Beacon of Hope – USD 3.5 Million Women Empowerment Fund Launched

The Second Republic has taken a significant step forward in its empowerment drive with the successful launch of a USD 3.5 million Women Empowerment Fund, reinforcing its commitment to advancing women’s economic and social development.

Since the beginning of the year, the government has launched two major empowerment projects, benefiting the Youth and War Veterans’ Leagues under the Presidential Fund.

Addressing over 5,000 women at the launch of the USD 3.5 million Presidential Women’s League Empowerment Fund in Harare yesterday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also the Zanu-PF First Secretary, said his administration is scaling up the implementation of Zanu PF-led empowerment initiatives.

“This groundbreaking initiative stands as a beacon of hope that will accelerate the realization of high-impact programmes and projects.

“The Presidential Women’s Empowerment Fund is designed to be a powerful engine for economic growth, social inclusion, and transformation, ensuring development that leaves no one and no place behind.

“The theme of today’s event, ‘The Power of Empowered Women: Transforming Lives, Transforming Societies, Towards Vision 2030,’ is befitting. It captures the critical aspects of our revolutionary mass party’s mission, which includes the empowerment of women.

“When women have economic power and sustainable sources of livelihoods, we are guaranteed that families are sustained while communities are developed, step by step, brick by brick, and stone upon stone,” said President Mnangagwa.

In addition to the USD 3.5 million, which allocates USD 300,000 to each of the country’s 10 provinces, the President handed over farming and mining equipment, including 20,500 hoes, 3,800 picks, 800 ploughs, 50 ridgers, 500 cultivators, 200 scotch carts, 400 wheelbarrows, 1,000 harrows, 2,500 shovels, 500 spades, 10 vehicles, and a 10,000-capacity incubator.

President Mnangagwa said the Fund was designed to be a propeller for economic growth and a catalyst for the beneficiaries of the Empowerment Fund.

“Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen,

“Women play a critical role in maintaining families and community values, as well as in nurturing and shaping future generations.

“To this end, by empowering women, the Party and Government, under my leadership, are investing in their personal growth and development for the well-being and prosperity of communities and the nation at large.

“Be assured that, as the ruling revolutionary mass party, we will continue to empower you, the women of our country, providing critical resources, support, and opportunities.

“Our empowerment efforts will go beyond financial support and extend to equipping you with the skills and knowledge to transform your lives and communities, beginning at the household level.

“The Fund we are launching today is, therefore, a holistic empowerment tool that encompasses economic independence as well as social, emotional, and intellectual growth.

“The myth that women are not entitled to own wealth must be debunked. Through deliberate and targeted funding mechanisms, such as the one we are launching today, socio-economic gaps and inequalities will be addressed,” said President Mnangagwa.