Women challenged to turn economic hurdles into opportunities

Mary Rusimbi, Executive Director of Women Fund Tanzania

Tanzanian women have been challenged to turn economic hurdles into opportunities while youth have been commended for their involvement in awareness initiatives.

The observation was aired at the One Billion Rising global campaign to end gender violence that was observed nationally over the weekend at the Coco Beach grounds in Dar es Salaam.

Addressing the multitudes gathered, the guest of honour, Executive Director of Women Fund Tanzania Mary Rusimbi was keen to commend ‘increased youth awareness and participation’ that she said is ‘very encouraging and vital to the cause.’

“I am very happy to learn that this global campaign has been embraced and nationally led by Tanzanian youth,” she said.

“The campaign has become an advocacy platform raising awareness that gender violence is not a women’s issue rather, a violation of human rights and is a global plight,” she added.

“Gender violence is a cross cutting issue…it knows no boundaries not of age, race nor of religion…it affects both rich and poor,” she noted and pledged continued support to community initiatives to end gender violence.
“I am again very impressed to see youth show such good examples aimed at bringing about social change,” she summed up.

Seconding her views, Rotary Club of Dar es Salaam – Oysterbay chapter Director of Public Relations Leanne Martin-Pollock, was emphatic on the need for male participation and also the importance of ‘taking initiatives from closed door meeting and out to the public.’

“We chose this venue because it is where the people are…efforts to raise awareness must be taken out of closed door meetings and to the public,” she said.

Evidence meriting the venue choice was clear when earlier on a young girl walked up to one of the organisers, Tanya Mulamula, and asked
to confide.

“If you can reach one person,” the very emotional Pollock went on to say “…that is all we aim for…one life at a time,” she said.
She also to took the time to highlight Rotary’s support for community development efforts and also pledged continued support to similar initiatives.

“We aim to address challenges within our immediate society…this is a long term standing approach of all Rotary clubs,” she said.

Speaking at the same event, Mwazuko Kongola, the Technical Advisor to Engender Health a leading global women’s health organisation and supporter of the campaign also acknowledged that there is increasing youth awareness in gender issues.

“But we still have a lot of work to do,” he said cautiously.
He was keen to note Engender Health support for community based efforts not only in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam where currently they are conducting family planning initiatives but also in other regions particularly in remote, isolated and mostly marginalised communities.

Notably, in 2008 Engender Health launched a national dialogue about engaging men in order to improve gender equity and reduce the prevalence of gender-based violence and disease.

Another supporter of the event was the Dar es Salaam based private waste management company Tirima Ltd whose Manager Alistair Noble said, “It is our working philosophy to support community based activities like this one.”

He went on to cite the importance of all stakeholders joining hands in their various capacities to end all forms of violence on children and women.
“It is our joint responsibility,” he said.

Tirima Ltd handled the sanitation of Coco Beach before and after the event, a necessary condition for public gatherings that most event organisers fail to adhere to.

One Billion Rising is the biggest mass action to end violence against women in human history.  The campaign, launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. 

With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls.

On 14 February 2013, people across the world came together to express their outrage, strike, dance, and rise in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women.

 Last year, on 14 February 2014, One Billion Rising for Justice focused on the issue of justice for all survivors of gender violence and highlighted the impunity that lives at the intersection of poverty, racism, war, the plunder of the environment, capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy.

Events took place in 200 countries, where women, men and youth came together to Rise, Release and Dance outside of court houses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not.

Meanwhile, as Tanzania gears up to celebrate the World International Women’s Day, women have been called upon to turn the challenges they encounter into opportunities.

Briefing journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday on the forthcoming event to be held in the city, TruMark Managing Director, Agnes Mgongo said that it is time for women in the country to realise that their dreams can be achieved by turning challenges  into opportunities.

She said that women should find ways of empowering themselves instead of been dependent either to their husbands or relatives.

“This is why TruMark is organising a special event on March 7 where different women will have the opportunity to showcase their activities in a move to recognise their contribution to social development,” she stressed.
She said that though this year’s international theme is ‘Make it happen’ for TruMark it is ‘Women make it happen’.

She noted that the national event this year’s will be held in Morogoro Region, however other celebrations will be held in Dar es Salaam.

“The World International Women’s day is a perfect platform to let women of different calibers meet and exchange views and knowledge on economic issues and how to manage and overcome related challenges that hamper their road to success.

According to her, they are expecting about 500 to 1000 women to participate in the event where different speeches will be delivered by various prominent women in society on topics ranging from leadership and social issues to economy and entrepreneurship.

She called on women to participate at the various events in their regions because ‘knowledge and interaction will help them in their daily entrepreneurial and economic activities,’ she said.

Mgongo underscored that a mother is the family role model and ‘behind every successful man there is a woman.’

10 per cent of income generated at the event will go to providing capacity building training to various girls in a bid to empower them to achieve economic freedom.