General
Source: Bernama
Zimbabwe will host next year the inaugural African conference on women to be held under the auspices of Global Power Women Network in Africa, Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe said on Monday.
Before the conference, set for March, the country will in November this year host the African Summit on Women's Economic Empowerment and Development, reports Zimbabweab news agency New Ziana.
The summit in November this year will take into consideration the various resolutions of the Abuja Call on "Universal Access to HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Services"; the Maputo Plan of Action and Namibia Declaration, which speak to MDGs 3, 4 and 5.
Addressing journalists at Parliament building, the Deputy Premier who was recently elected president of the Global Power Women Network in Africa said the conference would focus on women's health, HIV infections as well as the empowerment of girls.
DPM Khupe who is battling with breast cancer, is also Zimbabwe's Goodwill Ambassador on the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA).
She stressed the need for African leaders to be accountable and transparency in implementing various Protocols that have been ratified to reduce prevalence of HIV and AIDS among women and girls through economic empowerment
The Global Power Network in Africa conference will draw participants from all over the continent.
The Women's Network which came about through a UNAIDS and Global Power Centre for Women Studies in Washington is currently composed of African women leaders from the executive, legislature and judiciary
"We will launch the network in March in Zimbabwe with an aim to achieve zero new HIV infections, zero HIV related deaths and zero mother to child transmission of HIV," said DPM Khupe.
She said the network would take governments to task for failing to implement several Protocols signed to enhance the status of women and girls.
"As women we want to hold our leaders accountable. When it comes to paperwork our governments are quick to sign but when it comes to implementation nothing is done," she said.
DPM Khupe cited Zimbabwe as one of the countries with laws and Protocols that advocate for the upliftment of women yet were not being implemented.
"We want to use the network to make the leaders accountable.
"It is high time that the leaders agree and make sure that they implement singed protocols," she said.
Speaker of the House of Assembly Lovemore Moyo, Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma, Senate President Edna Madzongwe and other senior Parliament officials attended the briefing.