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`Most problems faced by women have solutions`
2007-03-08 09:36:12
By Gadiosa Lamtey
As Tanzanians join the rest of the world in marking International Women’s Day, experts based in different parts of the country say most of the social problems women endure could be solved by governments and the women themselves.
Speaking during a weeklong survey by The Guardian, the experts challenged women and the government to take affirmative and proactive action to end the long-standing problems facing women.
Most cited these as exploitation, discrimination, sexual abuse, and violence.
Nelly Maliva, an assistant lecturer in the Department of Commerce and Management of the University of Dar es Salaam, said she saw IWD as providing an opportunity for women and the government `to devise and implement better strategies to raise the status of women`.
`The day is important because it gives hope to women, many of whom have lost heart after years of oppression and exploitation, to engage in productive activities partly through exhibitions at which products made by their fellow women are displayed,` she explained.
The don said the Tanzanian government has done a commendable job in ensuring that women are not left behind `but the entire society is also duty bound to support them`, adding that society must prepare a range of strategies to empower women in various economically, socially and politically.
Dora William, also an assistant lecturer at the university, was of the view that the empowerment of women would be `vastly beneficial` if the government identified the specific needs of various groups of women.
She admitted that the government had played a big role in helping to empower women but not all women in the society had benefited from such empowerment.
She called on the government to understand that women have `some very special needs` and there are many disparities even among women themselves.
`There is a wide gap between women in urban areas and those in rural areas such that, even if they are brought together and empowered, some would not gain anything because of factors like differences in education and poverty levels,` she pointed out.
The don also urged the government to consider identifying the needs of different groups of women so that all can benefit from what it offers.
Asked for his views, University of Dar es Salaam lecturer Justine Katunzi said International Women’s Day was important because it helps to remind women about their crucial role in the development of the country.
`These are times when women’s needs are regarded as priorities in various sectors, all with the aim of raising their status and reduce the gap between them and men,` he said.
Giving an example, Dr. Katunzi said the qualifications set for women and girls to be enrolled in universities favour them at the expense of men. He explained that the idea was to increase the number of educated women.
Legal and Human Rights Centre executive director Hellen Kijo-Bisimba said the government had over the years extended laudable support to women in the political, economic, education, health and various other sectors.
She illustrated her remarks by noting that 30 per cent of members of the Tanzanian parliament are women.
`Things have changed a lot compared to years gone by in that more women are now given opportunities to pursue even those courses that previously attracted very few women. This has resulted in having more women holding big executive posts in both private and public organisations,` she said.
For her part, Community Development, Gender and Children minister Sophia Simba noted that she found the theme for this year’s celebration – `Women and Environment: Use Traditional Baskets to Protect Environment` – especially relevant and timely.
She said environmental degradation has been a threat to the development of the country and its people, adding that the problem is what essentially precipitated or aggravated last year’s countrywide food and electricity shortages.
`The theme for this year rightly underlines the need to use traditional baskets instead of plastic bags as one way of conserving our environment. Plastic bags do not decompose easily and have a confirmed adverse impact on living organisms and the environment generally,` she explained.
But like several other ordinary women interviewed, Fausta Mushi of Tabata in Dar es Salaam said she was not aware of the day.
`The government should bear the blame for all this because it cares only for only a certain class of women in the society, leaving the rank and file to languish in untold poverty,` she added dejectedly, without elaboration.
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