Addis Ababa — THE Zimbabwean Government has, since the adoption of the 1995 Beijing Declaration, made significant strides in removing obstacles to women's participation in all spheres of public and private life, the Deputy Minister of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation, Cde Shuvai Mahofa, has said.

Speaking at the Seventh African Regional Conference on Women, (Beijing +10) that was held on the sidelines of the Fourth African Development Forum, Cde Mahofa said Zimbabwe remains committed to the full implementation of the Platform for Action and the Beijing Declaration.

"Soon after the 1995 Beijing Declaration, the Government of Zimbabwe drew its own National Plan of Action for the implementation of the Platform for Action.

"This signified the Government's total commitment to ensuring the full and equal participation of women in all spheres of life.

"Since Beijing +5, the thrust of all stakeholders has been to call for the integration of gender perspectives in all policies and programmes," she said.

Cde Mahofa said the Government had identified five critical areas of concern to address women's issues.

"These include institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; education and training of women; women in politics and decision-making; women and the economy; and women and health as well as HIV/Aids.

She said mechanisms for the promotion of gender equality existed in her ministry, adding that gender desks had been established in Government ministries, departments and parastatals.

"A total of 189 'gender focal persons' were trained during the gender training programmes conducted from March to June 2003. "The launch of the National Gender Policy in March 2004 has made gender mainstreaming more feasible," Cde Mahofa said.

She, however, said the status of women in the country, although being continuously addressed, remained low.

"Women are still under-represented in political decision-making, particularly in Parliament.

"In the first two parliaments after independence (in 1980), women constituted fewer than 10 percent of Members of Parliament," she said.

In the Third Parliament there was an improvement to 14 percent.

"This had since fallen to 11 percent between 2000 and 2003," Cde Mahofa said.

She said significant strides had been made in narrowing gender disparities in both primary and secondary education.

"The Zimbabwean Government has shown its commitment to the inclusion of women in the mainstream economy giving a 20 percent quota for land resettlement to women. Current figures show that 9-12 percent of the women benefited," she said.