Women need empowerment

THE women wing (UWT) of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi this week concluded the election of its national leaders for the next five years. Right from the outset, we wish to congratulate those who were elected in the new leadership to spearhead the femininity movement in the country.

The women’s liberation movement is primarily a universal struggle for empowerment in all facets of life � socio-economic and political. The struggle is said to have been started by a handful of intellectuals and human rights activists; a struggle that has turned out to have far-reaching consequences for women worldwide.

In Tanzania, like elsewhere in Africa, the subject of female empowerment has thrown up a range of issues of serious literary debates concerning the perceived backward status of women in politics, economics and the general social life, in spite of giant strides made in technological development.

Gender activists in the country appear to have joined the global movement to properly position women as catalysts for development. Initiatives being shown by local non-governmental organizations are strategically designed to address issues that are relevant to the global efforts at promoting gender equality and empowerment of women. The overarching objective, however, is to properly position women as catalysts for development.

Gender analysts believe that women should not be left out of the global movement even as many gender activists are of the view that now is the best time to empower the women not only in politics but also in governance as well.

Tanzania should not pay lip-service to the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) regarding gender parity and equality as stated in several international fora that women are the bedrock of nation-building, and without their effective participation, we cannot have balanced development.

We must bring home the fact that women have a huge responsibility to foster an environment where they (women) children and men can fulfill their potential.

Our thrust is to highlight those skills that we need for women to overcome the challenges of the male-dominated political field that we have. We want to take the practice of governance to the next level where equal opportunities are provided for everyone, be he male or female to achieve his or her potential.

We praise the Fourth Phase Government of President Jakaya Kikwete for bringing women into the leadership position in the country by virtue of the National Policy on Women and the National Gender Policy to enable them take part in politics.

Tanzania is striving to catch up with South Africa and Uganda by having more female representatives in Parliament. For too long, women have been on the sidelines. We should not transfer our traditional male mentality into national mentality and cannot continue to say let the men do everything.

What we need to do is to empower the women of all social classes and even compel them to understand how decisions are made in politics and government. The idea is to get some substantial representation of women in private and public sectors to give a meaning to what is the role and what should be the role of women in the society.

We must give a platform to these women and attempt to teach them the dictates of democracy so that they can be effective. This should be the key role of the elected CCM women wing leaders.

EDITOR
DAR ES SALAAM