Today, the Hand in Hand Zimbabwe team joins the global community in celebrating this year’s International Women’s Day, which is running under the theme #BalanceforBetter.

As we commemorate this important day about “women’s achievements throughout history and across nations” that is observed each year on March 8, my special thoughts go to all those women, worldwide, who on this day, are still struggling to lead a decent life – particularly those who live in drought-prone and marginalised areas.

Today is an opportune time to reflect on the important role women play in supporting a sustainable future for all and as HIH are work is particularly focused on women who have struggled to financially support themselves and their families, but have managed to break the barriers of poverty through our influence.

We celebrate our female entrepreneurs who have defied odds and are nurturing viable businesses to date.  We celebrate the mindset shifts, and the outcomes we have obtained in our women empowerment drive as an organisation.

Empowering women is a great responsibility. It is necessary for gender equality. A society is better when women are not taken for granted and are given equal respect. In the past, women were generally restricted to the home and were not allowed to step out of the house for work. Household chores were their only area of work. But today’s society has seen a lot of changes.

Our generation values women and entrust them with amazing responsibilities. Women are given equal opportunities at work and are allowed to stand among, and sometimes ahead of, men in many fields.

Today, women are slowly realizing their strengths and abilities, and they are ready to step out of their home, contributing to the success of their home and the entire society. They are indeed making the world turn heads towards them. Before it was not possible, but now it is a reality.

For the past few years our main target has been, and will continue to be, the empowerment of at least 80 percent of disadvantaged women and young girls in the seven national districts we operate in through our poverty alleviation interventions.

At HIH we have committed ourselves to implementing sustainable interventions that contribute in fighting life-threatening challenges such as poverty, inequality, and violence against women.

We firmly believe in gender equality and we are proud to say that the majority of our employees are female – in every department and at all levels.

As such, I would also like to extend a special thank you to all our brilliant staff (men included), who are helping to create a more gender-inclusive world in their respective works.

Gender equality and poverty are closely connected. Often, women face unique and sometimes disproportionate burdens when poverty is at play.

To that end, Hand in Hand is working on ensuring that women are economically empowered for the betterment of their future.

Our success hinges on investment in women and this entails supporting their full and equal participation in fruitful economic activities

Happy women’s day