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Access to Justice/Awareness of Rights
Access to justice in Tanzania is limited for a number of reasons:

• an inadequate number of courts and tribunals especially in remote (rural) areas
• ignorance of the law and procedures (including inadequate dissemination of popularized versions of the law - the majority of laws remain in English only - despite the fact that more than 75 percent of Tanzanians cannot understand English)
• judicial corruption and other malpractice especially in the primary law courts
• inefficiency of procedural laws that would hasten disposition of cases in court    

TAWLA Solutions:

1. Extension of legal aid funding
2. Awareness raising through media and capacity building workshops & the extension of the CIVICS education syllabus
3. Recognition of paralegals (selected individuals equipped with basic legal knowledge and skills who deliver advice and awareness training)

Divorce and the inequitable distribution of matrimonial assets
On the division of matrimonial properties or assets, Section 114 (2) of the Law of Marriage Act requires the court to consider the custom of a community when dividing matrimonial property. Most of these customs are patriarchal, discriminatory and oppressive to women and violate the rights of women. Because of the bias and inadequacy in legal protection, most women in Tanzania are denied their basic rights when it comes to the adjudication of matters relating to marriage, divorce and probate. Moreover, most of the customary laws deny women the right to custodianship of her own children.

TAWLA Solution:

1. Legal reform to provide a more favourable legal framework for women and children
2. Education on inequality in community custom

Gender Inequality in Inheritance & Probate Conflicts
If a person dies intestate, men who are relatives of the deceased husband tend to take by force all matrimonial assets.  The Local Customary Law (Declaration) (No.4) Order of 1963 still maintains discriminatory inheritance rules. It denies widows the right to inherit from their deceased husbands’ estates. In addition, daughters are given an unequal share of the estate compared to sons and are denied their rights to property. In some communities women are inherited as ‘property’ by male relatives of their husbands where widow inheritance is practiced. This degrades the status of a widow and is discriminatory in that it treats a woman as ‘property’. In addition, the declaration provides for the ousting of the rights of a widow over custody of her children.

The rules of inheritance are discriminatory, oppressive and biased in favour of men. Despite the enactment of new Land Laws of 1999 and 2008 there is still a gap with respect to a widow’s inheritance rights.  Customary inheritance laws that have denied thousands of women and girls from inheriting still exist as laws, and are fully operational.

TAWLA Solutions:

1. Changes to the legal framework for equitable social justice
2. Promotion and educating the public around the benefits of writing wills.

Child Labour and Child Trafficking
Child labour and child trafficking is one of the main violations of children’s rights in Tanzania and a major challenge. Despite positive measures and legislative attempts to end child labour and trafficking, hundreds of Tanzanian children are still reportedly working in hazardous places.  Many employers in Tanzania continue to employ children to work in mines, as housekeepers, babysitters etc. where they provide cheap labour. There are very few cases in which the perpetrators are taken to task. This means, there is a weakness on the part of law enforcers - as well as adults - to report violations against children.

TAWLA Solutions:

1. More effective enforcement of laws that protect children’s rights and children
2. Adoption of a model by-law developed by TAWLA
3. Dissemination and promotion of a TAWLA brochure which simplifies sections of the employment and labour relations act on child labour and hazardous work to ensure employers understand their legal requirements

Human Rights Violation against young people on remand
Juveniles are mistreated in a number of ways including:

• being put with adults when they are detained
• having severe punishment imposed on them contrary to the law
• harsh detention conditions
• being refused visits by their parents or guardians
• delay in their cases being heard because of the inadequacy of Juvenile Courts
• A lack of specially trained personnel to handle juveniles at all stages in the criminal justice system.
• Insufficient facilities to house prisoners (both convicted and on remand)
• Inadequate specific cells/detention rooms for juveniles at police stations.

TAWLA Solutions:

1. Better legal protection for juveniles
2. Practical improvements in the way juveniles are treated (see above) 

Corruption and Poor Governance
Reports of the Controller and Auditor General reveal a failure to meet international and national financial management standards. The Government has established two important public institutions to promote good governance and curb corruption but the effectiveness of these institutions lags behind the expectations of the public.

Local governance in Tanzania is also poor. The majority of local government authorities are characterised by:

• a lack of transparency regarding income and expenditure (at district, ward, village and hamlet levels)
• poor management of development projects
• misallocation and misuse of public funds
• corruption
• low collection of revenues
• lack of innovation on town planning
• slow handling of people’s problems
• inadequate involvement of people in decision making processes

TAWLA solutions

1. A strategic partnership between civil society organizations and the Prevention of and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) for a concerted effort to fight corruption.
2. Legislative gaps should be filled to enhance the performance of the corruption watchdog
3. The Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance should be given more effective legal powers (‘teeth’) to redress of human rights violations and poor governance

Women’s Participation in Public Life
Women continue to be marginalized in public office. The number women nominated by the political parties or selected for employment is low compared to their male counterparts, and high quality women are often overlooked. The percentage of women in parliament is 30%. There are less than ten female ministers in the current Government. In other non-political positions, women still hold very junior positions, such as messengers and personal secretaries.

TAWLA solutions

1. Continued active campaigning on the importance of greater representation of women in Parliament
2. Mentoring and support programmes to encourage women to take office, and to develop their skills while in office.

Public Accountability
Civic competence is important because it enables people make an informed decision about how they are governed. Civil society organisations have been playing a pivotal role in raising public awareness on matters around good and democratic governance. Capacity building in communities through initiatives such as the Public Expenditure Tracking Studies and provision of civic and voter education has enhanced civic competence among the general public.

TAWLA solutions:

1. More investment in education in civic competence
2. Greater transparency in governance

Inadequate Research on Legal and Human Rights Issues
Most NGOs concentrate on civil and political rights. Very few are working on rights to health services, the environment, economic development, labour and education.

It is not easy to find information on:

• the effectiveness of the laws and policies that are meant to promote women’s rights in Tanzania
• women’s rights to capital for economic development
• the quantity and output of the work done by women in rural areas
• the contribution women in rural areas make to household income and GDP
• legal rights especially relating to HIV and AIDS
• labour rights;
• employment
• people with disabilities
• street children
• prisoners
• children in conflict with law (juvenile justice). 

TAWLA Solutions

1. Investment must be made in research in these key areas

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