Umoja Newsletter Tanzania
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UMOJA NEWSLETTER TANZANIA AGENDA FOR INVESTING FOR ADOLESCENT HEALTH Issue No. 95 AND WELL BEING LAUNCHED March - April 2021 HIGHLIGHTS • UNESCO Assesses the Implementation and effectiveness of the Re- Entry Policy on Pregnant learners in Zanzibar. • Menstrual hygiene matters for the girls in Nyarugusu refugee camp, Kigoma Region • Giving Tanzanian girls a today and tomorrow The Prime Minister is joined by the Health Minister, the Deputy Minister of the Pres- ident’s Office (TAMISEMI), UNICEF Representative and others to officially launch • Gender Equality - SDG 5 the NAIA agenda poem by Aisha Kingu All Photos by UNICEF Tanzania dolescents in Tanzania isters, development partners, and equip adolescents to make will now benefit access CSO and adolescents. This a healthy transition to a produc- to friendlier health ser- new agenda firmly positions tive adulthood. Avices as a result of a recently adolescent girls and boys and launched national agenda to their multiple vulnerabilities. In his speech, The Prime Minis- boost their development. The It’s focused on six pillars includ- ter reiterated the governments’ National Accelerated Action ing Preventing HIV, Preventing commitment to invest in ado- and Investment Agenda for Ad- Teenage Pregnancies, prevent- lescent’s health and wellbeing olescent Health and Well Be- ing physical, sexual and emo- urging all sector ministries to ing will function for three years tional violence, Improving nu- implement their commitments starting April 17, 2021. trition, Keeping girls and boys made at the launch. The Pre- in school, and developing skills mier urged development part- The Prime Minister, Hon. Kas- for economic opportunities. ners follow suit and commit to sim Majaliwa Majaliwa graced support implementation of the the launch of the agenda at a The aim of this agenda which Agenda. Majaliwa called for pe- high-level event attended by has considered various gov- riodic implementation reviews key sectoral government min- ernment policies is to empower of the agenda, measuring Continues on page 2 This newsletter is published by the UN Communication Group in Tanzania. To subscribe and provide feedback, please contact us at: [email protected] | Website: tanzania.un.org | Tel: (+255) 22-219-5021 1 Continued from page 1 progress towards the 2025 goals. “Investing in Health and Devel- opment for Adolescents has no alternative, especially in this pe- riod in which the Government is strengthening itself in investing in the establishment and devel- opment of industries to boost our country’s economy which is currently in the middle class. I am aware that the implementa- tion of this Agenda will involve Sectorial Ministries, Develop- The adolescents who presented on the 6 pillars of the agenda hand over copies of the Agenda to both Prime Minister Majaliwa and UNICEF Rep, Shalini Bahuguna. ment Stakeholders and local and foreign NGOs. Therefore, let me call on all stakeholders coordination, monitoring and population – the largest in the to continue working with the evaluation system to support region – with a fast demograph- Government in this responsibil- the successful implementation ic growth rate. She reiterated ity,” said Hon Majaliwa. of the agenda. UN agencies support to the government to implement the The Minister for Health, Com- UNICEF Representative, Shali- agenda and to strengthen and munity Development, Gender, ni Bahuguna represented UN enhancing inter-linkages. Other Elderly and Children, Dr Doro- agencies at the launch. Shali- UN agencies including UNFPA, thy Gwajima said her Ministry, ni said the Agenda matters for WHO and UN Women support- in collaboration with stakehold- the country today and for its fu- ed development of the Agenda. ers, have prepared a strong ture, as Tanzania has a youthful A group photo is taken with all the key stakeholders who have come together to prioritize interventions for adolescent health and wellbeing to be addressed. Continues on page 3 2 Continued from page 2 On the 17th of April the National Accelerated Action and Investment Agenda for Adolescent Health and Wellbeing (NAIA) was launched by the Government of Tanzania and key partners. The Guest of Honour, Prime Minister The. Kassim Majaliwa was in attendance to launch the Agenda and meet with some of the young people present. ”We are committed to continuing to provide quality health care, increasing education on violence against adolescents including teenage pregnancies, increasing health facilities for youth, HIV prevention education and creating a youth-friendly environment” - Hon. Dorothy Gwajima, Minister of Health, speaking at the NAIA launch Continues on page 4 3 MENSTRUAL HYGIENE MATTERS FOR THE GIRLS IN NYARUGUSU REFUGEE CAMP, KIGOMA REGION oyce, a young woman liv- ing in a refugee camp in Nyarugusu is now hope- Jful and happy that she is able to participate in community activi- ties. Her story would have been different few years back where privacy, Information, access to water, and materials to manage her periods, was often lacking and challenging for adoles- cent girls like her in Tanzania. Like many other women, Joyce menstruates every month. She is also a first-time young mother who no longer attends school. Recently, she received an ado- lescent kit containing reusable When girls can manage their menstrual hygiene safely and with dignity, they can sanitary pads which changed compete as equals with their male peers. Photo | Warren Bright/UNFPA Tanzania her life around making it possi- ble for her to participate in daily relief. She narrated to UNIC information. Last year, close to community activities. Dar es Salaam how she be- 3000 reusable sanitary pads came more confident. “I no lon- contained in Adolescent Dignity Before that she was uncomfort- ger have to worry about how to Kits were distributed by UNF- able and embarrassed, anx- manage my period. I am happy PA’s partner- the International ious, and fearful that someone someone is talking to me about Rescue Committee. will find out and chose to re- this” She said. Asma also in- UNFPA also supports the reno- main in isolation. formed, “This sanitary pack is vation of maternal health facili- a ‘golden opportunity’ now I can ties in Kigoma. maternity wards Another younger girl named compete equally with the boys were upgraded in 2020 and a Asma (not her real name) also in my class.” further 12 will be renovated in received the sanitary kits which 2021. were distributed by the, ‘Uja- Menstrual hygiene manage- na Wangu Nguvu Yangu’ -the ment is integral to the realiza- ‘My Youth, My Power’ – UNF- tion of Sustainable Develop- “I no longer have to worry PA and Irish Aid project during ment Goals and in ensuring no about how to manage my an educational outreach focus- one is left behind. The UNPFA period. I am happy some- ing on good personal and and Irish Aid project is working one is talking to me about to include more women and this” menstrual hygiene. As a very girls in and out of Nyarugusu Asma, young girl facing the first camp in Kigoma region to ben- Sanitary Kits months of menstruation, Asma efit from the sanitary packs and beneficiary could barely hide her joy and age-appropriate services and 4 GIVING TANZANIAN GIRLS A TODAY AND TOMORROW health care and information in Shinyanga Region where Glory lives. It is a small but important step for her. Five months after she was invit- ed to join the club in Shilela by her village leader, she has be- come a different person – one who has grown in self-worth and confidence. She has learned that she has the right to make decisions about her body and that no one can force her into having unwanted or unprotect- ed sex. Now undertaking a vo- cational training course, she no longer feels inadequate com- Glory a different person since she joined the Adolescent Girls Club – one who has pared to her friends who went grown in self-worth and confidence. Photo | Warren Bright/UNFPA Tanzania on to secondary school. hen Glory* became economic pressures. It is also At the Adolescent Girls Clubs, pregnant at the age of the result of a lack of access to vulnerable girls learn to chal- 13, she felt worthless age-appropriate sexual and re- lenge existing gender inequal- Wand despaired as she watched productive health services and ities and gain new skills and her dreams slip away. She knew reproductive rights information. knowledge. Glory is already all too well the stigma that sur- In Tanzania, teenage pregnan- seeing significant changes in rounds early pregnancy and cy has increased in the past her home environment, thanks that she could not continue go- decade. Nearly one in four girls to the club’s interventions. Her ing to school. become pregnant or give birth family members, particularly her to their first child by the age of father, are changing their atti- For most adolescent girls like 18, with wide rural, urban, and tudes towards girls, supporting Glory, pregnancy is not the re- regional disparities. UNFPA is her young sister’s ambitions sult of a deliberate choice. Girls working with partners to change often have little or no say in de- this narrative through support- of becoming a midwife. The cisions affecting their bodies ing five Adolescent Girls Clubs clubs are supported through the and lives. As was the case for that empower more than a UNFPA-UN Women Joint Pro- her, early childbirth is a conse- 100 out-of-school girls with life gramme funded by the Korea quence of inequalities, includ- skills,entrepreneurship training International Cooperation Agen- ing gender-based violence, and the provision of age-appro- cy (KOICA). and peer and other social and priate sexual and reproductive 5 UNESCO ASSESSES THE IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE RE-ENTRY POLICY ON PREGNANT LEARNERS IN ZANZIBAR.