equality required women to be more united.

Prophetess Malokota said that the momentum for gender equality could not be gained as long as women were not united on this agenda.

She said that there was need for women to adopt a more collective and assertive stance towards maintaining the momentum for gender equality.

Another representative of Mkushi women, Jennifer Chibuye of Nkumbi College, stated that the onus was on women in the district to maximise the opportunities created by government in Education as well as Economic Empowerment.

Mrs Chibuye pointed out that there was need for women to appreciate government’s consistency in encouraging women to utilize the opportunities presented in skills training such as Distance Learning and other avenues of Tertiary education.

She mentioned that in view of government’s interventions, there was need for women to understand the importance of education as key to both individual and national development.

The 2013 International Women’s Day was commemorated in Mkushi under the Theme ‘Gender Agenda—Gaining Momentum’.