While Tanzania has achieved progress towards gender equality over the last decade, key challenges remain such as inequitable access to and ownership of land and resources, the low participation of women at all levels of decision making, gender based violence and women exclusion from the economy.
The concept of women in development means the integration of women in national development endeavours to bring about social, economic, ideological, cultural and political liberation. The labour force participation is 88.1 per cent for women and 90.2 per cent for men. Women are more likely than men to be poor and illiterate and less likely to have access to training and credit. Yet, women are the main care givers in many households.
The economic necessity of taking up paid work constrains women’s time, creating strains within the family. Women are forced to adapt on a daily basis to compromise on either their paid work (in terms of where they work, and what jobs they undertake) or their social responsibilities in the effort to make this new reality work for the woman, her family and community.
VICE President Samia Suluhu Hassan has urged women to ensure they insert ‘Agenda 50-50’ in election manifestos of the various political parties for this year’s general elections.
She gave the statement here yesterday when launching the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) Tanzania, coordinated by UN Women.
She said women should insert the agenda in party election manifestos for election campaigns.
She appealed to women to step up in big numbers to seek leadership posts in various fields - including politics, business, social services and civil societies. Many countries have not attained gender equality in many fields including top leadership of public organizations, she told participants.
In the Judiciary the percentage of women judges in the High Court is 30 while in the Court of Appeal it is 38. In the cabinet of ministers, women make up 18 percent while for women deputy ministers it is 33 percent.
The population census shows that the women population is bigger than men, therefore if women cooperate well and trust each other, they can uplift the gender ratio, she emphasized.
Research shows that having more women in political leadership has been contributed by improvements in policy, laws and the budget, she said.
After a lot of advocacy from the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), Tanzania’s National Bureau of Statistics added time use surveys to their Integrated Labour Force Survey in 2006. The survey provides a wealth of information on the range of paid and unpaid activities and tasks that women and men undertake during a day. It allows for measurement of the work done by women which is usually undercounted in all other surveys and very explicitly includes children and time spent on caring for children and the amount of time that men and women spend in caring for children.
Despite the gender gaps in society, Tanzania has ratified several international commitments to women’s rights, including the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and the Beijing Platform for Action. Constitutionally, gender-based discrimination is prohibited and it guarantees full participation for men and women in social, economic and political life.
Land and inheritance rights are an important issue in Tanzania and in 2014 there were celebrations after the draft Constitution included a section giving women the power to own and inherit land in the same way as men. A referendum on the new Constitution, which also includes a requirement that Parliament is split 50/50 between women and men.
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