Plight of the girl-child: The future’s not looking rosy for these young
female students as Tanzanian takes a massive tumble in global rankings
on gender equity and empowerment, losing the edge it had over EA
partners in 2006. PHOTO | FILE
In Summary
- Women in Tanzania are now the least economically empowered in East Africa, according to the Gender Gap Report 2013 released this week by the World Economic Forum.
- The group’s general rankings placed Tanzania 66th out of the 133 countries surveyed, with Burundi (22) and Uganda (46) emerging as the best placed in the EAC.
Dar es Salaam. Opportunities
for Tanzanian women to improve their welfare have dwindled in the past
six years, according to a study on gender equity.
The country has back-pedalled on virtually all gender growth measurements, including economic participation, that placed Tanzania ahead of 115 countries studied in 2006.
Women in Tanzania are now the least economically empowered in East Africa, according to the Gender Gap Report 2013 that was released this week by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The group’s general rankings placed Tanzania 66th out of the 133 countries surveyed, with Burundi (22) and Uganda (46) emerging as the best placed in the EAC.
Kenya came last at number 78 while Rwanda--often praised for its pragmatism--was not been featured.
The areas studied for the report are economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.
WEF takes into consideration labour, income, the number of the sexes among senior officers and managers, professional and technical workers, literacy, school enrolment, sex ratio at birth, life expectancy and women MPs, ministers and presidents.
The findings indicate that Tanzania’s economic empowerment rating has deteriorated steadily over the years to stand at position 70 in 2013.
The country topped the global study in this category in 2006 before dropping to fourth and third positions in 2007 and 2008.
It dropped to position 52 in 2009, then came in at positions 57 (2010), 63 (2011) and 60 (2012).
Tanzania’s worst-rated ratings are in education attainment (118) and health and survival (112). The only bright rating for Dar is political empowerment at 32.
This index also ranked highest in 2006 at position 26.
Regionally, Burundi (3) has the best economic empowerment rating in 2013 followed by Uganda (37) and Kenya (44).
Uganda is ranked first in health and survival, a position it has maintained for the four straight years of WEF reporting--far ahead of Tanzania, Kenya (102) and Burundi (99).
Uganda is ranked last in the EAC in education attainment with a rating of 123, however, followed by Tanzania (118), Burundi (114) and Kenya (107).
Kenyan women’s participation in politics is poorest at 85 while Uganda (28) and Burundi (31) are pretty close to each other.
Some Tanzanian women leaders told The Citizen on Saturday that the country could quickly pick up in the rankings should ongoing empowerment plans and others in the pipeline come 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 them well their efforts, 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 and, 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 and the fact that 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 rankings.
“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 sensitisation 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 percent. But she warns that if the government continues to recognise traditional laws, women will continue to be undermined even with a new constitution.
The Director of the Legal and Human Rights Centre, Dr Hellen Kijo Bisimba, lamented unsustainable plans for women empowerment.
She added: “The sad thing is that women in politics are there in the interest of their political parties as our political system has not given autonomy to women representatives to fully represent our interests.”
Ms Usu Malya, Director of the Tanzania Gender Network, challenged policy makers to use the report to force through changes. “Women cannot grow if society continues to restrict them to menial duties.”
Ms Fatma Riyami of the Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce said women needed to pull together to register significant progress.
The country has back-pedalled on virtually all gender growth measurements, including economic participation, that placed Tanzania ahead of 115 countries studied in 2006.
Women in Tanzania are now the least economically empowered in East Africa, according to the Gender Gap Report 2013 that was released this week by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The group’s general rankings placed Tanzania 66th out of the 133 countries surveyed, with Burundi (22) and Uganda (46) emerging as the best placed in the EAC.
Kenya came last at number 78 while Rwanda--often praised for its pragmatism--was not been featured.
The areas studied for the report are economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.
WEF takes into consideration labour, income, the number of the sexes among senior officers and managers, professional and technical workers, literacy, school enrolment, sex ratio at birth, life expectancy and women MPs, ministers and presidents.
The findings indicate that Tanzania’s economic empowerment rating has deteriorated steadily over the years to stand at position 70 in 2013.
The country topped the global study in this category in 2006 before dropping to fourth and third positions in 2007 and 2008.
It dropped to position 52 in 2009, then came in at positions 57 (2010), 63 (2011) and 60 (2012).
Tanzania’s worst-rated ratings are in education attainment (118) and health and survival (112). The only bright rating for Dar is political empowerment at 32.
This index also ranked highest in 2006 at position 26.
Regionally, Burundi (3) has the best economic empowerment rating in 2013 followed by Uganda (37) and Kenya (44).
Uganda is ranked first in health and survival, a position it has maintained for the four straight years of WEF reporting--far ahead of Tanzania, Kenya (102) and Burundi (99).
Uganda is ranked last in the EAC in education attainment with a rating of 123, however, followed by Tanzania (118), Burundi (114) and Kenya (107).
Kenyan women’s participation in politics is poorest at 85 while Uganda (28) and Burundi (31) are pretty close to each other.
Some Tanzanian women leaders told The Citizen on Saturday that the country could quickly pick up in the rankings should ongoing empowerment plans and others in the pipeline come 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 them well their efforts, 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 and, 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 and the fact that 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 rankings.
“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 sensitisation 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 percent. But she warns that if the government continues to recognise traditional laws, women will continue to be undermined even with a new constitution.
The Director of the Legal and Human Rights Centre, Dr Hellen Kijo Bisimba, lamented unsustainable plans for women empowerment.
She added: “The sad thing is that women in politics are there in the interest of their political parties as our political system has not given autonomy to women representatives to fully represent our interests.”
Ms Usu Malya, Director of the Tanzania Gender Network, challenged policy makers to use the report to force through changes. “Women cannot grow if society continues to restrict them to menial duties.”
Ms Fatma Riyami of the Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce said women needed to pull together to register significant progress.
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