About WiLDAF:Women in Law and Development in Africa Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), is a pan African women’s rights network which is dedicated to promoting and strengthening strategies that link law and development to increase women’s participation and influence at community, national, region and international levels.
It was founded in February, 1990 in Harare Zimbabwe – following the NGO forum held within the context of the UN Decade for women- and, whose theme was “Women rights and Development: Network for Empowerment in Africa”. Since then, the organization has established chapters in 26 African countries, including Tanzania, constituting over 350 organizations and 3,000 individuals who share these objectives. WiLDAF has 20 years of experience and excellent track record to advance women’s rights and their status in Tanzania. This is because gender equality is not only a fundamental right, but also a necessary foundation for peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
Our Focus Areas Of Intervetion And Priority Programs:
- Increased access to Justice for Women, Girls, And Other Marginalized Citizens
- Reduced Gender Based Violence to and Violence Against Women And Children
- Strengthened Women’s and Young Women’s Participation In Leadership And Feminist Movements.
- Increased Access to Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights (SRHR) And Bodily Autonomy
- Enhanced Women Economic Justice And Rights
- Strengthened Partnership And Institutional Capacity That Is Supported By A Good Governance Framework That Is Gender Inclusive And Sustainable
Project Summary:Women participation and representation in leadership and decision-making process is recognized by international, regional, and national legal instruments. Recognizing the role of women in leadership and decision-making processes, Tanzania retains a system where women are allowed, through an affirmative action introduced by Article 66(1)(b) of the Tanzanian Constitution, women have been assigned 30% in parliament and all local government elections. Section 86A (1) of the Local Government (Elections) Act provides expressly that: ‘There shall be women special seats in the local authorities as provided for under the Local Government (District Authorities) Act and the Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act.’ See also Regulation 61(1) of the Local Authorities (Councilors’ Elections) Regulations (2020), G.N. No. 401 published on 5/6/2020.
Despite the efforts made by the Government and other stakeholders, women are underrepresented in decisionmaking bodies as per gender parity threshold of 50:50. Currently, women occupy only 37.6% of parliamentary seats while at the district level and below, they represent only 10% of the political elite. The ineffective participation and underrepresentation are caused by both institutional and socio-cultural challenges, which include gender blind laws and policies governing democratic processes, patriarchy norms and values embedded in the social settings.
WiLDAF commits to engaging and collaborating with the Government and Political Parties to improve the conducive legal and institutional environment for women participation in politics and leadership positions. WiLDAF will also engage with the private sector to ensure women’s representation in leadership positions in companies and institutions is strengthened. WiLDAF believes in strong the feministic ideology towards achieving 50:50 representation of women and men in all levels of decision-making positions, since feminist leadership is both about who holds power, what you do with power, self-awareness, self-care, dismantling bias and supporting inclusion. Thus, WiLDAF believes that to challenge longstanding stereotypes regarding who is entitled to hold power, gender parity in positions of power is an important objective to be pursued. This is a necessary, but not sufficient, step to ensure feminist leadership,which shares power and responsibility in an inclusive, intersectional, and participatory manner.
In the coming five years, WiLDAF strives to build strong feminist movements committed to an intersectional approach that will challenge the current systems of criminalization, discrimination, and inequality. WiLDAF will support like-minded partners that promote innovative solutions, through processes of co-creation and collaboration. WiLDAF is committed to promote feminist leadership which offers new, transformative, and
innovative approaches that model broader participation of diverse partners, and a greater commitment to democratic principles.
WiLDAF envisions a feminist movement which will strengthen capacity of women-led and girls-led organizations to carry out agendas and hold government accountable. Special attention will be given to the impact of COVID19 on households where access to education was impeded, and the burden of care increased. WiLDAF is committed to strengthen feminist movement that will draw attention on the critical need for increased gender segregated data collection, use, and financing to support evidence-based policymaking.