A growing call to centre children’s voices in national development planning took shape during the breakfast debate convened by Policy Forum in partnership with Save the Children and the Tanzania Sustainable Development Platform (TSDP).
10 October 2024
As the world prepares to celebrate the potential of tomorrow's girls, the Kuyenda Collective reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that every girl can unlock their full potential through improved education service delivery that addresses inequality.
Background
Children's learning outcomes can be massively improved by caregivers' use of positive parenting practices that include reading, singing, telling stories, playing games, teaching, and showing affection.
Approximately 3 in 10 girls and 1 in 7 boys in Tanzania have experienced violence prior to the age of 18 in school settings. These are findings from the Human Rights Report 2021 which were disseminated at the Policy Forum Breakfast Debate held on 29 July 2022 probing violence against women and children.
The Government of Tanzania has made commitments to provide and safeguard human rights such as the ratification of several core human rights conventions as well as put in place national policies favoring a human rights-based approach to development but there are challenges in concretizing them in practice. When it comes to children’s rights, enforcement also seems to be a shortfall.
Disclaimer: To protect the individual's privacy, a pseudonym has been used in this text.
A Story of Intervention, Protection, and Community Responsibility
The Tanzania Organisation of Serving Orphans and Vulnerable Children (TOSOVIC) is a registered non-governmental organisation in Tanzania dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable groups, especially children.
At its core, the organisation focuses on protecting and promoting the wellbeing of orphans and vulnerable children, while also supporting women, youth, and marginalized communities.
Tanzania has experienced significant economic growth over the last decade. Although the poverty rate in the country has declined, the absolute number of poor has not because of the high population growth rate. As a result, children still face many challenges including violence, malnutrition, poor healthcare and education and other basic services.
Save the Children began working in Tanzania in 1986. Today, we are a leading charity for children across the country.
We help children in Tanzania by working closely with communities at the local level and advocating for change at the national level. Through programs in child survival, maternal and child health and nutrition, education, food security and livelihoods, child protection and emergency response, we’re working to ensure Tanzania’s children not only survive, but thrive.
Interventions:
A healthy Start in Life
Children in Crossfire was founded by Richard Moore In 1972, as a 10-year-old boy, Richard was blinded by a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Amazingly from childhood to the present day, he has accepted the loss of his sight without any feelings of anger, bitterness or resentment.