State commits to invest more in women, girls

PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has said the government will continue to support young women and girls, by being gender sensitive, not discriminative and ensuring healthcare services are accessible to them.

He made the remarks in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday during a high-level meeting on championing the priorities of women and girls in towards HIV response.

Mr Majaliwa, who was representing President Samia Suluhu Hassan, said the government has taken several initiatives to ensure that the needs of women are prioritised in HIV response and other areas.

In order to secure access to rights, treatment, and healthcare, he stated, “The initiatives included helping women groups and marginalised women, especially those living with HIV to mobilise, advocate, and lead in decision-making in the health system.”

Additionally, he asserted that institutional measures had been taken to ensure the participation of women in decision-making organisations for the provision of health care, such as the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS).

The meeting organised by Tanzania, UN women and US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the African Women’s Leaders Network (AWLN) aimed at addressing sharply increasing rates of HIV among adolescents, girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa.

For a better HIV response and the benefit of the nation as a whole, the government will always advocate for equality and nondiscrimination policies, including the idea of substantive equality, according to Mr Majaliwa.

The Premier added that young girls and women must be shielded from abuse, discrimination, and obstacles resulting from HIV stigma.

He also noted that harmful traditions like child, early, and forced marriages, female genital mutilation (FGM) and gender-based violence (GBV) are responsible for the poor health outcomes of women as well as the high rate of maternal mortality and mobility.

“Through the Five-year National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children (NPAVAWC 2017/18 – 2021/22), the government has made concrete efforts to address harmful traditions,” he said.

According to him, HIV prevalence has steadily declined over the past decades from 7 per cent in 2003 to 4.6 per cent in 2018 in adults 15-49 years.

Mr Majaliwa said despite the achievement more effort are still needed including ensuring access to education for girls and young women, educated girls have high self-esteem and are more likely to avoid HIV infection, violence and exploitation

“Continuing investment in our girls and young women’s future including in the HIV response will lead to better economic, education and health outcomes for all, we must therefore, put them at the forefront of change and we must hear their voices,” he said.

The high level meeting gave a momentum opportunity to strengthen partnership between UN Women and Tanzania especially in championing and advocating for girls and women rights.

On her part, Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director thanked President Samia for personal effort and commitment to advancing women leadership and amplifying the voices of girls and young women

“I had a great honour to meet with her on Monday and reaffirmed her commitment and that of Tanzania to tackle AIDS and to continue to uplift women and girls to equal opportunities, education, access to services, economic empowerment and resilience building

“We need to clear the way for adolescent girls and young women to access health services, particularly HIV and sexual and reproductive health services,” she said.