UNFPA donates ten motorbikes to Tanzania Police Force for Gender Based Violence response

The Police force of Tanzania has received ten motorcycles from UNFPA, The United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Agency, to provide quality and timely support to survivors of Gender-Based Violence.

The Police force of Tanzania has received ten motorcycles from The United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Agency-UNFPA to provide quality and timely support to survivors of Gender-Based Violence.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony held in Dar es Salaam, Inspector General of Police Simon Sirro said the donation will enhance the capacity of police gender & children’s desks to reach out to the victims of Gender-Based Violence.

Commissioner Sirro said the effort made by UNFPA have contributed a lot to ending violence against women and children, noting that incidents have decreased. “Let us stop practicing outdated customs and norms. We need collective efforts to end Gender-Based Violence. The donation will further help our officers in charge of desks to reach the community awareness”, he said.

UNFPA Officer in Charge, Ms. Georgette Kyomba reminded that acts of gender-based violence and harmful practices against women, girls’ children and older persons are rampant in society-occurring daily. She said in Tanzania, as is the case in many countries around the world, too many women and girls live in fear of violence and abuse. Kyomba said, "Four in ten women and girls aged 15 to 49 will experience Gender-Based Violence in their lifetime." Adding that, "Three in every ten girls will marry before their 18th birthday."

The UNFPA Officer in Charge said, "Although the national average for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has decreased to 10 percent, gains across regions have been unequal and it remains as high as 58 percent in the Manyara region." Behind these numbers are broken bones, broken souls and broken individuals, with families, communities and the nation. 



These people continue to incur huge social and economic costs. Gender-Based Violence has serious consequences in their lives including causing disability, deaths and several psychological consequences. Overall, GBV has an impact on the opportunity of every individual to reach his or her full development and potential. “UNFPA is fully committed to protecting every woman and every girl from harm and abuse, sexual and Gender-Based Violence, and protection from harmful practices such as child marriage and FGM”, she highlighted.

In Tanzania, UNFPA supports the government to implement the targets set by the National Plan of Action to end violence against Women and children. Through partnership, UNFPA has supported the police at the national, regional and local levels to improve their capacity to reach out to the survivors of GBV and harmful practices.

Police Community Engagement Officer, Dr. Musa Ally Musa said that the donation was the open evidence showing how police gender desks play their roles in solving problems. “We must practice community engagement, organization transformation and solve challenges,” he said.

In 2018, UNFPA launched efforts to achieve three transformative results with ambitions that promise to change the world for every man, woman and young person:

Ending gender-based violence and harmful practices

As the struggle for gender equality continues, violence against women and girls remains a global pandemic. One in three women will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

UNFPA works to prevent and respond to Gender-Based Violence through its work with policymakers, justice systems, health systems and humanitarian partners. UNFPA also focuses on eliminating harmful practices, including FGM and child marriage, and helps to engage men and boys to advance gender equality.