Sweden supports Tanzania in advancement of gender equality

Anders Sjöberg is the Ambassador of Sweden to Tanzania

By Anders Sjöberg

As we commemorate International Women’s Day, we also take this opportunity to celebrate 100 years of

democracy in Sweden. One hundred years ago, the Swedish Parliament decided to introduce universal and equal suffrage for both men and women enabling them to exercise their right to vote in a parliamentary election and consequently influence the development of Swedish society. In Tanzania, these rights have been granted women since independence.   
During these hundred years, Sweden has come to recognize gender equality as a separate and governing policy area, as well as ensuring that gender equality is mainstreamed in all policy areas within the government. These developments have not happened by themselves. They have come about because of political dialogue, coupled with hard work spearheaded by a strong and vibrant civil society led by the Swedish women’s movement.
Since 2014, Sweden has a feminist Government committed to building a society in which women and men, girls and boys can live their lives to their fullest potential based on Representation, Rights and Resources.   Women’s rights are human rights and a matter of democracy and justice. Gender equality is also a prerequisite to sustainable societal challenges and the transformation to an evolving modern welfare state – based on justice and sustainable economic development for all. Therefore, Sweden has brought this approach into policymaking on a broad front, both nationally and internationally with an overall objective that women and men shall have the same power to shape societies and their own lives.
We welcome the progress made by Tanzanian authorities to further narrow the gender gap in society, for example in strengthening girls’ access to education as well as in revising the national legislation to eliminate discrimination against women and girls. However, globally, regionally, and domestically challenges related to gender inequality remain and our collective work is yet to be completed.
In Sweden and around the world additional measures need be put in place to ensure that girls and boys have the equal opportunities. Our development cooperation policies are therefore guided by a mainstreaming approach where gender is transversal, and equality is either the primary or significant objective.  That is why we continue our engagement and support in Tanzania as a grant agent for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and planning renewed support to results based education programs to keep children in school and learning– especially girls and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Additional support is also provided to enable alternative pathways for young mothers’ right to education through Swedish support to Folk Development Colleagues (FDC) all around Tanzania; and, to enable them to return to formal education or continue with vocational training.
In its most callous form, inequality between men and women due to unequal gender power relations and traditional gender stereotypes manifests itself in the form of men’s violence against women. We all are responsible to ensure that women and men, girls and boys have the same rights and access to physical integrity. Moreover, child marriage and teenage pregnancies continue to threaten the health and limits and the opportunities of girls to develop and grow to their full potential. These practices continue to disrupt their education, violate their human rights, and drag them into a spiral of poverty. Furthermore, hidden behind the veil of traditional practices and the need to ensure that cultures are kept alive, girls in numerous countries, including Tanzania, are forced to undergo Female Genital Mutilation. This is despite the fact that these practices are prohibited by law in the Special Provision Act of 1998. Therefore, we continue our support through the United Nations Development Assistance Plan in Tanzania in areas related to violence against women and children, leadership and political participation, democracy, governance and human rights including support for sexual and reproductive health and rights  as well as economic empowerment. Sweden also supports civil society in Tanzania to fight gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices in its various forms. Supporting women’s movements and other organizations that oppose patriarchal structures is an important pathway to fight gender inequalities and invest in change from below.
On resource mobilization we continue to lend our support to the Tanzanian Horticulture Association (TAHA) for the promotion of women’s economic empowerment as well as to the Private Agricultural Sector Support (PASS) in order to stimulate investment and growth in commercial agriculture and related sectors, predominantly targeting women and their economic empowerment.
This year we again take the opportunity to especially partner with The Launchpad Tanzania and their initiative 100 Tanzanian Sheroes. The initiative, which has been ongoing since 2018, brings together a network of Tanzanian women, eager to support and inspire each other while aiming at inspiring the girlchild towards different aspirations and possibilities in pushing for development and progress. By supporting this initiative, we want to amplify their voices, assist in extending their reach, while promoting locally initiated initiatives for the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women.  
As we commemorate International Women’s Day, we urge each one to become champions of the campaign through #ChooseToChallenge. “We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements.”
Our feminist policy, both domestically in Sweden and abroad; in Tanzania and elsewhere, on gender equality and women empowerment, will continue to be anchored in our sincere belief that only together as true equals can we build a prosperous and sustainable future for us all!

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Anders Sjöberg is the Ambassador of Sweden to Tanzania