Remarks by UN Zambia Resident Coordinator, Dr. Coumba Mar Gadio: International Women's Day, 8 March 2022

• Ms. Mainga Kabika, Permanent Secretary – Gender Division
• Permanent Secretaries present
• Members of Parliament
• US Embassy Chargé D’affaires
• Members of the Diplomatic Corps
• Heads of UN agencies and international organisations
• Representatives from Civil Society
• Members of the press
• Ladies and gentlemen
• Our dear women and girls

On behalf of the United Nations (UN) System in Zambia, I am greatly honored and delighted to join all of you today, as Zambia joins the rest of the World in commemorating the 2022 International Women’s Day. This years’ theme, “Gender Equality today for a Sustainable tomorrow,” draws our attention to recognizing the contribution of women and girls in Zambia and globally to climate change adaptation, mitigation and response in order to build a more sustainable future for all. An equal and resilient society is now more than ever a necessity because it is a well-known fact that women and girls bear the biggest brunt of the negative impact of climate change.

Mr. President, allow me to first and foremost commend the Government of the Republic of Zambia, through your leadership, for supporting nationwide efforts to advance women’s inclusion and leadership as demonstrated through the appointment of women in key political positions and the progressive 8th National Development Plan, Revised Gender Policy and many other policy documents which include targets for achieving gender equality.

Mr. President, Zambia has in recent times experienced consequential climate change challenges such droughts and floods both of which have left devastating impact on the status and well-being of women and girls especially those already facing multiple vulnerabilities such as disability, migrant or refugee status and poverty. In the interest of leaving no one behind there is need to ensure that these people are targeted with holistic interventions at community level. Additionally, it is worth noting that mobile and migrant populations of women trying to make ends meet through trade and other economic activities are more vulnerable as they risk being sexually exploited and abused. Worse still, they are at even greater risk of facing sexual reproductive health challenges.

When confronted with such emergency situations, women and girls are especially susceptible to sexual violence as well as to other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) such as sexual exploitation and abuse, physical violence, and human trafficking. In this sense, gender-based inequalities and discrimination that cause and perpetuate GBV in ‘normal’ times persist and even escalate in times of crisis.

It is further ascertained that pre-existing inequalities and negative gender norms disproportionately impact women and girls in emergencies more than men and boys, coupled with limited access to various social services health including SRH, education, social cash transfer occasioned by overwhelmed social sector and restricted mobility. In most cases, this leads to negative coping strategies for women and girls which may include engaging in transactional sex, thereby exposing women and girls to sexual exploitation and abuse, especially migrant women seeking better economic opportunities to support their families.

UN ZAMBIA’S COMMITMENTS

The UN System in Zambia, through its Agencies, continues to work with the Government and the people of Zambia, towards prioritizing inclusion of women and girls, including in preparedness, contingency planning frameworks and activities, including early warning and information management systems.

We are all in this fight for gender equality together. Everyone has a role in ensuring adequate prevention and response mechanisms, services and skills are made available for our women and girls. For this to happen, we need to ensure the voices of women and girls, in particular of the most affected and vulnerable, inform our combined efforts.

The UN system in Zambia, has been working in partnership with the government of the Republic of Zambia on the GRZ-UN Joint Programme on GBV Phase 2 supported by Sweden and Ireland. The programme works with various government ministries to ensure multi-disciplinary management of GBV through medical, legal, economic empowerment for women, guidelines for the protection of child witnesses and child victims, provision of shelter for survivors, mental health and psychosocial counselling among many others. In 2022 the GRZ-UN joint programme will continue supporting establishment of child-friendly GBV fast track courts and health facility based one stop centres, construction of village-led one stop centres. Additionally, women GBV survivors will be supported with startup packs for their business, service providers will be supported with capacity building interventions for child witnesses will be conducted, migrants and refugee survivors will also be supported with information and access to services.

Mr. President, in order to strengthen coordination and avoid duplication of efforts, United Nations System in Zambia will continue to collaborate with various cooperating partners such as European Union, the governments of Sweden, Ireland, Britain, Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and many others in the gender equality and GBV arena through the Gender Cooperating Partners Group, GBV Technical Working Group and many other coordination mechanisms.

CALL TO ACTION

To uphold women’s rights and fully leverage the potential of women’s leadership in emergency preparedness and response, the perspectives of women and girls, in all of their diversity, must be integrated in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes for response and recovery. Priority should be given to protect women and girls from the impact of climate change, especially early warning systems and protection measures that put prevent women and girls from exposure to risks such as GBV and sexual exploitation.

We will achieve our common global goals and indeed Zambia’s Vision 2030 only if we are able to create equal opportunities for all, regardless of who or where they are. An important aspect of this is addressing the gender-related challenges that have been exacerbated by climate change. Additionally, we should all apply human rights standards to tackle deeply entrenched, systemic, intergenerational inequalities, exclusion and discrimination. Efforts and work for gender equality is a fundamental part of this work.

Further allow me to recognize the collective effort of the Women’s Rights’ Movement in Zambia and their hard work over the years in an effort to create a more equal society where men and women can all enjoy equal rights and access to services. Further, we know that through advocacy we would like to see more women in decision making positions. Thus, the UN system in Zambia, the Government and Women’s Rights Movement have come together to promote women’s leadership in Zambia through the continental entity called the African Women Leadership Network (AWLN). The Zambian Chapter will be launched on 30th March and this will draw participation of women from all sectors and all walks of life as well as male champions.

Mr. President, I would like to applaud your government for some of the bold policies such as increasing the amount for the constituency development fund. It is my hope that a sizeable portion of the funds will go towards programme that directly benefit women and girls. I am also appealing to your office to continue ensuring that more women are appointed to key leadership positions in various sectors and entities. Lastly, may I conclude by reaffirming the UN systems’ commitment to advancing gender equality, addressing GBV and empowering women and girls to be resilient in the advent of climate change and devastating humanitarian situations.

I thank you.