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First Lady to kick off Tamwa anniversary festivities in Dar
2008-03-25 09:18:32
By Guardian Reporter
First Lady Salma Kikwete will open week-long Tanzania Media Women`s Association (Tamwa) celebrations to mark its 20th anniversary on Saturday.
According to a Tamwa statement issued yesterday in Dar es Salaam, the celebrations will be held from Saturday by the inauguration of the organisation`s new office building at Sinza Mori in Dar es Salaam.
The First Lady would also grace a fund-raiser for construction of a resource centre that will enable the public to access information on gender issues, policies and case studies which feature women and children`s voices, said the statement in part.
The centre, according to the statement, would among other things archive study reports and testimonies of survivors of gender-based violence.
``The resource centre, estimated to cost 60m/-, will be a reference point for researchers, journalists, human rights activists and campaigners for policy change,`` the statement said.
It will also house a studio for recording radio programmes, said the one-page statement signed by Tamwa executive director Ananilea Nkya.
Other major events to mark the commemoration week include launching of a book documenting achievements of the association and challenges it has gone through and a strategic workshop to shape future programmes, it said.
``The commemoration will end with an annual general meeting which, among other things, will elect new office bearers,`` added the statement.
Tamwa, established by 12 media women in 1987, has now more than 100 members working in print and electronic media as well as in public relations and government institutions.
The organization said in the statement that some of the successful media campaigns it had carried out include advocacy against corruption, female genital mutilation (FGM), rape, wife battery, child marriages and child labour.
Tamwa had also influenced changes in policies and laws that undermine the rights of women and children, including amendments to the Sexual Offences Act of 1998 which, for the first time, criminalised FGM.
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