By Bernard Mutambudzi

The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development has engaged its stakeholders to source valuable input on the proposed Marriage Bill, a senior Government has revealed.

The Ministry engages partners from the civil society, line ministries, development partners and representatives from the civil society to come up with input which can be included in the new Marriage Bill.

Officiating at the stakeholder consultative workshop held today, Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Rudo Chitiga said the stakeholder contributions would form the backbone of the Marriage Act which the ministry was committed to adhere to and be measured on.

"My Ministry was assigned a destination to traverse by Government namely: promote and support women empowerment, socially and economically promote and support community development, coordinating mainstreaming of gender and promoting gender equality in all sectors," said Chitiga.

Following the adoption of the new Constitution, the Government of Zimbabwe prioritized the realignment of laws to the new Constitution.

Ambassador Chitiga said, in light of this, President Mnangagwa approved the Marriage Amendment Bill which seeks to amalgamate the Customary Marriage Act and Marriage Act.

She said the workshop sought to understand the perception and values of women with regards to Marriage Amendment Bill.

"We want a shared view of the provision of the Marriage Amendment Bill," she said.

She said the workshop also sought to come up with a way forward on how best the information could be shared with community.

Ambassador Chitiga said the parent ministry was working in conjunction with women groups to get views from various women groups.

The consultative workshop sought to provide a guide to women groups, identified and share information on legal framework of the new Bill.