Women activists are urging Harare to uphold its commitment to boost participation by women at all levels of political leadership and decision-making, and will underscore their point with a march in the Zimbabwean capital on Thursday.

Director Rutendo Hadebe of the Women in Politics and Support Unit said women hold only 22 percent of leadership positions though the government has signed a Southern African Development Community declaration calling for women to hold half such jobs.

Her organization has planned the march in Harare to launch its 50-50 Campaign. The group is also urging Harare to ratify an African Union protocol that calls on member nations to implement the principle of equal representation for women.

Hadebe told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that this week's action was prompted by recent events including the country's rural elections in which only about 150 women were elected compared with more than 1,200 men, as well as a sometimes acrimonious debate on domestic violence legislation.

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