Amplifying Women's Voices in TDV 2050

Women Fund Tanzania (WFTT) has continued to collaborate with Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs) to ensure that women, especially at community level, have the opportunity to have their voice heard and added into the National Vision 2050. The support includes facilitating various platforms to reach women and enable them share their views, which will be included into the new Vision 2050.

The approach was part of the way-forward actions agreed upon by stakeholders coordinating the gathering of women’s opinions for the TDV 2050. They agreed that each organization should continue using their women’s networks at community level to raise awareness and encourage them to share their views for the TDV 2050.

To implement this, WFTT facilitated the printing of questionnaires provided by the Planning Commission for collecting opinions. The decision to print hard copies and distribute them came after stakeholders realized that relying solely on digital methods could exclude a large group of people, particularly women, who might face technological challenges.

The printed questionnaires were distributed to representatives of various organizations who participated in the National Women’s Convening on TDV 2050, held in Dar es Salaam. These representatives then distributed the questionnaires to women and coordinated the collection of their opinions in their respective areas.

Some organizations that successfully used their platforms to coordinate and support women in sharing their opinions include, Jukwaa la Wanawake na vijana Chamwino, Tumaini Jipya la Wanawake Kilwa (TUJIWAKI), Sauti ya Wanawake Mafia (SAWAMA), Wasaidizi wa Sheria na Haki za Binadamu Nyasa, Elimisha Mbeya, Kishapu KC, Sauti ya Pamoja Wanawake Singida (SAPAWA), Light for Domestic Workers (LDW), KAHAMA KC, WOIC Ifakara, WAJIKI (DSM), Kipunguni (DSM), Mimutie (Loliondo), Tree of Hope (Tanga), Eagle Group (Namtumbo), Sawau (UkErewe), and others.

Use of Community Radios

To increase awareness and participation of women in the process, WFTT also facilitated WRO representatives to conduct radio programmes using community radios in their localities. The radio programmes focused on educating community members about TDV2050 views collection process, the importance of women participating in sharing their opinions, and the proposed methods for submitting views, including using mobile networks (15200#), the Dira portal, and printed questionnaires. Some of the community radio outlets used included DIZZIM FM (Morogoro), Unyanja FM (Nyasa), Mashujaa FM (Kilwa), and Bomba FM (Mbeya), etc

Views from Women

Some of the views and demands from women in the community were:

• The existence of specific laws recognizing domestic workers as a formal sector and protecting them from gender-based violence (GBV), as well as effective strategies to eradicate child labor in this sector.
• High-quality and adequate health services for women, especially safe childbirth, to reduce maternal and child mortality.
• Availability of affordable health insurance for all to reduce disparities in services between those with financial means and those without.
• Protection, especially for children, quality education with outcomes for youth to reduce employment issues and build a strong economy for all.
• Effective strategies to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, such as promoting and supporting ecological farming practices that protect the environment.
• ICT education should be taught from early levels in all public and private schools, with policies in place.

During the process of supporting women to share their views, a major challenge shared was that of limited understanding among women and the community at large about Vision 2025, which is ending, and the preparation process for Vision 2050 and importance of their participation “We don't follow much about these things and these development plans because we know they are government issues and do not concern us," commented a woman from Chamwino.

The use of technology also posed challenges, especially for those without smart phones, making it difficult to complete the process due to issues with internet access, among other factors.

WFTT facilitated the printing and distribution of 2,000 questionnaires, which were distributed to over 20 WROs. These organizations used the questionnaires to coordinate and collect women’s views in the regions of Ruvuma, Singida, Pwani, Mbeya, Morogoro, Shinyanga, Kigoma, DSM, Dodoma, Tanga, Arusha, Mwanza, and Mbeya.