Women, most victims of social-economic effects of COVID 19- UN

By ANN ZULU

Lusaka, Zambia

COVID-19 is increasing poverty particularly among women and girls, Special Envoy of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region Huang Xia has observed.

Mr Xia said women were the most victims of the social-economic effects of the pandemic.

He said this when he chaired the 12^th session meeting of the Advisory Board for Women, Peace and Security for the Great Lakes Region which was conducted via video conference with members from several countries.

The meeting set its agenda to include mobilization of the regional and international community to contribute to the fight against COVID-19 and to preserve the achievements recorded in relation to the Women, Peace and Security component; participation of women in the political and electoral process in the region; and engagement of member states to ensure prevention, protection and economic recovery and implementation of the Regional Action Plan.

It also reviewed the operationalization of the Regional Action Plan of resolution 2000 of the Great Lakes Region and examined the role of Gender Ministers in national, regional and international response to the ongoing health crisis as well as participation of women in forthcoming elections.

Participants of the 12^th session meeting of the Advisory Board for Women, Peace and Security for the Great Lakes Region

Mr Xia urged members of the board to redouble their efforts to stimulate advocacy actions at local, national and regional levels towards not only prevention and protection, but also socio-economic transformation which would take into account the priorities of women and girls in all countries of the Great Lakes region during the COVID 19 pandemic.

And Members of the Advisory Board pledged to champion the interests of women and girls.

Gender in International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Director and member of the advisory board Eliane Mokodopo noted that most women in the great lakes region could not provide family basic needs such as food and health services during this period.

“Women are the most active in business, especially informal sector. When borders are closed, and movements restricted, they cannot generate income," Ms Mokodopo said.

The board also made recommendations to Governments in the region to sensitize men and women to share responsibilities and tasks at home to reduce the heavy domestic work normally done by women.

They also suggested putting in place strategies to secure fund for women in order to allow them restart their financial activities when countries start the new normal.

The Advisory Board for Women, Peace and Security for the Great Lakes Region which Zambia is part of, was initiated in 2013 under the support of the office of the UN special Envoy to provide recommendations on issues related to women, peace and security.

A Zambian Female Journalist's Perspective

ANN ZULU Writes Despite having more female Journalists than men in Zambia, majority of people who hold top positions in the media are men, while women are the assistants or nothing.

In the Zambian media, It really doesn't matter whether the females are better, being female makes them only good enough to assist the male and be juniors.

As a matter of fact, “senior” positions are exclusively reserved for the best man, while the best woman is always his assistant or nothing.

In many cases, the best journalists are women, but hey they are still made to aspire for the second best position or nothing, NO MATTER how good they are.

This brings me to women in politics...... There are fewer females at the top because the enthusiasm to succeed, compete and beat the male counterparts has been killed.

Only a few women are able to break free from this societal-inflicted mental incapacitation, and go higher. And these few are most of the females you see at the top.

There are even cases where people have refused to vote for a particular candidate just because she is female.

I know we have come a long way from where we started the cause to break the gender barriers, but there is still a lot to be done.

We are still very far away from where we should be. We can do more as individuals and as people, we can start in our little capacities.

*Let us stop giving boys the impression that being males automatically entitles them to be better than half the world’s population.

*Vote the people who you genuinely believe are best suited for a particular position, irrespective of gender.

*Encourage girls as much as you encourage boys to aspire for top and leadership positions.

*Do not give female children the impression that the best they can be is second to a man.

*Let every individual have a fair chance to compete, and let the best person (not best male) win.

*When it comes to choosing, appointing or electing a leader, we stand a better chance of choosing the best from a whole population than we do from choosing from half the population.

Leadership is a human quality which actually cuts across both genders!!!!!

My Story, Every Curvy little Girl's story

Ann Zulu

ANN ZULU Writes I was 12yrs old when I came to understand that Men felt entitled to my body. My natural instinct was then to hide it, so it doesn't get taken against my will, but with the attainment of puberty, came broader hips and a bigger backside.

The stares I got and constant cat calls I received from Men, filled me with a sense of fear and shame over my body parts. I began to envy my mates who had no hips and flat asses. They could wear whatever they wanted without attracting unwholesome attention.

But No!! my body won't let me move about in peace. It kept bringing trouble my way. It was because of my body Grown Men kept staring at me that way, a lot of them old enough to be my father. It was because of my hips, they cat called. It was because of my ass, they dragged and pulled at me and tried to touch me indiscriminately.

It was my body's fault and invariably my fault that Men felt aroused around me and wanted to take advantage of me. My body had betrayed me and kept betraying me and so I had to hide it. It was my duty to conceal my hips, to hide my back side, to cover my curves with big T.shirts and bogus clothes.

But what did it change? Nothing!!! My world dictated to me how to present my body in protection of Mens' sexual desires. They wrapped it in the word "decency" and yet it changed absolutely nothing.

They wanted me regardless and would stick their hands under my bogus T-shirts to grab my ass the first chance they got. Then I understood that "decency" was a hoax. My body wasn't indecent. My clothes weren't indecent. These idiotic randy irresponsible men were the indecent ones. So I LIBERATED myself by defining decency on my own terms.

Dear curvy girl child, I conquered  and trust me you can too......

Zambians, stop the GBV hypocrisy!!!!!!

Ann Zulu writes