UAE Supports Women in Peacekeeping in Tanzania

Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union and the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, donated some essential items to women in international peacekeeping in Tanzania. Over 12,000 essential items, including sanitary towels, a mix of hygiene and health items, toiletries, and hijabs were donated to Tanzanian women on missions in the DRC, the Central Africa Republic, and Lebanon. This gift further enhanced a partnership between the UAE and the Government of Tanzania through the Ministry of Defense and National Service and the Fatima bint Mubarak Women, Peace and Security Centre of Excellence.  In 2020, the General Women’s Union of the United Arab Emirates supported an exchange visit by a high-level delegation from Tanzania to facilitate learning on legislative reform strategies to help enhance the protection of the rights of women and girls, including ending child marriage.

This was after Tanzania’s Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the 2016 ruling by the High Court, banning parents and guardians from marrying off girls as young as 14 with court approval and 15 with parental consent.

The learning visit to the UAE created opportunities to share experiences and strategies that can support processes leading to the review of sections 13 and 17 of Tanzania’s Law of Marriage Act. The delegation comprised representatives from the Parliament of Mainland and Zanzibar, Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs, judiciary, the media, religious leaders, and civil society. The international good practices and lessons drawn from the UAE provided a contextual understanding that enabled the development of a common position on ending child marriage, which was adopted by the high-level delegation.

Participants in the handover ceremony included the late Minister of Defense and National Service, Honourable Elias John Kwandikwa, the UAE Ambassador to Tanzania, H.E. AbdulRahman Al Marzouqi, alongside other senior government officials and senior officers from the Tanzania Peoples’ Defence Forces (TPDF). They all emphasized the important role of women in peacekeeping and peacebuilding, reiterating their commitments to supporting the current development of the National Action Plan for the UNSCR 1325 for Tanzania.

Support to Tanzanian women in international peacekeeping also followed the success of the first training at the Centre of Excellence, which aimed to expand the scope of the support to include other countries – in an initiative unprecedented in the history of the UAE and UN Women partnership.

The initial training led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the United Arab Emirates and UN Women, under the facilitation of the General Women’s Union, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood and the Family Development Foundation in 2018. Women peacekeepers from Tanzania are expected to participate in the 2022 training programme in Abu Dhabi.  In support of advancing the provisions of the UN Resolution 1325, a total of 357 women from 17 Arab, African, and Asian countries have so far participated in a series of trainings.