Tanzania
will celebrate the International Women’s Day on March 8 in an event
aimed at honouring their social, economic, cultural and political
achievements, amid a chronic barrage of age-old problems facing the weak
gender in a country reputed for its allegedly strong patrimonial
culture.
They include gender-based violence, early and forced marriages, gender discrimination in employment, politics, education and even inheritance though the government has made
milestones in addressing the issue.
The fifth-phase government appears to be especially serious in ending the disparity by taking a stick from where the previous government of Jakaya Kikwete stopped, with President John Magufuli and his Vice, Samia Suluhu Hassan vowing to end all forms of gender and child rights abuse.
“My government will commit Sh50m every month to every village across the country to empower women and young people,” was a remark repeatedly uttered by President John Magufuli in his pre-election campaign and soon after winning the post.
He would also say, “we’re looking forward to making sure all children have access to basic primary through form four secondary school education as we are going to provide it for free,” encouraging parents into taking the once stayed-home daughters to schools.
“Our government will commit Sh50m every month to villages across the country to empower women and young people,” Suluhu would repeatedly echo the remark of her boss.
Equally impressive is that Magufuli’s administration released Sh 137bn in December to subsidize education as promised and the Ministry of Finance declared this week that it had injected an additional Sh18.6bn into the free education scheme.
However, despite the determination, the government is bound for stumbling challenges amid cultural, religious and ethnic-based traditions that have been always serving as a deterrence in sending girls below 15 to school.
But both local and international gender activists are still disgruntled with the pace of the government in mending the gender parity, calling for urgent measures to be taken in line with long term plans.
Happiness Bagambi, a Tanzanian Media Women’s Association(Tamwa) programme officer expressed skepticism, telling The Guardian on Sunday that child brides would nevertheless, take a lead in school dropout, with an apparent prolonged chain of poverty and impunity.
“The problem is more serious than what it appears in a situation where 10,000 out of 100,000 students drop- out before reaching form four due to pregnancies and early marriages,” she said.
According to her, the World International Women's Day should serve as a reminder for allocation of funds to gender rights institutions involving ministries, gender commissions and gender focal points.
Human rights activists are demanding for urgently amendment of the Marriage Act, 1971 section 13 which has largely resulted to early marriages and a widespread child abuse in the country.
While they hit it back the practice is part of inherited tradition, the legislation was silent about side effects and yet allows a young girl aged 14 or 15 to marry and 18 years for a boy.
“This is the time these girls are supposed to be in school… girls are not brides,” said Valerie Msoka, the Ending Child Marriage Campaign ambassador and former Tamwa’s executive director.
A latest government figure indicates Tanzania is among 20 African countries practicing child marriage with 26 per cent.
The number, according to experts, is so high, forcing African countries to meet in Zambia last year to analyze new approaches to end violence against child girls.
Canada’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Alexandre Lévêque told reporters in Dar es Salaam that his government was committed to continue supporting all efforts to end early and forced child marriages.
He said child marriages is a social and economic developmental issue and needs joint efforts to address.
“We have been supporting awareness campaigns and will continue our support to the government and other players such as Tamwa to forge partnerships to end the problem.”
According to the envoy, child marriage is a human right abuse and limits a child girl’s participation in social activities.
“There is no shortcut in the struggle to end child marriages, but continual awareness campaign at all levels,”
Last year, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon called upon the world to come together in fighting violence against women and girls orchestrated by violent extremists.
"The bodies of women have been transformed into battle grounds for warriors carrying out specific and systematic strategies, often on the basis of ethnic or religious sentiments,” he said.
He said women were attacked for trying to exercise their right to education and basic services, raped and turned into sex slaves, given as prizes to fighters or traded among extremist groups in trafficking networks.
They include gender-based violence, early and forced marriages, gender discrimination in employment, politics, education and even inheritance though the government has made
milestones in addressing the issue.
The fifth-phase government appears to be especially serious in ending the disparity by taking a stick from where the previous government of Jakaya Kikwete stopped, with President John Magufuli and his Vice, Samia Suluhu Hassan vowing to end all forms of gender and child rights abuse.
“My government will commit Sh50m every month to every village across the country to empower women and young people,” was a remark repeatedly uttered by President John Magufuli in his pre-election campaign and soon after winning the post.
He would also say, “we’re looking forward to making sure all children have access to basic primary through form four secondary school education as we are going to provide it for free,” encouraging parents into taking the once stayed-home daughters to schools.
“Our government will commit Sh50m every month to villages across the country to empower women and young people,” Suluhu would repeatedly echo the remark of her boss.
Equally impressive is that Magufuli’s administration released Sh 137bn in December to subsidize education as promised and the Ministry of Finance declared this week that it had injected an additional Sh18.6bn into the free education scheme.
However, despite the determination, the government is bound for stumbling challenges amid cultural, religious and ethnic-based traditions that have been always serving as a deterrence in sending girls below 15 to school.
But both local and international gender activists are still disgruntled with the pace of the government in mending the gender parity, calling for urgent measures to be taken in line with long term plans.
Happiness Bagambi, a Tanzanian Media Women’s Association(Tamwa) programme officer expressed skepticism, telling The Guardian on Sunday that child brides would nevertheless, take a lead in school dropout, with an apparent prolonged chain of poverty and impunity.
“The problem is more serious than what it appears in a situation where 10,000 out of 100,000 students drop- out before reaching form four due to pregnancies and early marriages,” she said.
According to her, the World International Women's Day should serve as a reminder for allocation of funds to gender rights institutions involving ministries, gender commissions and gender focal points.
Human rights activists are demanding for urgently amendment of the Marriage Act, 1971 section 13 which has largely resulted to early marriages and a widespread child abuse in the country.
While they hit it back the practice is part of inherited tradition, the legislation was silent about side effects and yet allows a young girl aged 14 or 15 to marry and 18 years for a boy.
“This is the time these girls are supposed to be in school… girls are not brides,” said Valerie Msoka, the Ending Child Marriage Campaign ambassador and former Tamwa’s executive director.
A latest government figure indicates Tanzania is among 20 African countries practicing child marriage with 26 per cent.
The number, according to experts, is so high, forcing African countries to meet in Zambia last year to analyze new approaches to end violence against child girls.
Canada’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Alexandre Lévêque told reporters in Dar es Salaam that his government was committed to continue supporting all efforts to end early and forced child marriages.
He said child marriages is a social and economic developmental issue and needs joint efforts to address.
“We have been supporting awareness campaigns and will continue our support to the government and other players such as Tamwa to forge partnerships to end the problem.”
According to the envoy, child marriage is a human right abuse and limits a child girl’s participation in social activities.
“There is no shortcut in the struggle to end child marriages, but continual awareness campaign at all levels,”
Last year, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon called upon the world to come together in fighting violence against women and girls orchestrated by violent extremists.
"The bodies of women have been transformed into battle grounds for warriors carrying out specific and systematic strategies, often on the basis of ethnic or religious sentiments,” he said.
He said women were attacked for trying to exercise their right to education and basic services, raped and turned into sex slaves, given as prizes to fighters or traded among extremist groups in trafficking networks.
SOURCE:
GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
