41 YOUNG WOMEN TRAINED ON LEADERSHIP AND FACILITATION SKILLS IN MWANZA.
KIVULINI Women’s Rights Organization conducted workshops for 41young women in Mwanza City in order to prepare them for participation in community leadership and activism.
The 2 week training session was held in Mwanza at the KIVULINI office from 6th to 24th June, 2011.
The objective of the training was to equip young women with the knowledge, skills and confidence to become community leaders and activists, especially with regards to regular elections.
Participants are expected to champion and advocate for the inclusion and participation of women in political elections as to meet a 50:50 representation ratio of women and men.
In addition, the workshop presented gender and leadership as topics of focus and discussion in order to address systematic patriarchy as well as negative perceptions of women and their abilities to participate in leadership roles.
In recognition of the need for an increase of women representatives in running for public offices as outlined by the MKUKUTA (2009) report, that explains that there is a large gap between men and women running public offices, 15 out of the 41 young women participants were selected to continue on for an additional weeks training on facilitation skills.
The 15 selected participants are expected to advance their educational skills on gender sensitization, leadership, the role of women leaders in Tanzania, domestic violence, and women’s development.
Another 11 young women were selected for radio production training whereby they expected
to produce youth based radio programs on women and leadership through the Afya Radio station which operates in the Lake Zone region.
KIVULINI CONDUCTED A DIALOGUE WITH CMAC TO LINK HIV AND WOMEN VIOLENCE
KIVULINI Women’s Rights Organization conducted policy advocacy dialogue with 25 members of the Mwanza City Multi-sect oral Aids Committee (CMAC) in order to discuss the link between Domestic Violence (DV) and HIV/AIDS on June 17, 2011.
The aim of dialog was to inform the CMAC about the link between DV and HIV/AIDS and to form a joint venture with policy makers in order to address these interconnected issues.
The dialog package included a step by step elaboration process using KIVULINI, local and international findings on the related matters.
The aim of the dialog was also to sensitize policy makers on how domestic violence is championing the spread of HIV/AIDS so that these issues would be recognized as important issues on government agendas.
During the dialog, economic factors were discussed as many women are financially dependant on men and are thus more susceptible to DV and HIV/AIDS. “Many women are forced to have sex with men in order to obtain their basic needs such as food, school fees, clothes, cosmetics etc.”
In connection with economic dependence, women often have no voice when it comes to matters of the household. For example, many women are unable to have a say in terms of how many lovers their partner has, the use condoms, the number of children that they have as well as the use of alcohol in their homes.
KIVULINI research has shown that many women are raped within their marriages and often have no legal support in terms of protection, especially in the court of law. Additionally, 40.4% of Tanzanian women’s first sexual experience is often forced (Garcia Moreno, 2005).
The CMAC was asked to work alongside KIVULINI and other NGOs in order to identify the links within their own communities between violence and HIV/AIDS and to empower women to prevent these issues.
Collaboration and coordination among stakeholders at both the council and district levels, including strengthening services to vulnerable populations, were said to be key aspects in HIV/AIDS prevention.
DOMESTIC WORKERS FROM MWANZA AND MUSOMA CAMPAIGNED FOR ARTICLE FOUR PARAGRAPH FOUR IN A 100TH ILO MEETING.
In 2011, KIVULINI Women’s Rights Organization has successfully sent two domestic workers to the100th annual Conference of the International Labor Organization (ILO) that ended June 17, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Angela Benedict (24) from Mwanza and Angelina Joseph Nyamuhanga (17) of Musoma attended the 100th ILO meeting for one week from 1st June to June 7 and presented Tanzania domestic workers’ views.
The main objective of the domestic workers participation was to sensitize policy makers and to lobby convention members to constitute “better protection” for domestic workers throughout the world.
Specific objectives included persuaging delegates at the International Labor Convention (ILC) to support the adoption of article and paragraph 4 of the convention and Recommendation on Decent Work for Domestic Workers.
Article 4 of the convention requires all members to set a minimum age for domestic workers and to ensure that work performed by domestic workers who are under the age of 18 does not deprive them of, or interfere with, their compulsory schooling, further education or vocational training.
Paragraph 4 of the Recommendation asks members to give special attention to the needs of domestic workers under the age of 18 and to take measures to protect them by limiting their hours of work for rest, by providing time for education and training, leisure activities and family contacts.
Paragraph 4 also recommendeds strategies for the establishment and/or strengthening of mechanisms to monitor the working and living conditions of CDWs, and prohibits night work and work which is likely to be harmful to the health, safety or moral standing of CDWs.
During the |Meeting…
1st June, Tanzania’s representatives prepared and tweaked their presentations with OAK-antislavery sponsors. The representatives presented their stands on rights to education and worker safety on the second day. From the June 3rd to June 6th Angela and Angelina were busy lobbying Governments, employers and unions to vote for the Domestic Workers Convention that requires governments to ensure domestic workers understand their rights, through written contracts. On June 16th as all members agreed to sign except for England and Canada.
A treaty to protect millions of domestic workers around the world was adopted.
Under the new international legal instrument an estimated 100 million household employees should benefit from their rights to vacation, maternity
“Were so happy we’ve been waiting for this for years,” Angela and Angelina, the tearful domestic workers from Tanzania, who attended the conference, stressed their fillings. “We’ve been abused and battered and now we have freedom.”
According to that law, domestic workers living on the house of their employers will be paid Tsh. 20,000/=, living out of employer’s house Tsh. 65,000/= and that working in Ambassadors and leaders houses Tsh. 80,000/=
Government Commitments
Speaking after its adoption, the Minister of Work and Labor Gaudentia Kabaka said that according to ILO standards, leave, unemployment insurance and regular working hours.
“The law will require employers to contribute on the social security funds and we will make sure of their rights and good relation between employee and employer” Kabaka said.
KIVULINI HAS SAVED ROSE FROM DICENT WORK/ CHILD LABOR
Rose Peter (11) has arrived at home June 15 to continue with her standard one study after a long period of decent work in Mwanza City.
Leah Soteli of Kivulini Women’s Rights Organization who accompanied her to Kigwa village in Tabora region said Rose’s family was happy to receive their daughter safely and promised to take her back to school.
Rose was deprived from school and taken by Sada Juma of Ilemela-Mahakama suburb, Mwanza for domestic work with agreement of Tsh. 20,000/=per month.
Rose was living with her father and step-mother who made it easier to stop her from school as Sada promised to send them money, Tshs 10,000/= per month
through M-pesa and the rest ten handled to Rose for her basic needs in Mwanza.
Working at early age, Rose was faced difficult works and bad treatments from her boss until her neighbors decided to intervene.
She said that, she was regularly alleged to still some food, “kukomba mboga” and such alike that ended to copro- punishments something which damaged her health.
Rose’s neighbors reported the incident to area government officials but ‘pig headed’ Sada didn’t listen. Therefore, Rose was taken to exile as she refused to send her back home or to treat him as her own kid.
Knowing not where Rose was taken and the immediate change of Sada’s time table by coming home only at midnight, Ilemela-mahakama’s residence was shocked to report to KIVULINI.
When asked by KIVULINI staff, Sada refused to hide her saying she was sent back home until police force was used to arrest him.
After three days stay in Kirumba Police Post she mentioned that Rose was hidden in Pasiansi where KIVULINI rescued her on June 10 and got him back home a day before “Mtoto wa Afrika’s” Day.
MWANZA AND MARA TRAINED ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Training of community members on issues of Domestic Violence was conducted by Kivulini Staff in four Lake Zone districts from May to June, 2011.
40,208 participants from Kwimba, Misungwi (Mwanza), Butiama and Musoma rural (Mara) attended the Accepting Changes meeting and agreed to advocate and champion for changes in their community with regards to violence.
Six groups, namely Butiama Amsha Youth Club (Musoma rural), SHIRAMA of Malya, Lady Star-Ngudu, and TAWA from the Kwimba districts as well as MWANGAZA and KIMACHWENGWI from Misungwi were formed in order to deal with domestic violence cases in their areas.
Using video sessions and public dialogs, KIVULINI under their community mobilization campaign aimed to create social awareness on domestic violence, early pregnancies, and gender equity in relation to HIV/AIDS.
The program also aimed at gaining experience and lessons learned from communities affected by domestic violence.
It was learned through public talks that there was a shortage of school hostels which was contributing to an increase in early pregnancies as many school girls were forced to rent near their school and many were forced to live in ghettos.
The specific objective of the campaign was to sensitize community members so that domestic violence is viewed as unacceptable in their communities and so that community members take action against acts of violence, especially towards women.
Kivulini also learned that most of parents are unknowingly supporting domestic violence. For example Bhoke Mgure (17) when was badly wounded by her husband and reported the incidence to her parents but her mother refused to listen and sent her back to her husband as she also experienced the same in her marriage
Why is domestic violence not newsworthy in Mara region?
Musoma Municipal Education Officer, Dr. Eturo (52) said parents are to blame because of the unforgettable punishments that they bestow upon their children. He explained that instead of instilling social habits and morals through teaching and non-violent punishments, many families in the Mara region utilize violence within their homes.
Traditions within the Mara Region also perpetuate violence against women as women are expected to respect men in any circumstances and often fear reporting domestic violence to their leaders, parents, and courts as is against their traditional social practices.
Lyangala village chairman Mr. Paschal Makunja Magati (53) explained that domestic violence rates are very high in his area but that economic violence, where husbands utilize their financial power to control and abuse their partners and often utilize family earnings for alcohol and relationships outside their marriages are much higher.
Although the rates were quite high at one point, Mr. Magati mentioned that regular Kivulini violence seminars have substantially increased understanding of the issues and decreased rates of all types of violence in his community.
According to the MKUKUTA Status Report 2006, women in rural areas are reported to be particularly vulnerable to domestic violence. For example, a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2005 revealed that 41 percent of women in Dar es Salaam and 56 percent in the district of Mbeya who were married or in a live-in relationship with a man, or who had had a regular sexual partner, had "experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner".
The MKUKUTA Status Report also indicates that 60 percent of women believe that wife beating is acceptable as compared with 42 percent of men. The WHO study conducted in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya also revealed that 60 percent of victims had never sought help because they believed that spousal violence was either "normal" or not serious enough to require intervention.
Through many case study reviews in the Mara region, it seems that education is ultimately more effective than the enactment of laws to empower women to overcome the barriers to equality. Educated girls are more likely to resist pressure to marry too young, to have too many children and to resign them to unpaid work. They have greater competence as mothers and as active agents in their communities.
It is Kivulini’s mission to reduce the number of people who believe that domestic violence is acceptable.
KIVULINI HAS CONDUCTED A MID TERM RE-VIEW WORKSHOP
KIVULINI has conducted a midterm review workshop to staff and its stakeholders on project monitoring, evaluation and report writing from 6th to 11th July, 2011.
The objective of workshop was to equip staff and domestic violence’s stakeholder additional knowledge on how to run their projects effectively.
The specific objective was to review activities conducted by the Organization from January to June and to write a good mid term report for each project.
During the workshop, participants from Non Government Organizations (NGOs), Local government representatives and Kivulini staff were taught the importance of project assessment and report writing.
The workshop also aimed at helping project runners to reflect on where they are going and how to get their smoothly by identifying problems and their causes.
All in all the workshop had a big impact and were very successful as every department wrote a good midterm report of their projects.
