International Legal Framework
1.4 Zimbabwe is a State Party to a number of international
conventions and treaties that provide for gender equality. These
include the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which it ratified in 1991;
the Convention on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR); the Equal
Remuneration Convention; the Convention on Prohibition of
Discrimination in Occupations, Convention on the Elimination of
the Worst Forms of Child Labour; and the Convention on
Economic, and Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). Zimbabwe also
adheres to the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action
(1995).
Regional Legal Framework
1.5
At regional level, Zimbabwe has ratified a number of instruments
specifically targeting the elimination of gender discrimination and
the promotion of gender equality.
1.6
In 2008, Zimbabwe ratified the Protocol to the 2003 African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women. In
2009 Zimbabwe ratified the SADC Protocol on Gender and
Development which was adopted by SADC in that same year. The
SADC Protocol was revised in 2016 to align it to the Sustainable
Development Goals and AU Agenda 2063. The Revised protocol
advocates for gender equality in all sectors and sets out
substantive targets for achieving gender equality by 2020.
Zimbabwe also adheres to the 2004 Solemn Declaration on Gender
and Equality in Africa.
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