EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This second National Gender Policy replaces the first National Gender Policy of 2004. The first National Gender Policy gave way to a range of initiatives meant to address gender inequalities. The ethos of Growth with Equity underpinned the 2004 NGP which was implemented under four thematic areas namely – (i) Women in Politics and Decision Making; (ii) Women and the Economy; (iii) Education and Training of Women; and (iv) Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women. The widely consultative review of the 2004 NGP revealed that during the 8 years of implementation of the 2004 NGP, five main achievements were recorded namely (i) the passing of a series of legislation to operationalise the policy, (ii) institutional and structural reforms that saw the national gender machinery being streamlined and strengthened i.e. through the creation of a separate Ministry responsible for gender and women affairs; (iii) institutionalisation of processes for gender mainstreaming including gender budgeting; (iv) the development and launch of the framework for broad based women’s economic empowerment; and (v) far-reaching constitutional provisions for gender equality and equity. However, despite these achievements, representation of women remains below the gender parity ideal as shown by the skewed statistics from education, employment, commerce and political and economic decision making and the increasing cases of gender based violence. This second NGP seeks to address the shortcomings of the 2004 NGP and the emerging issues prevailing under the changing political, economic and social contexts at local, regional and global levels. At international and regional levels, some of the key developments post 2004 that set out new priorities include: (i) the 2005 Beijing+10 global review that made recommendations to areas that required special attention and action; (ii) the submission of the combined State Party CEDAW Report; (iii) the development a national follow- up plan on Rio, and (iv) the 2008 SADC Protocol on Gender and Development that set out 28 substantive targets for achieving gender equality by 2015. The key developments at national level include (i) the elaborate new Constitutional provisions with a thrust on gender equality; (ii) the Medium Term Plan (2012-2015) the national economic development strategy which introduces a development paradigm emphasising on gender responsive budgets and gender mainstreaming into economic activities and commits to advancing equal participation in productive sectors; (iii) The indigenisation drive which motivated the development and implementation of the Indigenization and Empowerment Policy; (iv) the 2011 Broad Based Women’s Economic Empowerment Framework (BBWEEF), a mechanism for women’s economic empowerment applicable across all sectors and levels of society; and (v) the Land Reform programme implemented over the past 10 years, whose gains will, to a great extent, be meaningfully consolidated under new gender policy provisions. Other changes that further pronounce gender disparities include technology advancements and climate change. The developments stated above have implications on gender equality and make a new NGP imperative for the effective advancement of gender equality and equity. This second National Gender Policy therefore seeks to achieve a gender just society where men and women enjoy equality and equity and iv