We have come a long way; from when as a nation we used to have laws and adesigned system of unspoken prejudice that conveyed that the acceptable jobs for women were to be housewives, secretaries, receptionist, teachers and office cleaners.There was a time when we assumed that women where different and therefore, did not have the abilities to be managers, administrators, doctors, lawyers, pastors, Cabinet Ministers, High and Supreme Court Justices or Members of Parliament. Therefore, as a nation we have a lot to celebrate about on this day.
Today women have equal laws as men regarding security at work, equal pay for equal jobs, safe working conditions, protection against sickness and layoffs and provision for retirement. However, much still need to be done in regard to marriage laws (especially the law of polygamy), right to land, economic empowerment and protection against women violence and HIV and AIDS. For Zambia to achieve its 5th National Development Plan (FNDP) where girls and women participate and benefit equally in the development process there is need to address the harmful traditional perceptions and attitudes regarding male and female roles.
The FNDP has empowered the Gender in Development Division to coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the activities related to gender inequality. The government has elaborately defined the institutional framework for gender mainstreaming at national, sectoral, provincial, and district levels. Targets to be achieved by 2010 are clearly marked out. For example there is a strategy that is committed to mainstreaming gender in all policies and programs on the control and prevention of HIV and AIDS and other STIs. Yet with one year to go before the completion of our five years FNDP, women and girls are still doing 90 per cent of care work for HIV patients (Times of Zambia 9, March). HIV and AIDS is a pandemic. You cannot have victory over a pandemic with 40% of the population having a naive approach. In our fight against HIV and AIDS, why have we not been addressing gender imbalance with the vigor required in the last four years when the FNDP has identified the gaps in its strategy?
Culture is a major factor for gender inequality. President Rupiah Banda’s challenge to the two ministries in charge of education to scale up implementation of programs designed to accelerate socio-cultural change toward gender equality ought to be commended. Christians ought to provide leadership on the issue of gender inequality. Christians stand as reminders to many of both our fallen nature and our potential. In Gal. 3:28 we are reminded that we who are one with Jesus Christ are one with each other. This verse does not deny that God has designed for social, racial and sexual distinctions among Christians, but it confirms that there is no room for race, gender or social inequality before God. Men are not ready to give up the status quo that comes with our culture. Unless Christians especially men proclaim and model the transforming gospel, HIV and AIDS will remain a pandemic in Zambia with 90% of women and girls providing care and prevention services while men continue infecting women and girls without restraint. How is your church engaging your men and women in the fight against HIV and AIDS?
Lawrence Temfwe
