Olivia Muchena -- MP for Mutoko North and Deputy Minister of Agriculture My vision is to see many more women in politics, and those who are there to be equipped with information such as statistics and women' s needs, in order to successfully help the others." Since her constituency consists largely of agricultural activities, Mrs Muchena has intentions of coming up with programmes that will make these activities lighter for the women of Mutoko. "I noticed during my campaign, that fresh vegetables were a great problem to the women. The only solution would be to bring water sources closer to home, encourage water-harvesting and the up-keep of home gardens," said Mrs Muchena. Mutoko is drought-prone area and hence the stressed the need for diversification of crops. Mrs Muchena said emphasis should be put on the grain crops which are usually described as "women's crops". These, she said, can flourish in this area, instead of growing the traditional maize just because everyone else does so. In parliament, she intends to echo the needs of the women of Mutoko. "We must speak for the people. What we say in parliament, is representative of what they say in the community," said she. She challenged NGOs to move away from sometimes presenting mere emotive descriptive situations of women, to lobbying for strategies that bring a gender sensitivity to society as a whole. Margaret Msimbe, MP for Kwekwe West The District Council is probably where all the ground work in government is done. It is where those in charge decide whether another school or clinic should be built or not and where basically, all the needs assessments of the community are carried out. In Kwekwe, this is where the women are going to eventually dominate. Their new MP, Ms Margaret Msimbe, sid that in a town like Kwekwe, it was important for women to have top posts in the district council because this is where all the decisions which affect them directly, are made. "It is also high time we had a female executive mayor in our constituency. We already have one woman who has the required leadership qualities, whom we are supporting in order for her to get this position," said Ms Msimbe. She stressed that there was need for a lot more women in decision- making positions in the Ministry of Education. Kwekwe has very few headmistresses and Ms Msimbe intends to pave openings for them to enter these posts. "We are trying to promote the economic empowerment of women by asking them to get themselves involved in the decision-making processes," pointed out Ms Msimbe. She urged all women to unite and work together for their own success. Mable Chinomona, MP for Mutoko South The rural women have not yet come to believe that they can do what the mean can do and even better. They still sit back and leave all the work to the men, as if they have no hands of their own." As far as Ms Chinomona is concerned, this practice must be left behind, together with those people who still believe that men are more capable than women. She encourages her women to participate in council meetings and become councillors themselves for this is the most important area where everyone in the community (not just men), must be involved. Her message to women: "We must not be used by men in their destructive games, because they know that to destroy a woman, you use another woman to do the job." Shuvai Mahofa, MP of Gutu South Ms Shuvai Mahofa, is one woman who has been in parliament for many years. She said she had invested a lot in her constituency, having been MP since 1985. But she owes her success to women of Gutu South. Ms Mahofa said most of the people who supported her during the elections were women. She had worked with women in projects and would reward them by facilitating the establishment of more projects that would benefit them. "I want to be based on the ground and work with the grassroots and encourage the involvement of women in small-scale projects such as poultry and irrigation," she said. Mavis Chizonga, MP for Mhondoro Like all rural areas, Ms Chizonga's constituency is crying out for infrastructure to make the lives of its people much easier and more bearable. These include clinics, water, schools and shopping centres. As we all know, most men only visit a clinic when they themselves are ill (accompanied by their wives) and hardly any other time. It is the women who toil to and for, on one occasion with the baby, on another its the granny, then perhaps her sister is due to give birth, and she will spend the night in a shed, waiting for the arrival of the baby. It is these vital needs of the women of Mhondoro, that Ms Chizonga intends to provide. She said that although water is important to everyone, it more important to women. The same with clinics, grocery shops and so on. The new MP intends also to concentrate on the provision of drought relief and educating her people on food security at household level. A member of ZWRCN who has written several papers on women and agriculture and land, she is keen to involve NGOs in projects that might assist the women in improving their livelihood. "We have to liberate ourselves because no one will do it for us. Our fight should not be against men, but against the institutions that do not facilitate the empowerment of women," was Ms Chizonga' s message to women. Pamela Tungamirai, MP of Mobvuku Ms Tungamirai said she would approach the Indigenous Business Development Centre (IBDC), to embark on programmes which will benefit the women in her constituency. She went on to say that she would liaise with the Industrial Development Corporation to give loans to the women of Mabvuku to start projects in that area. "I will encourage the holding of seminars and workshops at national level, to conscientise women on gender issues," was her promise to women. Ronah Moyo, Non-constituency member Ms Moyo made history as being the first representative for the disabled community in Parliament, in Zimbabwe. Her mission is to see that issues which have been ignored in previous parliaments which concern the accessibility of disabled persons to public buildings and a general change in legislation to ensure that they enjoy the same benefits as able-bodied people. Despite all the apprehension among the disabled, Mrs Moyo unnerved by the task facing her and says that she is ready to lead women with disabilities into the new arena of fighting for their rights. Tsungirirai Hungwe, Non-constituency member, Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare My main aim to try and empower women so as to prevent them from contracting the AIDS rirus. Married women especially are powerless against their husband and are dying everyday." The situation of the women in Zimbabwe who contract AIDS has worsened because they cannot demand their husbands use condoms. They need a female condom and Ms Hungwe says it has to be easily accessible and cheap. She said that health education amongst women was still very important and high on her agenda. Women should be taught to look out for breast and cervix cancer, for instance. On politics, Ms Hungwe said women leaders must practice what they preach. Women leaders in the ZANU (PF) should make sure that by the year 2000 they have found a strategy to put more women in power and this would mean standing up to the men to protect our rights. Florence Chitauro, MP for Harare Central, Minister of National Affairs Employment Creation and Cooperatives. The newly elected Minister said it was vital that women be employed or run viable projects in order to be economically independent. She felt that Zimbabwean women cannot develop themselves, their families or their communities without access to education. Ms Chitauro would therefore urge government to ensure that more women are educated, employed, their legal and social rights elevated so that they can take an equal role in building society. Another issue she would work towards is training in leadership skills, confidence building as well empowerment of women to make them confident to take up decision -- making roles. The minister stressed the fact that women have to find ways of strengthening their voice within social, economic and political fora so that they can have access to political, educational, legal and social equality. Author not available, Female MPs' promises to women: Part Two. Vol. 4, Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network Journal, 08-01-1995, pp 25-6.