Cruel husbands beware

THE Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Paul Makonda, noted that as the World celebrated Women’s Day yesterday, he was aware of various challenges that they endured, pledging to rally behind them in searching for lasting solutionsabandoned by their husbands to call at his office starting April 9, this year, for legal procedures to be set in motion.
 
“I am aware that there are men who abandon their families, some men have abandoned women and children, now…I am joining this fight, we will be together in demanding your rights,” he said.

The RC said he had already assembled a team of lawyers for the job and that the service would be offered free of charge. On his part, First Lady Janeth Magufuli said women should use the ‘Women’s Day’ to discuss important issues that had a bearing on their lives and the country’s welfare at large.

“Through this day, we must chart strategies that will help us to solve various challenges that face women and the society at large,” she said. Mama Magufuli said the country remembers and appreciated women who participated fully in fighting for the country’s independence and bringing about gender equality in the society.

She mentioned some of them as Bibi Titi Mohamed, Mama Fatma Karume, Mama Maria Nyerere and Mama Siti Mohamed. The First Lady said the government had created a good environment for doing business by supporting women to engage in various economic activities.

She said so far, there was a total of 2,740 Village Community Banks (VICOBA), whose cumulative capital was 78bn/-. The Minister for Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, Prof Joyce Ndalichako, remarked that women in Tanzania and elsewhere had a crucial role to play in attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through active participation in economic activities.

“The government recognizes the contribution of women in the agriculture and industrialisation agenda,” Prof Ndalichako stated in Dar es Salaam yesterday during opening of a three-day international conference which started yesterday, themed “Women and Sustainable Development in Africa.

” As Tanzania joined other countries worldwide to mark the International Women’s Day Prof Ndalichako stressed that empowering women in education was crucial for attainment of the SDGs.

The international conference was organised by the Tanzania Academy of Sciences (TAAS), the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) and the French Academy of Sciences (FAS). It attracted delegates from Africa and beyond.

In a tweet message yesterday, President John Magufuli congratulated all women in Tanzania for their contribution in the nation building mission. “We will continue to respect you and accord you needed cooperation in recognition of your efforts in fostering development,” Dr Magufuli told women in the message.

Prof Ndalichako assured participants at the meeting that the government of Tanzania was striving to address a number of challenges facing women such as gender inequality, lack of equal access to education and land ownership.\

“Despite the challenges, Tanzania as a country recognises the significance of women in decisionmaking, and that is why we have a Vice-President, Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is a woman, not to forget the former Speaker of the National Assembly, Mama Anne Makinda,” she pointed out.

Speaking in a keynote address, former Education Minister in Guinea Conakry, Ms Aicha Diallo, stressed that countries can hardly achieve the SDGs without women’s participation. “Education is central in empowering women.

At present women, with or without formal education do all sorts of work,” she explained in her address titled “Development and Women; What Africa can do differently by 2030.” Ms Diallo was however impressed that the percentage of women in leadership positions in Africa was on the rise, stressing the need for equal ownership of resources between men and women.

Earlier, the French Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Frederic Clavier, said his government would award scholarships at the Masters and PhD levels, by pursuing a proactive policy of promoting female candidates in th“We have also planned to help strengthen the capacity of several Tanzanian universities, particularly through the additional training of lecturers,” he stated, making a plea for multilingualism and for strengthening the place of French in the Tanzanian education system.

The government has also showed its commitment to ensure women and girls have greater access to the control of resources, opportunities and decision-making towards promoting inclusive growth.

The Deputy Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Ashatu Kijaji, made the commitment in Dar es Salaam yesterday when officiating at the Tanzania Women of Achievement (TWA) Forum 2018.

In a speech read on her behalf by Deputy Commissioner of Finance, Ms Judica Omary, the deputy minister explained that enabling gender equality and empowering women were critical for development.

“The government recognizes that gender equality and women empowerment are important for poverty reduction and sustainable development,” she said. Dr Kijaji pointed out that the commitment by the government was reflected in national strategic plans and policies such as Tanzania Development Vision 2025, the National Five-Year Development Plan, the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGR) as well as Women and Gender Development Policy.

The government has also ratified regional and international commitments on gender equality and women empowerment and established the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children as national gender machinery.

On the other hand, Dr Kijaji commended TWA for organising the forum, saying that deliberations from the forum would drive social and economic transformation through empowerment of women. With the theme “Press for Progress,” Dr Kijaji urged the women at the Forum to make a change for better development through inspirations from other women in the Forum.

Earlier, the Founder and President of TWA, Ms Irene Kiwia, said the forum brought together women from all walks of life with diverse backgrounds and ages to celebrate women’s achievements as well as highlighting common leadership solutions to strengthen women’s economic participation.

Meanwhile, the private sector and the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) have been encouraged to make tangible commitments in advancing gender equality by taking an integrated approach to unlock the power of women in business and society.

This was stated by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms Sihaba Nkinga, who told reporters during the marking of International Women’s Day. PS Nkinga said the government had made a great contribution for gender issues reaching all women in many parts of the country.

For the first time in Tanzania, over 20 private companies listed at the DSE joined the UN Women and the UN Global compact to ring the bell for gender equality. Ms Sihaba urged companies listed at DSE to step up their efforts to promote gender equality, their roles at work places, investment and innovation.

The Representative of UN Women, Ms Hodan Addou, welcomed all the private sector players to pledge their commitment to promote gender equality in the workplace and in the marketplace. She said studies had confirmed that investing in gender equality would have a multiple effect and benefit not just the family and the community but the entire nation.

“In 2015, countries adopted the Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty, end inequalities, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable agenda,’ she said. Ms Addou explained that the UN agency was proud to partner with the government of Tanzania in commemorating the International Women’s Day.

In a related development, MASEMBWE TAMBWE reports that Christmas has come early for male employees at Vodacom Tanzania Plc with the announcement of a review of its Paternity leave Policy and increased the days entitled to 14 (two weeks) from the current three beginning April this year.

The announcement came as the company commemorated International Women Day at its headquarters yesterday where Vodacom’s Human Resources Director, Ms Perece Kirigiti, explained that men will have two weeks to stay with their newborns.

“We have come to understand that all efforts to empower women should always begin with the men and that is why I am happy to announce this review today as it’s a step towards achieving equity.

“It has been demonstrated worldwide that women benefit most when men take paternity leave so I am excited about this move,” she said. Currently, majority of the employers adhere to Sect 34(1) (a) of the Employment and Labour Relations Act, 2004, where an employee is entitled to at least three days paid paternity leave and must be taken within seven days of the birth of a child.

Ms Kirigiti explained that paternity leave could be taken within the first 18 months of the baby’s arrival, thus giving new fathers an opportunity to choose when they want to stay home and assist with the care of their newborn.