The Ministry for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups in Tanzania stated that it plans to develop and build the capacity of Child Protection Committees with the National Action Plan for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Children (MTAKUWWA).
The Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children is a government ministry of Tanzania. It aims to promote community development, gender equality, equity and children’s rights through the formulation of policies, strategies and guidelines in collaboration with stakeholders active in the country.
The Five-year National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children has been developed in 2016. It consolidated eight different action plans, addressing violence against women and children.
It was carried out to create a single, comprehensive National Plan of Action to eradicate violence against women and children in the country.
The Deputy Minister in the ministry, Mwanaidi Ali Khamis stated that “through MTAKUWWA, the ministry will ensure acts of sexual violence and child labour are stopped in various parts of the country, including the Hoima-Tanga Oil Pipeline Project,” as per the Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam).
Ms Khamis stated, as she answered to a question by Special Seats Lawmaker, Nusrat Hanje, who was concerned as to how the government’s strategy is going to prevent Gender-Based Violence and child labour in the camps expected to be built to facilitate the construction of the Oil Pipeline from Hoima-Tanga.
Similarly, she said that with the help of all the state agencies it will initiate legal action against all those who exploit children and commit acts of violence against them.
She further said, the Ministry with the help of the MTAKUWWA programme will ensure that women and children are safe and transfer them from villages to the regions where the security forces are intact.
Commenting on the establishment of life skills clubs, she said the ministry has forums and committees for children that promote child protection and safety.
“There are children’s clubs from primary schools to colleges that teach children self-awareness, self-esteem and confidence to express themselves at any time against violence,” she stated.
Violence against women and children is a sad reality even today. In Tanzania the rate is high. And hence, it is a central development goal to develop resources for women, their families, communities and the nation.
