27/11/2025
NDS 2 Exposes Hard Truths: Women and Girls Still Carry the Nation’s Greatest Burdens
By Identities Media
Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 2 (NDS 2) offers an important window into the progress, struggles and deeply rooted inequalities that continue to shape the lives of women and girls across the country. While the strategy outlines national aspirations across sectors, it is within the gender and social protection sections that the true picture of women’s lived realities becomes most visible.
From violence to poverty, leadership gaps to adolescent pregnancy, NDS 2 reveals issues that are both urgent and defining for Zimbabwe’s future.
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Gender Based Violence: A Persistent National Crisis
NDS 2 positions gender based violence (GBV) as one of the most severe threats to the safety, dignity and freedom of women and girls. The strategy highlights the need for stronger law enforcement, expanded survivor support and better coordination across government and community systems.
The statistics are sobering. According to the national results framework, 27 percent of women have experienced sexual violence, 25 percent psychological violence and 23 percent physical violence. These numbers demonstrate a crisis that continues to unfold daily and requires sustained action at every level of society.
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Child Marriage and the Cost to Girls’ Futures
Child marriage remains a major barrier to girls’ empowerment. NDS 2 reveals that almost one in three young women aged twenty to twenty four were married before the age of eighteen.
This single indicator speaks to multiple challenges: poverty, lack of protection, limited access to education and the ongoing vulnerability of the girl child in many communities. Ending child marriage is central to ensuring that girls remain in school and can grow into fully empowered women.
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Maternal Health and the Risk for Rural Women
Despite major improvements in maternal mortality, which dropped from nine hundred and sixty deaths in 2010 to two hundred and twelve in 2023 to 2024, the disparities remain deep. Rural women in Midlands and Mashonaland East continue to face the highest risk due to limited access to quality maternal health services.
The strategy also raises the alarm on adolescent pregnancy. The numbers are highest in Mashonaland Central at thirty seven percent and Mashonaland West at thirty percent. These patterns not only end childhoods early but also push girls out of education and increase long term social and economic vulnerability.
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Poverty and Social Inequality Deepen the Divide
NDS 2 makes it clear that women and girls remain among the most affected by poverty and social exclusion. Rural women face limited access to healthcare, education, safe water, decent work and social support systems. These conditions are worsened by climate related shocks and recent public health crises.
The intersection of poverty, gender and geography keeps women and girls trapped in cycles that extend across generations.
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Women Still Locked Out of Economic Opportunity
While Zimbabwe has made progress in promoting women’s economic empowerment, NDS 2 acknowledges ongoing barriers. Women continue to face challenges in accessing land, finance, markets and opportunities in public procurement.
The leadership statistics confirm this inequality. Only thirty percent of leadership positions are held by women, with a target to reach fifty percent by 2030. Women’s full participation in the economy remains a critical development priority that demands focused investment and policy reform.
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Leadership Gaps That Limit National Progress
Women’s representation in leadership remains below expectations. NDS 2 notes that only forty two percent of leadership roles in local authorities are held by women, while national leadership stands at thirty percent. These gaps limit women’s contributions to national decision making and weaken democratic and developmental outcomes.
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Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: A Silent Gender Burden
Water shortages and poor sanitation continue to have a greater impact on women and girls. For rural women, the daily burden of collecting water increases exposure to violence, reduces safety and undermines health and dignity. For girls, lack of adequate sanitation affects school attendance especially during menstruation.
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Rising Drug and Substance Abuse
The strategy recognises drug and substance abuse as a growing social issue affecting young women and girls. This reality threatens their safety, well-being and opportunities for growth. It also highlights an urgent need for prevention, education and stronger support systems.
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Weak Social Protection Leaves Women Behind
Women in the informal sector, who make up a large proportion of Zimbabwe’s workforce, remain largely unprotected. Limited access to pensions, health insurance and shock responsive social protection systems places women at a greater risk during crises such as illness, unemployment, economic instability and climate related disasters.
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A Call to Action: Investing in Women is Investing in Zimbabwe’s Future
NDS 2 offers a critical blueprint for national development. Its gender indicators and analysis demonstrate clearly that Zimbabwe cannot achieve its social and economic goals without transforming the conditions that affect women and girls.
Strengthening gender equality is not only a human rights imperative, it is also central to national development. When women and girls are protected, empowered and included, communities stabilise, opportunities grow and the nation moves forward.
As Zimbabwe implements NDS 2, bold and consistent investment in women and girls must remain at the centre of national priorities.
