Chairperson of the Association of Diplomatic Spouses;
Diplomatic Spouses;
WAMA Board Members;
Invited Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me
start by warmly welcoming you all to the State House for our annual get
together between the First Lady and diplomatic spouses to welcome and celebrate
the New Year 2012.
I thank
you all for accepting my invitation and for coming. Let me
take this opportunity to welcome those of you joining us for the first time. Welcome
to Tanzania, welcome to join this wonderful company. I hope your stay in
Tanzania will be enjoyable and fulfilling.
Karibuni sana.
Invited
Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen;
The
past year women in Tanzania joined others globally to celebrate 100 years of
the International Women’s Day. The
celebration marked a significant milestone to gauge our successes towards
realization of women rights and roles in the development process of our
society. Indeed, much has been accomplished. The rights of women are much
recognized now than any other time before. Our roles are more visible now than
any other time before. To date, many initiatives are in place to deal with issues
of women from global to grassroot level. More resources are being allocated and
better coordination of programs such as UN WOMEN and the universalization of
rights is more evident.
Yet,
our struggle for women rights remains more relevant today than any other time
before. Statistics of the plight of women today are still shocking. According
to the World Bank, Women constitute fifty percent (50%) of today’s global
population and forty percent (40%) of the global work force.
In
Africa, women are majority farmers and produce about eighty percent (80%) of
the continent's food, yet women own only one percent (1%) of the world's
wealth. These statistics in a nutshell informs us that gaps remain in so many
areas. In their totality, they call for
more efforts to address the structural imbalances that hinder the realization of
women rights and welfare in the so advanced world. I am pleased to note that
the 2012 World Development Report prepared by the World Bank will be focusing
on women. I commend the World Bank for such a commitment to women’s plight. I
believe the report will give a befitting profile to the women and development
agenda. We in WAMA are looking forward
to echo the recommendations of the report and to raise our advocacy for the
agenda for women and development.
For
that reason, the WAMA Foundation continues to place the women and development
higher on its agenda. WAMA is grateful of the support and cooperation it
receives from partners and stakeholders, some of whom are present in this occasion.
We are
particularly impressed with the efforts of the government of United Republic of
Tanzania in giving deserved attention to the questions of maternal and child
health and the overall question of women rights and welfare in Tanzania. We
recognize with admiration its participation on the World Commission on
Information and Accountability for Children’s and Women’s Health and the
African Leaders Initiative Against Malaria (ALMA). These efforts altogether
deserve special mention and our support.
WAMA is
looking forward to compliment our government in addressing the same to the needy
and underprivileged women and girls who have not been reached by these and
other similar efforts. We shall stay on
course on our programs on education, health and economic empowerment which have
already lifted many from the scourge of poverty and put a smile on many lives
that we have touched. I wish to share with you some few highlights of our
previous year achievements and the ongoing programs for year 2012.
Education
Ladies and
Gentlemen;
In the
education sector, among the major highlight of our work was the launching of
WAMA Nakayama Secondary School. To
date 167 girls who are orphaned or come from poor families have been enrolled
in the school. This year Ninety (90) new
students will join the school. I am pleased that through the generous support
from our well-wishers this year we shall start the construction of 12 staff
houses, 6 classrooms for A-level and two dormitories. On the other note, I am glad to inform you
that through the support from our partners we shall construct a new school
similar to WAMA Nakayama Secondary school in Lindi Region.
Health
Invited
Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen;
In my last year’s sherry party address, I informed you
about our initiatives to address the problem of maternal
and infant mortality through advocacy campaign and supply of maternal and child
health service equipments to health centers and dispensaries countrywide. I am pleased to inform you that last year WAMA in co-operation with Project C.U.R.E as well as
your respective Embassies successfully mobilized equipment worth USD 3 Million
which will this year be distributed to Six Regional hospitals in the
country. On advocacy, we have worked
with Malaria No more to launch the Kilimani Sesame’s Malaria Education Outreach
Campaign to protect our children from Malaria. I count on your continued
support to continue these noble programmes.
Women Economic Empowerment
Ladies and
Gentlemen;
We
remain committed to address the income poverty which is among the root causes
of the high maternal and infant mortality among women and girls, and a causal
factor for increasing teenage pregnancies among secondary and primary school
students. During the past year we have stepped up our women mobilization
efforts and developed standardized curriculum and packages for WAMA women
economic empowerment initiative. We have now launched the first Union of WAMA
Foundation Village Savings and Loans Association with 700 members organized in
40 groups. Our hope is that this year the
members shall utilize the knowledge they received through training to expand
their funding base in order to engage in different economic activities.
Conclusion
Invited
Guests,
As we celebrate the achievements that I have
mentioned today and those that I have not mentioned, I am optimistic about the
year ahead of us. I wish to thank all of
you for the support that you have given to WAMA and to the government and the
people of Tanzania. I look forward for your usual cooperation in this year. It
is my sincere hope that this year we shall continue to work together to support
different initiatives to help the needy.
On that note, I wish you a happy and prosperous 2012.
Thank you very much.
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