By Patience Matono | The NewsHawks
Zimbabwe has taken a decisive step towards closing the gender gap with Cabinet’s recent adoption of the National Gender Policy (2025), a move hailed by civil society as a long-overdue course correction in the country’s equality agenda.
The Economic Justice for Women’s Project (EJWP), which has been at the forefront of advocacy efforts, described the policy as “a significant milestone in Zimbabwe’s journey toward gender equality and women’s empowerment.”
For many, the approval is more than a bureaucratic exercise—it is a lifeline for women whose voices have too often been drowned out by systemic barriers.
The new policy, which replaces the lapsed framework of 2021, comes after EJWP’s urgent petition to parliament in March this year.
The women’s group wwas of the view that the absence of a guiding framework would lead to public entities downplaying the importance of being gender sensitive in policy formulation, said EJWP Director, Margaret Mutsamvi.
“We welcome the Cabinet’s approval of the National Gender Policy (2025) as a significant milestone in Zimbabwe’s journey towards gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Our urgent petition on March 14,2025, called for the renewal of the policy, which had lapsed in 2021.We are proud to have played a central role in advocating for this crucial Policy framework as we commit to supporting its fall implementation, particularly inclusive economic empowerment and public resource management,” said Mutsamvi
What sets the 2025 policy apart is its focus on implementation. It provides a unified structure for monitoring gender equality, institutionalises gender mainstreaming, and sets out clear strategies to dismantle entrenched inequalities across legal, economic, health, education, climate, and digital sectors12. For the first time, the policy signals a shift from aspiration to action, offering a renewed national mandate to address deep-seated disparities.
EJWP has pledged to keep the pressure on, vowing to “monitor progress, engage with duty bearers, and amplify the voices of women, especially those in marginalised and economically excluded communities.” The organisation is particularly focused on inclusive economic empowerment and accountability in public resource management—areas where gender gaps remain stubbornly wide12.
As Zimbabwe embarks on this new chapter, the challenge will be translating policy into tangible change. For women in the country’s rural outposts and crowded urban centres alike, the hope is that the National Gender Policy will not remain ink on paper but will become a living document—one that delivers on its promise of equality for all.
