Women leaders react to poor gender balance ranking

Chairperson of Women Footprints Initiative Ms Vida Nassari (second left) shows the Vice President’s wife, Aisha Bilali (left), and  Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda’s, wife Tunu Pinda (second right), clothing materials at an exhibition during a workshop on women economic emancipation-Tanzania Women Dialogue in Dar es Salaam yesterday. PHOTO | MICHAEL MATEMANGA

Dar es Salaam. A cross section of women leaders have expressed optimism that ongoing government programmes empower women across the country, citing as a challenge, the newly released Gender Gap report which indicates that Tanzania is behind in gender equality.

Two ministers and a top banking executive are among interviewees who told The Citizen on Sunday that Women in Tanzania should not lose hope following the report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) that painted a declining performance on the gender performance indicators such as Economic Participation, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment.

According to the Gender Gap 2013, opportunities for Tanzanian women to improve their welfare have dwindled, with the country backpedaling on all the gender growth measurements, including in economic participation that has dropped from position one in 2006 to 70 last year among 113 surveyed countries. That record placed the country as the least in empowering its women in East Africa.

In separate telephone interviews, the women leaders noted the nation could quickly pick up it fall in ranking should ongoing empowerment plans and others in the pipeline be brought to fruition.

Lands and Housing minister Prof Anna Tibaijuka said the result was largely because Tanzania’s economy is in transition. While women are the main producers (farmers), the sector does not compensate their efforts well, she said, leading to unproductive rural-urban migration. “Women don’t get enough opportunities in the cities to engage in formal economic activities,” the minister added. “They don’t get better jobs and chances of landing a soft loan are slim due to collateral demands, in the end, they choose to remain housewives.”

According to Prof Tibaijuka, women are doing well in politics because it is a platform that is still not very competitive. There has been affirmative action to boost their numbers. Deputy minister for Community Development, Gender and Children Ummy Mwalimu, said the government was keen to reverse the trend.

“The government has created a lot of opportunities to make sure that women do participate in economic activities,” she said.

“The proposed draft constitution has, for example, mentioned the right of women to own land and that will open new opportunities.” She notes, though, that more effort should be put into reaching those living in rural areas.

Ms Margreth Chacha, Executive Director of Tanzania Women’s Bank, argues that Tanzania needs to reform fast as more countries are overtaking it in the ranking.

“During the ‘Elimu ya Ujamaa na Kujitegemea’ era of Mwalimu Nyerere, women participated in projects such as ‘Vyama vya Ushirika’ and ‘Harambee’ but changes thereafter did not give them an opportunity for full participation.”

The banker said, though, that there were positive signs that things may change. “A lot of campaigns to empower women are going on,” Ms Chacha said. “I’m sure the index in the coming years will improve, with more women forming groups to get out of the hole.”

Her institution is working with the government to find out how to set aside funds for loans for women at low interest rates. The current rate is 19 per cent. But she warns that if the government continues to recognise traditional laws, women will continue to be undermined even with the new constitution.