Summary of President Samia Speech at WiLDAF 25th Anniversary

October 25, 2022
Wildaf
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Separating Ministry of Community Devt& Gender from MoH remains a good move.
Nacongo is growing owing to the good collaboration with the registrar of NGOs.
I love the tagline for this commemoration. Law is a tool for Development and women’s welfare. Women Development is development for all. Prioritizing women welfare is mandatory.
Government took great initiative in amending SOSPA and Land Act.
On Age of Marriage, the process to amend the Act is ongoing. I was saddened by the incident involving a 15 year old girl who was beaten by her 60 year old husband. We will change the laws but we also need to invest in awareness raising.
As we are deliberating on the laws on the age of marriage, we should also support policy initiatives. For example, free education up to form six and allowing failed students to reseat exams and to join vocational training help girls remain in school.
On elections and political laws- I’m receiving the report from Taskforce on multiparty democracy tomorrow- we will get to know what’s their recommendation are..
8. We should ensure stakeholders from rural also attend the consultations meetings for law-making/review processes not only those in town area.
9. We should do an evaluation of our gender responsive laws we enacted eg Land Act and SOSPA to understand success and challenges remaining— we need to know which laws to abolish and or harmonize.
We should also review discriminatory customary practices, keep good ones and deliberate on eliminating bad ones.
Family planning laws should also be checked, women are over reproducing babies despite high level of awareness raising initiatives- this has to be rechecked.
We should translate laws in swahili and invest on awareness raising so
community members can understand and practice them.
Capacity of the paralegals to undertake extensive roles and reach wider areas should be prioritized
Laws are not enough – awareness raising, capacity building and collaborations among actors must be prioritized.