Outcome TZA_D_1.4

Selected legislation, policies and justice system are gender-responsive and promote women's rights and gender equality

The Gender Bench Book on Women’s Rights (GBB) for judicial officers, including judges and magistrates, was launched in a high-level meeting officiated by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania in October 2021. The purpose of the GBB is to provide judicial officers with an easily accessible compendium of gender-related legal knowledge so they can make decisions and issue rulings and judgments that reflect gender equality norms and standards. The GBB will also support the initiation of legislative reviews to remove or reform gender-discrimination laws and policies due to the sound evidence and analysis detailed in the compendium. This valuable information includes details regarding international principles, norms, and standards, as well as the introduction of good practices to guide rulings. The GBB is the first-ever compendium of this type in Tanzania. 1,000 GBB copies were printed and disseminated to Judges and Magistrates in Tanzania. In addition, 140 (93F: 47M) judicial officers have been trained using the Gender Bench Book in Kagera and Kigoma Regions. In 2021, legal aid services were provided to 547 females from rural areas in three districts of the Kagera Region through mobile legal aid services provided by joint initiatives involving government institutions, legal aid providers, and paralegals with technical and financial support from UN Women. The cases handled with legal aid support included land tenure cases, GBV cases, probate cases, marriage/divorce cases, and other civil cases. Legal aid providers were able to resolve about 130 cases at Mabila and Nkwenda Wards in Kagera Region, 18 land tenure cases were taken to the District Land Tribunal and Housing Tribunal, 19 cases were channeled to the immigration department, and five cases were referred to the primary court. A series of complementary interventions resulted in the effective provision of mobile legal aid services, including training of paralegals, community sensitization on women’s rights and legal aid, and one-on-one sessions with strategic government stakeholders to ensure effective coordination and provision of legal aid services to women. Capacities of 202 (129F: 73M) justice sector actors were strengthened on Gender bench book, on effective legal aid service provision and handling VAWC cases during this reporting period. Evidence: GBB, IP reports and activity reports. UNW contributed significantly through technical support for development and printing the gender bench books as well as visibility materials for the launch of the GBB. The UN Women further prepared speeches, concept notes, Invitation letters and coordinated the launch. Financial support to IP for implementation of activities. UN Women further participated in the legal aid service provision and ensured close collaboration with the government for sustainability on legal aid service provision. In 2021, momentum was maintained, and commitments made through action plans and common positions developed for review of the law on child marriage through consultations with various stakeholders. The stakeholders included the relevant government Ministries, traditional and religious leaders, CSOs, the Tanzania Ending Child Marriage Network, women rights organizations, youth and young women led initiatives, and the media. Public awareness of the issue was increased through wide dissemination of information products, including case studies, comic cartoons, a documentary, and simplified advocacy publications on child marriage. Ending child marriage champions made commitment through action plans developed and implemented. UN Women also supported the development of working papers and policy briefs arguing for legal reform of girls’ minimum age of marriage in Tanzania, using findings from the Social Institution and Gender Index (SIGI) survey and other national studies in Tanzania. In addition, model provisions and schedule of amendments for the Law of Marriage Act for the review of the law on child marriage was drafted as an advocacy tool. Evidence: Reports from events as uploaded on RMS; IP reports. UN Women contributed significantly to the milestone achieved towards the review of the marriage act by providing technical expertise to the Ministry of Justice; and financial and technical expert to Msichana Initiative Organization who convened the national consultations with various stakeholders including with relevant government Ministries, traditional and religious leaders, CSOs and networks including Tanzania Ending Child Marriage Network. In 2021, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training issued a circular (Education Circular No. 2 of 2021) lifting a ban on pregnant students and adolescent mothers from attending school. UN Women, UNESCO, and UNFPA, under a joint project on ‘ Empowering Adolescent Girls and Young Women through Education in Tanzania (2016-2021)’, jointly conducted strategic policy advocacy for government review of the re-entry policy for pregnant girl children. F or sustained and long-term impact, the agencies identified the need to invest in revision of the 2002 Educational Regulation (Regulation No. 4) to include the explicit and bold statement lifting the ban and further ensure guidelines are in place to ensure that the re-entry directive is implemented correctly and with girls’ rights in view. A final draft report on the assessment of discriminatory laws from a gender perspective in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar is in place. Information from the report has feed into ongoing programme designs for the CO and it has further feed into the UNSDCF process at country level including providing evidence for the Common County Analysis (CCA) 2021 In 2021, UN Women ensured that the gender dimensions of the Tanzania Universal Health Coverage Bill (UHC) are considered in the ongoing national consultations on the Bill. UN Women conducted a gender analysis on Universal Health Coverage looking at both the legal and social protection perspectives. A draft policy brief on the assessment was developed to support advocacy among policy makers, including Members of Parliament, in January-February 2022. Evidenc

Selected legislation, policies and justice system are gender-responsive and promote women's rights and gender equality

UN Women supported to maintain momentum for review of the minimum age of marriage, through continued engagement in various advocacy initiatives at grassroots and national level. The interventions included: Draft consolidated report on regional consultations conducted on the amendment of the Law of marriage Act 1977 was developed. Support to the Ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs (MoCLA) to conduct regional consultations Dar es Salaam, Lindi, Mtwara, Shinyanga and Mara and Tanga on the amendment of the Law of Marriage Act (LMA). Positive feedback is being received and - wide support from the communities for raising the age of marriage for girls and boys to 18 (and sometimes even higher up to 25 years for girls and 30 years for boys). A final draft report on the assessment of discriminatory laws from a gender perspective in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar was finalised. The information from the report has fed into ongoing programme designs for the CO including the ‘EU proposal on ‘Ending Violence Against Women & Girls and Advancing Women’s Leadership in the Public Sector in Zanzibar & Tanzania Mainland’, and it has further fed into the finalisation of the Tanzania UNSDCF 2022 - 2027 process (indicator, target setting) at country level. A position paper with a call for action to improve girls’ rights in the country and amend the minimum age of marriage was developed and presented by 223 girls and young women to UN Women Executive Director and the Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups during the commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child. Action plan for the URT which identifies key strategies to support implementation, and advocacy related to the prioritized areas for reform of discriminatory laws was developed during the reporting period. In 2022, the UN Women Tanzania Office advanced the capacity of women living with disabilities and Organisations of Persons living with Disabilities (OPDs) to participate effectively in national policy processes through participation in the evaluation of National Plan of Action to end Violence Against Women and Children 2017/18 – 2021/22 (NPA/VAWC) and development of its successor plan, as well as the development of 2023 SDGs Voluntary National Report. Strategic issues focused on women with disabilities have been included in the evaluation report of the National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children 2017/18 – 2021/22 (NPA-VAWC). A working paper and position paper on the inclusion of these issues were developed and presented to the NPA-VAWC Government Evaluation Secretariate by women living with disabilities and OPDs. Persons with disabilities also made key contributions to the content of the 2023 SDGs Voluntary Rational Report. During a consultation meeting held among women living with disabilities and OPDs, including women led OPDs, they raised the awareness of persons with disabilities on the importance of voicing their needs in national normative reporting processes. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process in Tanzania provided crucial opportunities to utilize the UPR recommendations to enhance the implementation of recommendations from other human rights mechanisms. For example, building on the UPR process, UN Women provided technical support to the two gender ministries in Mainland and Zanzibar to ensure that they continued leading the process of developing and finalizing Tanzania’s 9th periodic CEDAW report. Since the preparations of the UPR and CEDAW national reports were taking place simultaneously, during discussions with the two Gender Ministries, the CEDAW recommendations were thematically linked to gender related UPR recommendations to ensure consolidated data collection and discussions and to encourage synergies, taking advantage of the UPR mechanism as a key entry point for engagement and advocacy. UN Women, as part of the UN UPR Secretariate (which includes UNFPA, UN Women, UNDP, UNICEF, OHCHR), prepared the gender analysis of the Tanzania UPR recommendations that were presented to the Development Partners Group (DPG-Main) and the separate DPG on Gender Equality (DPG GE) in 2022. Tanzania received 252 UPR recommendations out of which 167 were accepted and enjoy the support of the administration, 20 were partially accepted, and 65 were “noted” (not accepted). 36% of the accepted recommendations had gender specific considerations. A trainer’s manual for the Gender Bench Book on women’s Rights (GBB) in Tanzania has been developed to roll out the GBB, the manual acts as a guiding tool to trainers for planned gender-sensitive trainings to judicial officers including judges and magistrates and 20 (12 females and 8 males) TOTs trained. A technical working with 45 participants including: TAWJA members, Judiciary, Retired Judges (experts); relevant Government Ministries, Representatives from Institute of Judicial Administration, Representative from Law School of Tanzania, CSO Partners, DPs and UN Women was held to forward looking on how to move the GBB rollout forward in a more sustainable way and a road map was developed. A pre-testing meeting for the trainer’s manual was conducted with 25 female participants including Judges of the Court of Appeal, Magistrates and High Court Judges. 20 judicial officers (12 females and 8 males) including judges and resident magistrates have undertaken a TOT (training of trainers) on the trainer’s manual for the Gender Bench Book on women’s Rights (GBB). Among other topics covered by the training includes GBV and crime handling, Women’s and children’s international, regional and local human rights laws. The TOTs will roll out the training of Judges and magistrates in Tanzania on the GBB. Gender Analysis in Primary Courts: case study of selected courts in Mara and Rukwa regions has been conducted. 120 GBV/VAW judgements were collected in two regions and the judgements analyzed to understand the trends in adjudication from a gendered perspective in 20 Primary Courts in Sumbawanga Region (Rukwa and Katavi Districts) and Mara Region (Musoma and Serengeti Districts). The study findings will act as baseline study to understand the prevailing situation of GBV cases as revealed in judgments and other decisions in primary courts. Result: In 2022, the Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders launched its first ever strategic plan and jointly charted the course forward to ensure that women human rights defenders can safely continue to uphold human rights, improve societies, and make the realization of women’s rights a reality every day. UN Women in partnership with OHCHR further supported the learning session during the commemoration of International Day of Women Human Rights Defenders Tanzania attended by 126 WHRDs from all regions in Tanzania, under the theme: “Creating a Safer Working Environment for Women Human Rights Defenders in Tanzania”. The strategic plan and learning session were used as tools to secure commitment and collaboration from actors including the government to strengthen the protection mechanisms for women human rights defenders and women’s rights activists. UN Women contribution included: Coordination and further review of the various report drafts to ensure authenticity. Development of presentation, supporting 6 participants from Tanzania to attend the meeting including one UN Women staff and 5 government officials from strategic Ministries engaged in law review processes. Resource mobilization to get the participants to attend the meeting. Participation in national consultations on the amendment of the law on the age of marriage in Dar es salaam region and technical support for the development of the draft report on community consultations for amendment of the Law of Marriage Act. Delivery of presentations on various topics including recent studies on women with disabilities.