Forum deliberates alleviation of African women’s burden

PROVISION of better access to water and energy resources to alleviate the burden incurred by African women and putting in place innovative credit systems for their financial empowerment, are among deliberations of the just ended international forum for women and sustainable development in Africa.

The Vice-President of the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), Dr Yousuf Maudarbocus, said other deliberations agreed at during the meeting dubbed, ‘Dar es Salaam Declarations,’ include fostering of quality education, particularly for girls from primary, secondary to higher institutions of learning and vocational training.

"Policy makers and international institutions ought to as well improve training and employability of young people and put in place mechanisms for establishing and supporting good governance," Dr Maudarbocus explained during the deliberations in Dar es Salaam, yesterday.

According to Dr Maudarbocus, delegates at the meeting also recommended that necessary measures be taken to strengthen local initiatives, already in existence, to allow women participate in economic, social and environment issues. Over 150 delegates from 25 countries in Africa

and beyond who attended the three-day meeting resolved to push policy makers and international institutions to improve legal status of women and encourage their participation in democratic and inclusive polices. "We have also agreed to develop access to quality services of family planning and include sex education and reproductive health in all secondary

schoolsand public information programmes,” he remarked. Speaking during the closing ceremony, the Executive Secretary of the National Economic Empowerment Council (NEEC), Ms Beng’i Issa, assured participants at the meeting that the government of Tanzania will incorporate the deliberations in improving local policies on gender equality

. Ms Issa explained further that Tanzania has started to integrate the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 and Africa Union’s Agenda 2063 into national plans, policies and practices. “In domesticating the SDGs, one must get a comprehensive and quality baseline data so he or she can conduct monitoring and evaluation.

Institutional capacity building and training is essential to achieve this. “Tanzania realised that to deal with gender issues, one needs a woman and gender policy complemented with a national strategy for gender development,” Ms Issa told delegates at the meeting.

She pointed to the fact that economic inclusion of women has a crucial role to play in reducing gender inequality and promoting sustainable economic growth. The French Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Frederic Clavier, declared that his government would work in collaboration with African countries in implementing the deliberations of the meeting.

Mr Clavier pledged further that priority on scholarships would be accorded to young Tanzanian scientists to pursue further studies at Master’s and PhD level in France. At the same occasion, the President of Tanzania Academy of Sciences (TAAS), Prof Easter Mwaikambo,

was confident that the deliberations of the meeting would encourage more young girls to study science subjects and eventually consider careers in scientific fields. The three-day forum which started on Thursday and ended yesterday was jointly organised by the Tanzania Academy of Sciences (TAAS), the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), the French Embassy in Tanzania and the French Academy of Sciences (FAS).