National Guidelines in Tanzania - Government

National Plan of Action

In general, national follow-up action to the Beijing Platform for Action covers the following areas of concern:

1. education and training;

2. women and health;

3. women and economy;

4. increase women in power and decision-making; and,

5. human rights of women

National Programme Framework for Women’s and Gender Advancement

The focus of the Programme is on women and girls in rural areas. The framework stresses the need to create an enabling environment in which gender awareness is heightened.

In the area of economic empowerment and poverty eradication, four major strategies are identified:

1. women’s access to and ownership of means of production;

2. enhancement of women income generating capacities and opportunities;

3. enhancement of appropriate utilization of resources to eradicate poverty; and,

4. acilitating trade and marketing networks for women’s products.

National Employment Policy, 1997

Included in the government policy is a specific statement advocating equal rights for women in the workplace. Section 10 (6), Employment Promotion: Special Groups states:

"Employment promotion for women will be accorded priority not only on a gender equal rights basis, but also due to the fact that women constitute 54% of all the labour force in Tanzania mainland. They therefore have a large contribution to the growth of the economy. In view of this, to promote employment for women, the following strategies are envisaged:

1. to strengthen the fund for providing loans to women.

2. to remove discriminatory laws against women. Such laws include those pertaining to ownership of land, inheritance of property, etc.

3. to emphasize the use of labour saving technologies in order to reduce workload facing women in domestic shores.

4. to ensure unconditional employment in terms of gender and to encourage women to acquire economic power through involving themselves in various commercial activities."

National Land Policy, 1995

On women’s access, ownership and use of land the National Land Policy provides the following policy statement:

"In order to enhance and guarantee women's access to land and security of tenure, women will be entitled to acquire land in their own right not only through purchase but also through allocation. However inheritance of clan or family land will continue to be governed by custom and tradition provided they are not contrary to the Constitution and the principles of natural justice."

Implementation of the National Land Policy took the form of public awareness campaigns and legislative reform, which culminated in the Land Act, 1999 and the Village Land Act, 1999.

Tanzania Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP)

See PRSP the third progress report 2002/03

The Government of Tanzania has updated its’ Poverty Reduction Strategy of 2000 in three progress reports. A new PRSP is expected late 2004. The third progress report of April 2004 refers to continued efforts to mainstream gender in all sectors of PRS, especially addressing the gender disparities in employment and income between women and men, and conditions that help reduce child labour. Relating to this, the Government carried out surveys, such as the Household Budget Survey (HBS) http://www.nbs.go.tz/HBS/ and the Integrated Labour Force Survey (ILFS) http://www.nbs.go.tz/stlabourforce.htm , which confirm gender disparities and the need for mainstreaming in the PRS monitoring system.

In 2002/2003 the following was achieved:

• To mainstream gender in central and local government sectors, gender focal points were appointed.
• The Law Reform Commission is in the process of reforming laws that are discriminatory towards women.
• Capacity building workshops were held for local government authorities.
• Activities to empower women, such as participation in trade fairs for women entrepreneurs, have been carried out.

The Rural Development Strategy, 2001

The Rural Development Strategy focuses on the promotion gender equality in priority areas including agriculture and small and medium enterprise development.

Agricultural Sector Development Policy (ASDS), 2002

ASDS recognizes the need to mainstream planning for agricultural development in other sectors. Thus, ASDS focuses specifically on issues such as gender, rural infrastructure development, youth migration, environmental management, and the impact of HIV/AIDS, which all influence agricultural development.

Small and Medium Enterprise Development Policy (2002)

The policy was developed under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. It commits to enhancing gender mainstreaming in all initiatives in SME development.

The policy acknowledges women’s disadvantaged position in access to productive resources such as land, credit and education. It proposes specific measures for promoting entrepreneurship of women and other disadvantaged groups, such as youth and people with disabilities, by facilitating their participation in the SME sector.

The following two strategies are used:

• Facilitating SME service provides to design special programmes for women and disadvantaged groups.
• Identifying factors that restrict women and other disadvantaged groups from going into business and designing programmes which address those factors.