UN Women Supports Development of Tanzania’s National Action Plan for Economic Justice and Rights

In the run-up to the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, UN Women collaborated with the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children (MHCDGEC) in mobilizing various stakeholders for the development of Tanzania’s priorities and Action Plan for the operationalization of commitments under the Economic Justice and Rights of the GEF Action Coalitions.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan appointed Dr. Angellah Kairuki as the National Coordinator and Advisor to Champion Economic Justice and Rights. Under Dr. Kairuki’s direction and guidance the (MHCDGEC) led the commitment making process, conducted at national level, with the support of UN Women. A technical taskforce composed of government, private sector, civil society, donors, and UN agencies supported the drafting of the commitments and National Action Plan. The initial two-day multistakeholder consultative meeting was chaired by Dr. John Jingu, Permanent Secretary in MHCDGEC, to map priority areas of commitment.

A draft report reflecting the aspirations of various actors was developed. A follow-up three-day exercise by a group of key actors from the Government, UN Women, women’s rights organizations and the private sector was held between 16-18 June, to fine-tune and finalize  the development of the National Priorities Brief. The Brief was handed over to the National Coordinator and Advisor of the Generation Equality Forum and the Permanent Secretary of the MHCDGEC to finalize the commitments that were previously submitted.

In partnership with UN Women, an expanded team convened in Dar es Salaam from 24-25 June and developed the Tanzania National Action Plan to guide the operationalization of the priority areas committed. The Generation Equality Commitment Action Plan was developed through a multi- stakeholder participatory process to guide the activation of bold actions. Actors were drawn from the Government, both Mainland and Zanzibar, civil society organisations, the private sector, UN agencies, international organizations, development partners, and donors.

The engagements brought out challenges and opportunities to enhance women’s economic justice and rights while promoting stakeholders’ commitment to the action plan for the realization of these rights. Actions seek to create a more enabling environment for women to fully participate and contribute to sustainably grow the economy of Tanzania. Participation by stakeholders from multiple sectors created new partnerships and committed to strengthened collaborative efforts to accelerate the pace towards gender equality.

Tanzania’s Vice President’s Participation  in the Generation Equality Forum

Vice President, Dr. Philip Isdor Mpango, announced Tanzania’s Economic Justice and Rights commitments at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, France. He outlined concrete actions to increase income equality; create equal opportunities for decent work for women and men; and access to credit for inclusive economic growth. He said Tanzania will also prioritise upscaling use of affordable technologies to promote women-led businesses and entrepreneurs, encourage financial inclusion, invest more in girls’ science schools and technology hubs, expand innovation to eliminate discriminatory practices and social norms that disempower women and girls, and establish community-based childcare centres in work and market-places to support active participation of women in the economy.

In addition, he said, Tanzania will also increase its investment in generating gender data to inform national planning and strategies to help address concerns under the unpaid care work, while also ensuring the formalization of women’s businesses for the expansion of decent work, and leverage digital technologies to expand competitive production and trading by women in the agriculture, blue economy, and mining value-chains.