By Michael Gwarisa
The Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) has criticized the 2025 National Budget for neglecting the unique health needs of women in Zimbabwe, accusing it of failing to adopt a gender-responsive approach.
Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) integrates gender considerations into budgeting processes to ensure that policies, interventions, and resources address the distinct needs of women, men, and gender-diverse individuals. However, the 2025 budget fell short, with allocations failing to prioritize critical issues in women’s health.
Data from the budget indicates that Family Health, which includes family planning, sexual and reproductive health, and maternal health, received a mere 3% of the allocated funds—equivalent to US$59,472,000. This amount is significantly lower than the proposed bid of US$1.97 billion.
In an interview with HealthTimes, WCoZ Programs Manager Rotina Mafume-Musara said the budget had shortcomings regarding women and girls needs.
In terms of whether the 2025 budget is gender-responsive or not, I would say certainly not. There are still glaring gaps in the budget,” said Mafume-Musara.
“Women make up 52% of the population, and we expected to see more resources allocated to women-centered institutions such as the Ministry of Women Affairs and the Gender Commission. Unfortunately, the allocations fall short of what we had hoped for.”
The Ministry of Women Affairs received ZWL$1,018.4 million (approximately US$28.2 million), while the Zimbabwe Gender Commission was allocated ZWL$177.3 million (around US$4.9 million).
“We need a deliberate effort to ensure the budget process itself is gender-responsive and gender-sensitive. It should allow for women’s quality of life to improve. Unfortunately, we are not there yet, and we are still pushing for gender-centric budgeting, particularly focusing on women’s issues,” added Mafume-Musara.
She also emphasized WCoZ’s commitment to monitoring and tracking the budget to ensure accountability and that funds are directed where they are needed most.
Gender-responsive budgeting ensures that women’s priorities are addressed and that governments allocate funds to reduce poverty, promote gender equality, and lower maternal and child mortality rates.
