Press release: Embassy of Finland and UN Women Tanzania embark on a new programme to promote women’s leadership and economic rights

4 February 2022, Dar es Salaam – The Embassy of Finland in Tanzania and UN Women Tanzania have signed a 9 million USD agreement today for a new 4-year programme on ‘Strengthening women’s and girls’ meaningful participation, leadership, and economic rights at the local levels in Tanzania’.

With implementation focused on 18 districts in six regions of Tanzania including Arusha, Dar es Salaam and the coastal region, Lindi, Mtwara and Singida, the programme will seek to advance women’s leadership and participation in decision-making processes at the local levels. It further aims to enhance women and girls’ economic rights to support the operationalization of the Government’s commitments made last year at the Generation Equality Forum.

Similar to the national level, across the country, women in Tanzania continue to be underrepresented in leadership and decision-making positions, due in large part to discriminatory social and cultural norms, division of labour and everyday practices that make it difficult for women to take leadership and participate equally in their communities.

Women are also often confronted with economic and time poverty, and are less likely to have access to information and technology, which in turn affects their ability to participate in leadership and leverage the economic opportunities and social capital, which many of their male counterparts and competitors have easier access to.

With this project, the Embassy of Finland and UN Women Tanzania, will seek to address these challenges working in partnership with the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Local Government Authorities and other relevant government institutions, and women and men who are agents of change at the district, ward and village levels. Central partners and beneficiaries of the programme are female local government officers, elected councillors and leaders of women’s groups and networks.

Local ownership and tailoring of the project and its intended results is critical at local levels. The programme has therefore been designed to ensure inclusive and participatory actions at every stage of implementation.

The holistic approach and strategies to be employed up until the project’s conclusion in 2026 and will include promoting gender-responsive norms, behaviours and practices within communities; strengthening the capacities of women leaders at the local levels; enhancing collection and use of sex and disability responsive data; and enhancing women’s economic rights, including piloting innovative measures such as childcare services as a way of addressing the disproportionate share of unpaid care work undertaken by women and girls. Women and girls with disabilities are also recognized as a key stakeholder group whose participation and economic empowerment must be strengthened.

Following the signing of the agreement local government level consultations will be organized and their results will feed into the official launch of the Women’s Leadership and Economic Rights project in April 2022.

For more information, contact:

Hanna Mtango
Communications Analyst
UN Women
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Maiju Palosaari Programme
Coordinator Embassy of Finland
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