ZNWL appeals for more women appointments

The Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL) has appealed to President Hakainde Hichilema to prioritise the appointment of more women to Cabinet, increasing their numbers from last year’s list of five to a higher percentage.

ZNWL Executive Director Golden Nachibinga said that his organisation was confident that, now that the New Dawn Government had been given another mandate, it would do better to secure more women and appoint them to Cabinet compared to last year, when Cabinet had only five women, including the Vice-President.

Mr Nachibinga said in an interview that with the past record of five women in the last Cabinet, the ZNWL wanted to see an increase in the number of women in Cabinet to ensure a balanced government that recognises gender balance in a democratic society like Zambia.

“We, as the Zambia National Women’s Lobby, feel that for Zambia to achieve gender equality, the inclusion of women in government departments plays an important role in advancing the country’s national development and good governance in all areas,” Mr Nachibinga said.

Mr Nachibinga said that it was also paramount that the government take positive steps towards gender policy implementation and ensure increased awareness of gender equality and budget allocation towards gender equality programmes.