What can we do for Gender Equality? This was asked during a Symposium to commemorate International Women’s Day in Arusha Region.It was conducted from 7th to 8th of March in Monduli District. The Symposium was organized by DSW Tanzania in collaboration with Monduli District Council, Community Development Training Institute (CDTI)-Monduli and Tanzania Police Gender Desk-Monduli. The Symposium was attended by about 100 participants from Monduli, Meru, Karatu and Arusha Rural Districts.
The Objectives of the Symposium were:
- Women to come together with Decision makers and Institutions to discuss openly on opportunities and challenges encountered in the areas of health and development.
- Women to have a chance of knowing policies and plans for Women Development
- Discussion on how to improve SRH services to Women, Education Opportunities and Gender Equality.
The event comprised of a Symposium with presentations and topics were Gender Equality and Family Planning (DSW Tanzania), Education Opportunities for Women (CDTI-Monduli) and Gender Based Violence (Police Gender Desk-Monduli
DSW Advocacy Officer,Diana Shuma presenting on Gender & Family Planning
The presentations were followed by discussions by the participants. Issues which were raised were concerning SRH services, how to report gender based violence cases, tracking of women development funds which are allocated under each District Councils, Re-entry for female youth who got pregnant while in school, early marriages and Female Genital Cuttings. All the questions were clarified by the panel.
Elaborations were shared on how Police Gender Desk operates in a confidential manner, also they learned on criminal offenses which can be reported in the Police Gender Desk.
Key issues were discussed on how women can care for their reproductive health, educate themselves both informal and formal and use police gender desks to report Gender Based Violence cases.
Symposium
The final occasion was graced by Monduli District Commissioner Hon. Jowika Kasunga who visited DSW booth were women groups from FFL and WOGE groups displayed their handmade products. Monduli District Commissioner thanked DSW for the WOGE project which supported Women’s groups in the areas of SRH and Entrepreneurship in Monduli District.
Guest of Honor,Monduli District Commissioner gets a brief of DSW work from DSW Communications Coordinator.
