On Monday, the world celebrates International Women’s Day an event recognised annually by the United Nations. It is being held under the theme #ChooseToChallenge.
It was born out of the struggle for better working conditions for women and the right to vote. The day was celebrated for the first time by the United Nations in 1975.
Two years later, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.
According to the International Women’s Day website, the day has a number of missions to help forge a gender equal world.
Celebrating women’s achievements and increasing visibility, while calling out inequality is key, it said.
“A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. So let’s all choose to challenge,” it said.
The push to eradicate inequalities between men and women has seen a number of initiatives, laws and conventions have been born to advance the cause of women who have managed to break the glass ceiling.
There are numerous stories of women who shattered the glass ceiling and attain a feat that would in the past be a preserve for men.
Who would forget Divine Ndhlukula’s dream when she ventured into the security industry in 1988. Converting her cottage into an office with four employees, Securico was born.
It has grown to become a leading player and an acclaimed award winning organisation in Zimbabwe. It is 100% Zimbabwean and 100% women owned, according to its website.
There is also another story of Maud Chifamba, who broke records by becoming the youngest graduand at the University of Zimbabwe when her peers were graduating from high school. It is a story of how some confront adversities to conquer their world.
The success of women in other sectors of the economy is attributed to hard work and an enabling environment which recognises gender equality.
Zimbabwe is part to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women which came on board in 1991, the Beijing Declaration on the Platform for Action (1995), the Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the Equal Remuneration Convention, the Convention on Prohibition of Discrimination in Occupations and the Convention on Economic, and Social and Cultural Rights.
In 2008, Zimbabwe ratified the protocol to the 2003 African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women.
The Bill of Rights in Chapter 4 of the new Constitution recognises that men and women have a right to equal treatment, including right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.
As part of the celebrations of the success of women, Zimbabwe’s fastest growing business paper, Business Times, will from this week profile women who shattered the glass ceiling in the corporate sector.
