LENGISHO
Senior Member
- Sep 15, 2017
- 169
- 245
Taasisi ya kimataifa ya kutetea haki za wanawake, Equality Now ikishirikiana na washirika wake nchini Tanzania, wamewasilisha kesi dhidi ya serikali ya Tanzania katika mahakama moja ya Afrika inayoshughulikia masuala ya kibinadamu na haki baada ya nchi hiyo kuweka marufuku kwa wasichana wajawazito kuhudhuria shule au wasirejee mara wanapojifungua.
Katika taarifa yake, taasisi hiyo imesema kuwa kwenda mahakamani ilikuwa ndio uamuzi wa mwisho uliosalia baada ya kuishawishi serikali kwa miaka kadhaa, kubatilisha uamuzi huo bila mafanikio.
Serikali ya Tanzania bado haijatoa tamko rasmi tangu kushtakiwa.
Kwa mujibu wa sheria iliyopitishwa mwaka 2002, wasichana wajawazito wanaruhusiwa kufukuzwa shuleni.
Sheria hiyo inasema wasichana wanaweza kufukuzwa na kuondolewa kabisa shule kwa "makosa ya ukosefu wa 'maadili na "ndoa'.
Makundi ya kutetea haki za wanawake yamekuwa yakisihi serikali ya Tanzania kubadilisha sheria hiyo.
Wasichana 8,000 nchini Tanzania hulazimika kuacha shule kila mwaka kwasababu ya kupata ujauzito, kulingana na ripoti ya Shirika la Human Rights Watch.
Shirika la Equality Now, limesema kuwa marufuku hiyo ilikuwa ya kibaguzi na wengi wanaoathirika ni wasichana kutoka jamii maskini ambao huwa katika hatari nyingine ya ukiukaji wa haki za binadamu kama vile ukeketwaji.
CHANZO : BBC NEWS
Court case filed against Tanzania to overturn ban on pregnant girls attending school
NAIROBI, KENYA, Nov 19, 2020 - International women’s rights organization Equality Now alongside its partner in Tanzania, has today filed a joint case at the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights against the Government of Tanzania, seeking to overturn the country’s discriminatory policy of permanently expelling pregnant girls from school and banning adolescent mothers from returning to school after giving birth.
Preventing pregnant girls and adolescent mothers from attending public school denies them access to education and keeps many trapped in a cycle of poverty, exposing them to additional human rights violations including child and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, and sexual and labor exploitation.
Tanzania has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world. UNFPA states one in four girls aged 15 to 19 in the country is either pregnant or has given birth, and the proportion has increased from 23 percent in 2010 up to 27 percent in 2015 according to Tanzania’s own government data.
Tanzania’s policy of expelling pregnant girls from primary and secondary school dates back to 1961, but the practice has escalated during the past five years because of public endorsement by senior government officials.
There is no accurate data available on the number of girls who are affected by this discriminatory ban but sources estimate that thousands are forced from education every year.
Faiza Mohamed, the Director of Equality Now’s Africa office explains:
“We have advocated for more than three years for the Government of Tanzania to lift the ban on pregnant girls and adolescent mothers accessing school but without success. The African Court is our last resort and we are hopeful that the voices of these girls - many of whom are victims of sexual violence or coercion - will finally be heard.”
The landmark case was submitted to the African Court in Arusha, Tanzania, on the morning of 19 November 2020.
This comes on the eve of World Children’s Day, observed annually by the United Nations and civil society on November 20 as an opportunity to promote children’s rights and reflect on what more must be achieved. At the heart of this lies the advancement of gender equality and the creation of a more just and equitable world for girls. This cannot be achieved without ensuring access to education for all girls, wherever they are and whatever their circumstances.
“Today’s filing against the Government of Tanzania marks an important step towards the realization of the right to education for all girls in Tanzania,” said Ms. Mohamed
In March 2020, a similar regulation preventing pregnant girls from attending school was repealed in Sierra Leone. This came after Equality Now and local partners won a legal case filed against the Government of Sierra Leone at the ECOWAS Court of Justice, West Africa’s premier court, which ruled the state's policy discriminated against girls and violated their right to equal education.
EQUALITY NOW
Katika taarifa yake, taasisi hiyo imesema kuwa kwenda mahakamani ilikuwa ndio uamuzi wa mwisho uliosalia baada ya kuishawishi serikali kwa miaka kadhaa, kubatilisha uamuzi huo bila mafanikio.
Serikali ya Tanzania bado haijatoa tamko rasmi tangu kushtakiwa.
Kwa mujibu wa sheria iliyopitishwa mwaka 2002, wasichana wajawazito wanaruhusiwa kufukuzwa shuleni.
Sheria hiyo inasema wasichana wanaweza kufukuzwa na kuondolewa kabisa shule kwa "makosa ya ukosefu wa 'maadili na "ndoa'.
Makundi ya kutetea haki za wanawake yamekuwa yakisihi serikali ya Tanzania kubadilisha sheria hiyo.
Wasichana 8,000 nchini Tanzania hulazimika kuacha shule kila mwaka kwasababu ya kupata ujauzito, kulingana na ripoti ya Shirika la Human Rights Watch.
Shirika la Equality Now, limesema kuwa marufuku hiyo ilikuwa ya kibaguzi na wengi wanaoathirika ni wasichana kutoka jamii maskini ambao huwa katika hatari nyingine ya ukiukaji wa haki za binadamu kama vile ukeketwaji.
CHANZO : BBC NEWS
NAIROBI, KENYA, Nov 19, 2020 - International women’s rights organization Equality Now alongside its partner in Tanzania, has today filed a joint case at the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights against the Government of Tanzania, seeking to overturn the country’s discriminatory policy of permanently expelling pregnant girls from school and banning adolescent mothers from returning to school after giving birth.
Preventing pregnant girls and adolescent mothers from attending public school denies them access to education and keeps many trapped in a cycle of poverty, exposing them to additional human rights violations including child and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, and sexual and labor exploitation.
Tanzania has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world. UNFPA states one in four girls aged 15 to 19 in the country is either pregnant or has given birth, and the proportion has increased from 23 percent in 2010 up to 27 percent in 2015 according to Tanzania’s own government data.
Tanzania’s policy of expelling pregnant girls from primary and secondary school dates back to 1961, but the practice has escalated during the past five years because of public endorsement by senior government officials.
There is no accurate data available on the number of girls who are affected by this discriminatory ban but sources estimate that thousands are forced from education every year.
Faiza Mohamed, the Director of Equality Now’s Africa office explains:
“We have advocated for more than three years for the Government of Tanzania to lift the ban on pregnant girls and adolescent mothers accessing school but without success. The African Court is our last resort and we are hopeful that the voices of these girls - many of whom are victims of sexual violence or coercion - will finally be heard.”
The landmark case was submitted to the African Court in Arusha, Tanzania, on the morning of 19 November 2020.
This comes on the eve of World Children’s Day, observed annually by the United Nations and civil society on November 20 as an opportunity to promote children’s rights and reflect on what more must be achieved. At the heart of this lies the advancement of gender equality and the creation of a more just and equitable world for girls. This cannot be achieved without ensuring access to education for all girls, wherever they are and whatever their circumstances.
“Today’s filing against the Government of Tanzania marks an important step towards the realization of the right to education for all girls in Tanzania,” said Ms. Mohamed
In March 2020, a similar regulation preventing pregnant girls from attending school was repealed in Sierra Leone. This came after Equality Now and local partners won a legal case filed against the Government of Sierra Leone at the ECOWAS Court of Justice, West Africa’s premier court, which ruled the state's policy discriminated against girls and violated their right to equal education.
EQUALITY NOW
