Tanzania is to launch Five-year National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children on December 13th, 2016, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The launch of the plan will take place at the Julius Nyerere International Conference on 13th Dec from 2:30 am. Hon. Vice President of theUnited Republic of Tanzania will be the guest of honour
Tanzania is launching the Five-year National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children (NPA-VAWC 2017/18 – 2021/22). The NPA-VAWC is to be launched by the Vice President, and Ministers from eleven Sector-Ministries are expected to make a statement of a commitment. This NPA-VAWC has been developed by consolidating eight different action plans addressing violence against women and children to create a single comprehensive, National Plan of Action to eradicate violence against women and children in the country. Tanzania’s NPA-VAWC seeks to contribute to the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union Commission’s Agenda 2063 and therefore the Global Partnership targets by promoting use of evidence-based approaches in supporting those committed to, and charged with, preventing and responding to violence against women and children from government to grassroots, from civil society to the private sector.
The NPA-VAWC emphasizes the actions needed for both preventing and responding to violence and recognizes that investing in violence prevention initiatives has a positive impact on inclusive growth. Thus, strengthening the impact of the diverse investments being made by government, development partners and stakeholders on the lives of women, children, families and subsequently on communities and Tanzania as a whole is of paramount importance. The NPA-VAWC is grounded in the Tanzanian context and envisages improved coordination, delivery of quality services, implementation of viable prevention and response measures and application of innovative solutions to end all forms of violence against women and children.
For Tanzania, the NPA-VAWC represents a strategic shift in thinking about how Tanzania will address the problem of violence against women and children. Instead of focusing on interventions that are issue based, Tanzania will now focus on building systems that both prevent violence against women and children in all its forms, and respond to the needs of victims/survivors. This undertaking is immense in that it requires not only a high level of coordination and cooperation among all duty bearers, but also entails taking concrete steps toward bridging the public and private spheres and reaching communities, families, and individuals – including children – and reshaping perceptions of violence as well as gender roles between men and women.
Tanzania became the first African country, along with Sweden, Mexico and Indonesia of becoming a pathfinder country in the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children in July 2016. The selection of Tanzania was based on country’s response to the findings of the Violence Against Children study carried out in 2009.
For more information, contact Madam Margaret Musai, Child Development Director at the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender and Children in Tanzania.