Among other issues such as customary law being discriminatory towards women, the right for women to land, and abortion; the issue of representation in the thematic committees seems to be a bone of contention as Zimbabwe goes through the process of rewriting its constitution. 

The Zimbabwe Standard newspaper of 14 February 2010 reports that the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (Copac)’s management committee has 1 woman out of 10, while the steering committee and the select committee have 3 out of 10, and 9 out of 25 respectively.  These gender disparities, compounded by the already existing imbalance of representation in parliament, could be the crux of the problem, holding up the move to gender equity in political, economic and social spheres.   

Why should women assert their voices for fair representation?  Why should they care about the constitution and be actively involved in the constitution revision process?

The Gender Forum discussion on Thursday 26 February will seek to help Zimbabwean women to realise the importance of adding their voice to the constitution-making process.