ZIMBABWE: Women Trust Established

The Zimbabwe Women in Trade and Development Trust, aimed at bridging the gap between professional women and their counterparts in the rural areas, has been officially launched in the capital.

The non-profit making Trust, which is open to all women in the country from different provinces, seeks to empower marginalised women through capacity building programmes and improving access to loans for income generating projects.

Officially launching the Trust, Vice President Joice Mujuru encouraged members to continuously uphold values of integrity and fairness adding that it is important to rope in women from the rural areas to participate in sustainable economic growth and development.

“We do not want to see a situation whereby professional women take advantage of their rural counterparts in engagement. We should uphold the values of integrity and honest in conducting our bussiness. Let us mentor and empower one another,” said Cde Mujuru.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Dr Olivia Muchena encouraged women to exploit the opportunities being availed under the trust and increase their participation in trade to assist in the development of the economy.

“As women, we are designed to empower, hence the need for us to be active in the development of the economy. I therefore call upon all women to exploit opportunities being availed by the establishment of the trust,” said Dr Muchena.

The National Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women in Trade and Development Trust (ZWITAD), Mrs Shupikai Mubvekeri said the trust will remain committed to its objectives of facilitating entrepreneurial and management skills for the improvement of the livelihood of rural women.

“ZWTAD believes that in order to substantially reduce poverty in Zimbabwe and in Africa as a whole, women have to get involved in trade policy negotiations. Women play a critical role in the development of regional economies,” Mrs Mubvekeri said.

ZWTAD, which currently has over 200 members in eight provinces is involved in areas such as agriculture, arts and crafts, market gardening as well as food processing.