Strengthening Women’s Leadership and Economic Rights at Local Levels

Since 2017, UN Women has led transformative programmes to advance women’s leadership and political participation in Tanzania at national and local levels.

From 2014-2021, a flagship initiative, the Wanawake Wanaweza (Women Can) project, employed a holistic, multi-pronged approach to increasing and improving women’s political leadership and participation by strengthening the enabling environment through legal and policy reform, building the capacity of both aspiring and current women leaders, advocating for the elimination of discriminatory social norms, and reinforcing institutional systems.

These efforts contributed to an increase in the number of women nominated (from 19% in 2015 to 24% in 2020) and more women chairing parliamentary committees and leading GEWE-related initiatives.

Building on this momentum, in 2021, UN Women launched the Women’s Leadership and Economic Rights at Local Levels (WLER) project, a five-year initiative aimed at increasing women’s representation in local governance and strengthening their economic rights in six regions of Tanzania. 

• By 2024, the project had contributed to the election of over 1,000 women during the Local Government Elections in the target regions, with several councils recording a doubling of women’s representation.
• As a result of a comprehensive gender review of electoral laws, technical guidance provided to key stakeholders, and sustained advocacy, Tanzania became the first country in the region to legally recognize violence against women in politics as an election offense through the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Councilors Elections Act, a critical step toward creating safer, more inclusive political spaces for women.

A number of integrated interventions drove these achievements:

• Over 900 women received training in transformational leadership.
• More than 500 women in Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) were trained in financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
• Grassroots feminist movements, such as GGTNs, women’s economic platforms, and Village Community Banking Groups, played a key role in creating safe spaces for knowledge-sharing, collective advocacy, and supporting women aspiring to leadership.
• Over 200  local government officials were equipped with knowledge on gender-responsive governance.
• 3,000 community members were engaged through dialogues challenging harmful gender norms, including on VAWP; and
• An in-depth gender analysis of four draft electoral laws was conducted, and informed technical inputs were provided to relevant stakeholders, strengthening the legislative framework for inclusive political participation.

UN Women’s interventions in Tanzania also address critical and interconnected issues, such as gender-responsive budgeting, unpaid care work, access to clean and safe cooking solutions, HIV/AIDS prevention, access to justice, ending violence against women and girls, and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.