From time immemorial, most communities have
treated women as second class citizens for no other reason other than
the fact they were born female. It is a shame we still have such
hang-ups in today’s world. Because of this, the fight for gender
equality has become a full-time occupation for non-governmental
organisations and human rights groups.
Tanzanian women are still marginalised in many
ways, starting from the family to the community level. We still have
parents who consider sending their daughters to school a waste of
resources.
It is encouraging, though, that Tanzania has over
the years made an effort to narrow the gap between men’s and women’s
access to opportunities, including creating policies. Less than a third
of the country’s 337 MPs are women. Most of those who have made it to
Parliament are there thanks to the Special Seats, which allow political
parties to nominate women as MPs.
That is not good enough, though. Human
rights-minded Tanzanians should campaign for a situation in which gender
equality is taken for granted. A woman should not be in a position in
politics, learning institution or workplace as a favour. That strategy
may end up being counter-productive in terms of effectiveness and
efficiency.
What is required here is equal opportunities for
both men and women to compete in education, business, jobs and politics
and get appointed purely on merit. Positive discrimination might be
inevitable in some cases but it must be applied cautiously and only when
it is necessary to correct deeply ingrained historical injustices.
We fully agree with the recent call by Tanga
District Commissioner Halima Dendego, who challenged the Centre for Good
Governance to organise special training to women aspiring for
leadership. Women’s empowerment through mere hand-outs should be
discouraged since it is unsustainable and subject to abuse.
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