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New guidelines to integrate gender issues in public services

DAR ES SALAAM: MINISTER of State in the President’s Office (Public Service Management and Good Governance), George Simbachawene has directed employers in the civil service to implement Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines for Public Service so as to effectively integrate a gender perspective into all aspects of their work.

Mr Simbachawene said the guidelines prepared by President’s Office would provide key guidance on advancing gender equality and promoting equitable participation of women and men in the public service.

“All employees in the civil service should seek to understand and implement these guidelines,” said the minister before he launched the guidelines as well as the 3rd Women Leadership Forum by Uongozi Institute in Dar es Salaam, on Monday.

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He said the guidelines are meant to help in enhancing effective integration of gender perspectives into the preparation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, regulatory measures and other programmes so as to promote gender equality and combat discrimination at workplaces.

The Minister directed the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President to make sure the guidelines were distributed in all civil service offices and authorities should conduct training for gender mainstreaming.

Government authorities in all levels should also have an action plan for implementation of the guidelines, he said.

“We are now preparing the (government) budget for the next financial year. Financial budget for implementation of the guidelines must be seen…That is a directive…,” said the minister, noting that permanent secretaries in all ministries would be officially notified of the new directives for implementation.

The Minister commended the Uongozi Institute for launching the 3rd Women Leadership Forum aimed at imparting skills to women in senior positions to enhance their ability to make strategic choices, lead people and resources and excel in personal and leadership qualities.

The six-month programme had also attracted applicants from outside the country with students from Swaziland, Malawi and DR Congo.

“This programme is no longer local. It is now international. Your focus should now be international,” the minister said.

The Minister said women have the natural potential to be as adept as men at leadership and are natural born leaders to the same degree that men are.

While the gap between men and women in leadership roles is decreasing, there still remains a huge disparity between them, he said.

Studies show that once women land leadership positions they excel, often surpassing men, because they have developed soft skills necessary for effective leadership, the minister said noting that traits like empathy, communication and listening were qualities that serve women well when in management positions.

“There are works women do better than men. They often do better in works related to management of finances…We men have so many issues. Women are trustful because they do not have many things.”

He said President Samia Suluhu Hassan ably leadership to the nation was a testimony that women lead…We are witnesses in areas women presidential appointees have not let her down,” said the minister.

The Head of European Union Delegation in Tanzania, Christine Grau said the European Union was honoured to participate in the 3rd Women’s Leadership Forum in Tanzania, organised by the Uongozi Institute.

“We take pride in supporting this programme as it advances gender equality in leadership for sustainable development…”

“For the EU, gender equality and empowering women and girls remain a top priority as it has such a strong impact on many other policy areas. The EU has scaled up its contribution to reach SDG 5 related to Gender Equality in all internal and external policy areas,” said Ambassador Grau.

While women represent roughly half of the world population, they represent only 1 in 4 members of parliament worldwide and were just 34 per cent of those elected to local governments.

Less than 10 per cent of Heads of State and Government are women and more than 100 countries have never had a woman as head of government.

Ambassador Grau said the global trends were only changing slowly with statistics indicating that on the current pace, gender parity at Head of State level will be achieved in 130 years, according to UN sources.

“This is far too long! Tanzania is therefore a commendable exception with H.E. Samia S. Hassan as 1st woman president of the country giving a clear impetus to the presence of women in leadership positions in Tanzania. Let me commend the Government of Tanzania for the notable advancements during her mandate,” she said.

A representative of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to Tanzania, Mark Bryan Schreiner said The UN System has worked in Tanzania for many years to amplify the voices of women & girls, advocating for women’s participation in leadership and decision-making across various sectors, from grassroots to national levels.”

Earlier, the Uongozi Institute Chief Executive Officer, Kadari Singo said there were 800 applications for the 3rd Women Leadership forum where 200 came from outside the country.

According to him only 100 applications were successful.

He said Uongozi Institute were planning to increase intake of students from outside the country.

He thanked the government, UN Women office, European Union and Finland government for supporting the programme.