Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Defence Minister, Dr Stergomena Tax, has called on women in the country to build self-esteem, be patient, observe professionalism and unite in order to realise the dreams.
She made the remarks at the opening of the Women forum organised by the Economic Society of Tanzania (EST) in collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) and the Lindam in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.
The theme of the forum was ‘Women in Peace and Security’ which aimed at building capacity and confidence of women in fulfilling such various roles of peace and security, economic, political and social issues.
According to Dr Tax, women are important stakeholders in peace and security in the country and at the international level as they are equally capable of carrying out the responsibilities as men, thus they should be confident when given the responsibilities of peacekeeping and security and other responsibilities in society.
She said the number of women in defense and security sector is still low not only in Tanzania but all over the world attributing it to negative perception those women cannot do such jobs as men.
“This perception is incorrect; a woman can do any job. Today there are at least many women in peacekeeping and security in the country and internationally. A good example is the Commissioner General of the Immigration Force, Dr Anna Makakala and Chang’ombe OCD in Temeke, Ariziki Makwaya who has also been involved in peacekeeping in Darfur in Sudan,”said Dr Tax.
She added “In Tanzania we are doing well and we are witnessing the representation of women in political positions. Currently women account 37 percent of the Members’ seats in the Parliament, there is also an increase in women leaders occupying both public and private offices, statistics show there is an increase of women in the manufacturing sector from 3.4 percent in 2014 to 4.5 percent this year, in the service sector from 27.2 percent in 2014 to 35.2 percent this year. ”
Dr Tax urged young women to be patient as some of them are not patient enough because they want to be employed today and tomorrow to become Managing Directors, so she reminded them that good things are achieved step by step with hard work.
The EST Vice President, Dr Tausi Kida, said they chose that theme because for so long the defense and security sector was seemed to be exclusively for men, so the forum aimed at encouraging women that they can do such jobs.
Dr Kida said the forum was the third since its inception in 2019 and had 250 participants.
The Commissioner General of Immigration, Dr Makakala, said she participated in the forum to encourage young women to join peace and security work as he is, and urged them not to be afraid to join the security forces.
Chang’ombe OCD in Temeke, Ariziki Makwaya, said she has been a member of the Police Force for 22 years now and has done various jobs successfully including peacekeeping in Darfur in Sudan from 2012 to 2015, thus encouraging young women that they can also involve in peace and security job just like men.
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