Zanzibar — WOMEN on Pemba Islands are eagerly waiting for any leadership opportunity to challenge men at any level. Many say the time of fear to compete with men in taking up leadership roles is over!

"We are no longer scared, we are no longer coward. We are ready to take leadership at any level," says Ms Mwanajuma Omar, 35, a housewife in Mjini-ole, north of Pemba. However, Mwanajuma says jealousy among men remains an obstacle to women wishing to get into leadership.

Women groups in Zanzibar have said that more needs to be done to encourage women into politics and leadership roles in rural areas. They argue that low representation leads to continued deprivation of women rights and lack of consideration of women issues from the community to the national level.

GENDER Forum and Constitution (GFC) has urged women to participate fully in the establishment of Ward constitutional councils to be formed shortly. "We as women need to see the extension of gender in the new constitution in order to promote women's rights and gender issues in general".

Tanzanian National Assembly Speaker Anne Makinda has urged women to look beyond their allotted 30% quota in the National Assembly and seek full 50% representation by participating in elections in constituencies, Tanzania's Daily News reported Monday (August 6th).

"You must not fear and we cannot cling on to special seats forever; we must go to the constituencies and fight. Let us not let down Tanzanian women," she said to a group of women lawmakers.

Women in Tanzania organized themselves into a feminist institution that will provide advocacy and research related to the women's fundamental rights and anti-poverty measures.
The article First Feminist Activist Institute Opens in Tanzania includes interesting details on the new iniatiatve.