Women Directors of Civil Society bodies to support all female candidates in Tanzania General Elections 2025

The Civil Society Organisations Women Directors’ Forum has made a declaration to support all female candidates that will be vying for various positions in the forthcoming October 2025 General Elections.

Speaking in Arusha over the weekend, representatives of the Civil Society Organisations Women Directors’ Forum (CWDF) who heads various CSOs in the country pointed out that there is a lot to be done for Tanzania to achieve considerable gender equity.

The Chairperson of CWDF, Lilian Liundi however admitted that there have been a number of achievements as far as gender equality is concerned in the country, three decades after the Beijing Declaration of 1995.

“We are seeing more women taking political and organizational leadership positions, but the current pace is still slow and at CWDF we would like to see the number increase during the next polls,” explained Liundi who is the Executive Director of the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP).

She was satisfied that the country has women leaders holding the top most presidential position as well as heading the national assembly, among various ministerial posts.

On her part, the Executive Director of Tanzania Child Welfare (TCW) Eddna Chandeu said there has been evidence indicating that all women-led organizations are performing better compared to others.

She assured that all political parties that will front female candidates in the next elections, have their support.

Fortunata Manyeresa from the Tree of Hope added that there are over 200 women-led Civil Society Organizations that are current members of the CWDF indicating rising awareness.

“Due to that we are now embarking on an integration approach, taking the younger generation on board for successive programs to ensure sustainability,” explained Ms Manyeresa.

But while formal laws are being amended to accommodate more women participation in national affairs, there are still many local cultural and traditional regulations that are still slowing down the process.

At least, that was the concern raised by Neema Kitundu the National Coordinator of the Forum for African Women Educationalists Tanzania (FAWETZ).