BRIEF BY PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, GENDER, ELDERLY AND CHILDREN TO MEDIA ON PARTICIPATION OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA IN THE CSW 62NDSESSION IN NEW YORK USA FROM 12TH – 23RD MARCH, 2018
1.0 Introductory Remarks
Like other members of the United Nations, Tanzania is participating in the Commission on the Status of Women 62nd Session taking place in New York, USA from 12th– 23rd March, 2018. The priority theme of the session is “Challenges and Opportunities in achieving Gender Equality and Empowerment of Rural Women and Girls”. The delegation of the United Republic of Tanzania for CSW 62 include officials from Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children; Ministry of Labour, Empowerment, Elderly, Women and Children – Zanzibar; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation; Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Agriculture.
2.0 Tanzania’s Participation in the CSW 62ndSession`
The participation of United Republic of Tanzania in the 62nd session is as follow:
(i) Provided remarks and contributed to the Ministerial round table discussions on the priority theme which took place on the 12th– 13th March,2018;
(ii) Presented its country statement on the priority theme on the 14th March,2018;
(iii) Organized side event on the “Efforts for Achieving Gender Equality in Tanzania” which took place 14th March, 2018 for purpose of sharing good practices;
(iv) Participated in different side events organized by other countries and organizations for learning and replication in Tanzania; and
(v) Participated in the negotiations for concluding observations on the CSW 62nd Sessions.
3.0 Efforts for Realization of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Girls in Tanzania
In her statement, Tanzania has highlighted its efforts undertaken for realizing gender equality and empowerment of women and girls living in rural areas. Some of the efforts highlighted in the statement include:
(i) Tanzania has heavily invested in flagship construction projects of railways and roads as well as energy which are expected to contribute immensely to access of transport and energy for people such as women and girls including those living in remote rural areas;
(ii) Tanzania is implementing a Five Year National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children which aims at reducing violence against women and girls by 50 percent by 2022.
(iii) As country, we have developed and enacted policies and legislations which provides women and girls including those living in rural areas with more opportunities in social, political and economic spheres and increase their access to justice. In 2017 for instance, the National Microfinance Policy and the Legal Aid Act were developed and enacted for the same reasons.
(iv) Tanzania has taken various measures to empower women economically including provision of soft loans and entrepreneurs skills through Women Development Fund and other Empowerment Funds as well as implementation of various programs which systematically foster financial inclusion. These efforts and many others have made the United Republic of Tanzania to be ranked by the World Economic Forum through its Inclusive Development Index of 2018 as the first country in Africa for Inclusive Economy.
(v) Provision of free primary and ordinary education which has contributed to gender balance in enrolment in primary and secondary education;
(vi) Improved health services including reproductive and child health services in health facilities as well as the Government has increased access to pharmaceutical drugs by increasing its budget by 935 percent.