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Tanzanian Parliament Signs onto UNIFEM's Say NO to Violence against Women Campaign
Date: 29 July 2008
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Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda led the Tanzanian National Assembly in signing onto UNIFEM's Say NO to Violence against Women campaign at a ceremony on 22 July 2008, which was witnessed by UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha Rose Migiro. The Speaker of the National Assembly Samwel Sitta, Deputy Speaker Anna Makinda, leader of the opposition Hamad Rashid Mohamed and all of the other MPs assembled followed the Prime Minister's lead, making the Tanzanian National Assembly the first parliamentary body in the world to offer its full support to the campaign. The National Assembly has 325 members.
Organized in Tanzania by the Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children Margaret S. Sitta, with UNIFEM's assistance, the Say NO to Violence against Women campaign was launched in Dar es Salaam on 24 May 2008 by Tanzanian President H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, when he led more than 2,000 people to sign on. Now the National Assembly has pledged to take the campaign to their constituencies and to support Minister Sitta's efforts to ensure the enactment and implementation of the Sexual Offence Special Act.
Minister Sitta expressed her appreciation for UN Deputy Secretary-General Migiro's presence in the National Assembly to witness the signing ceremony. Ms. Migiro is a former member of the National Assembly. The Minister explained that the Tanzanian Government — with the support of her Ministry, UNIFEM, the European Commission and the South African High Commission — initiated the Say NO campaign as a strategy to raise public awareness of violence against women and to reduce tolerance of this scourge at the community level. The government will also use the awareness raising process to disseminate the National Action Plan and to deepen its understanding of effective community-based systems for protecting survivors of violence.
For more information, please contact Ms. Hendrica Okondo, hendrica.okondo[at]unifem.org, +255 22 266-8000 x9347.
