Dar es Salaam. Members of the women’s rights and transformative feminist movements in Tanzania gathered here on Wednesday to take stock and celebrate thirty years of progress since the Beijing Declaration, assess existing challenges, and refine strategies to achieve full women’s rights and gender equality in the country and beyond.

Organised by the Coalition on Women, Constitution, Leadership, and Elections—a collective of over 200 grassroots and national civil society organisations advancing gender justice in Tanzania—the convening brought together the country’s feminists to reflect on the historic 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, credited with establishing a bold, intersectional, and transformative feminist agenda for gender justice and the liberation of women and girls.

Prof Penina Mlama, Board Chair of the Women Fund Tanzania Trust—a women’s rights fund and host of the Coalition on Women, Constitution, Leadership, and Elections—stated that the convening also aimed to celebrate Tanzania’s gender champions, whose sacrifices paved the way for the milestones enjoyed by today’s generations.

“Today, we stand on the shoulders of the heroes of this feminist movement—many of whom are here with us—and we thank you for joining us,” said the retired University of Dar es Salaam theatre arts professor during her opening remarks at the gathering held in Mlimani City’s auditorium. 

Prof Mlama reflected that the past 30 years have been far from linear—a journey marked by neoliberal policies dismantling government accountability and turning vital public services into commodities. She highlighted how worsening global inequality has placed its heaviest burdens on women, while the escalating climate crisis now disproportionately impacts women, especially across the Global South.

Remaining gaps

At the national level, while Tanzania has achieved landmark milestones since the Beijing Declaration—including progressive laws protecting women’s land rights, combating gender-based violence, and strengthening safeguards for minors—women continue to trail behind across all development indicators. 

Mlama said this persistent gap underscores the urgent need for sustained feminist mobilisation and movement-building.

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For example, in agriculture, Tanzania’s largest employer, accounting for 66.3 per cent of the workforce, with nearly 70 per cent of them being women, but still face face significant gender-related challenges, including limited skills and knowledge, unequal access to productive resources, particularly land, technologies,  finances, and restrictive socio-cultural norms and beliefs.

Additionally, discriminatory legal frameworks hinder women’s equal rights to land ownership, with laws governing inheritance and the application of multiple legal systems often restricting women’s ability to own land.

In mining, while women play a significant role in the extractive industries, particularly in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) sector, which includes gold and precious stone mining, as well as stone and sand quarrying, only 10 per cent of mining license holders are women.

“Yet through all these challenges, we Tanzanian feminists have refused to stay silent,” said Prof Mlama in her opening remarks. 

“We’ve organised,” she added. “We’ve united. We’ve innovated – from digital networks resisting oppressive laws, to champions who mainstreamed gender-responsive budgeting in national policy debates, to youth pioneering creative activism through storytelling and art. When you truly examine our journey, it reveals nothing short of a heroic odyssey.”

The gathering also honoured the presence of Gertrude Mongella, former Secretary-General of the historic 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. 

Reflecting on progress since the landmark conference, she highlighted key milestones – including Tanzania’s current presidency under Samia Suluhu Hassan, the nation’s first female head of state – as emblematic of the gains made.

Underrepresentation

However, Mama Mongella – as she is fondly known – expressed concern over women’s continued underrepresentation in crucial economic sectors, urging systematic interventions to rectify this imbalance. 

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Responding to claims that the government has significantly empowered Tanzanian women through initiatives like hospital construction and other infrastructure projects, Mongella challenged proponents of this view to deepen their analysis. 

She urged them to examine who ultimately benefits by asking: “When these tenders were awarded, how many went to women versus men?”

“Go and examine first, track where your money actually flows! You can tell me, ‘Mama, it built hospitals’ – I accept that. But I’ve looked deeper. Who actually built these hospitals? Who was awarded the contracts? So this money circulates and ultimately lands in whose hands – a man’s or a woman’s?” Mongella asked.

“We farmed the coffee, we sold the crops, budgets were allocated, funds entered projects, big projects,” she added. “But this money crawled its way straight into men’s hands. I demand you go back and audit this.”

In Tanzania Mainland, women reportedly make up just 14.5 per cent of the workforce in large construction firms, compared to 24.7 per cent in smaller firms. 

To achieve gender equality and unlock the sector’s full potential, stakeholders have called for the dismantling of existing structural barriers and the creation of inclusive, supportive opportunities for women in construction.

To achieve this, as well as the realisation of the overall goal of full women’s rights and gender equality in the country and beyond, a call was made during Wednesday’s convening for Tanzania’s feminists to launch and spearhead an African version of the Beijing Conference that reimagines global feminist frameworks through the lens of the continent’s distinct realities and aspirations.

African Beijing

Veteran Ugandan feminist and activist Hope Chigudu, whose decades of experience span movement-building and leadership development across Africa, presented the proposal. 

She emphasised Tanzania’s unique position to lead this initiative, citing the country’s legacy of groundbreaking feminist achievements that continue to inspire the continent.

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“We were deceived into believing that we can progress without considering our environment or how we connect with the rest of the world,” said Ms Chigudu, sociologist by training. 

“We need our own African feminist movement – our continent’s equivalent of Beijing. I challenge you, my Tanzanian comrades: Reimagine how to elevate the Gender Festival into a pan-African platform. 

“Let us convene as Africans to critically assess our realities, analyse continental trends, and forge an unshakable movement rooted in our specific contexts and strengths,” Ms Chigudu suggested.

“Like it or not, young activists will grow weary of the Beijing Declaration’s legacy,” she warned. 

“This is our moment to innovate. To reimagine our movement. To reignite our collective power. We must return to our roots, stoke the flames of change, and spread this fire across Africa until our vision is realised.”