CSO Week

About the
CSO Week 2019

✓ CSO Exhibitions
✓ Deliberative Discussions

✓ Networking
✓ CSO Awards and Gala Dinner

Tanzanian civil society organizations (CSOs), under the leadership of Foundation for Civil Society (FCS), are institutionalizing the conduct of an annual event dubbed the “CSO Week.” The week is geared at strengthening the operations and standing of the sector by enhancing engagements among CSOs themselves, and between CSOs and multiple other players including the central government, parliament and the private sector.

The fifth-phase government’s emphasis on industrialization is viewed as an important area where CSOs can position themselves as a strategic partner in efforts to realize the country’s development vision. The CSO Week was therefore launched in 2018 under the theme “Industrialization Drive in Tanzania: People, Policy and Practice.” Since its inauguration, the sectoral group that organized event made a strategic decision to hold the CSO Week annually, recognizing its importance in strengthening relationships between key development actors.

The theme for the CSO Week 2019 is “Progress through Partnership: Collaboration as a Driver for Development in Tanzania.” It is our hope that, the agenda for this event will enable CSOs to unlock mutually beneficial partnerships with the central government, parliament and the private sector and any other important development stakeholders. The content of the session should therefore be directed at building trust by tangibly demonstrating the civil society sector’s value to Tanzania’s social economic development.

ORGANIZERS

Foundation for Civil Society (FCS)

view A non-profit organization that provides grants and capacity building services to CSOs so as to enhance their effectiveness in enabling the engagement of citizens in the nation’s development processes. FCS was registered as a legal entity in September 2002 and it became operational in January 2003; it is currently one of the prime sources of funding for Tanzanian. Since its inception FCS has contributed immensely to the capacity strengthening of the civil society sector in Tanzania thereby directly and indirectly enabling CSOs and citizens to become key driving forces for positively influencing democratic governance processes in Tanzania and better quality of life for all.

LHRC

Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) is a human rights advocacy organization striving to empower the people of Tanzania on laws and human rights awareness with a view to creating a culture of respect for human rights and the rule of law in the country. LHRC envisages ‘a just and equitable society’ – where all individuals are entitled to a peaceful environment and equal access to their human rights; where no one is left behind, and peace is a priority given to people in greatest need and where the entire society unite to support vulnerable groups.

LSF

Legal Services Facility was established in September 2011 as a basket fund that strives to increase access to justice for all through a legal empowerment approach. LSF channels funding on an equal opportunity basis to organizations which provide legal aid and paralegal services in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. LSF also enhances availability, affordability, accessibility, and acceptability of quality legal aid services to promote and protect human rights for all, with an emphasis on women, girls and other vulnerable groups.

Save the Children

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children working to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. Save the Children Tanzania works on four thematic areas: child protection, health and nutrition, child rights governance, education advocacy, gender, emergency and response are other areas, which contribute to their current programming.

Wajibu

WAJIBU Institute of Public Accountability (WIPA) was founded with the purpose of fostering an environment that supports and promotes public accountability in Tanzania. The WIPA’s founders believe that mobilizing public engagement on the issues of public accountability is key to ensuring that any progress made in the field is consolidated and maintained.

UN Women

UN Women is the United Nations’ entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, the organization was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, they together work with governments and civil societies to design laws, policies, programs and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide.

Oxfam

Oxfam is a global movement of people who are fighting inequality to beat poverty together. Oxfam in Tanzania (OiTZ) strives to become an outwardlooking organization and catalyst for change at local, national and regional levels. Oxfam’s vision for Tanzania entails an empowered citizenry with reduced poverty and inequality and injustice.

Twaweza

Twaweza means “we can make it happen”. It is an ambitious initiative that started in 2009, working on enabling citizens to exercise agency, promoting the government to be more open and responsive, and improving basic learning for children in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Twaweza works to provide practical information to everyone, to foster quality independent media and citizen monitoring services. By addressing these issues through its partner organizations, Twaweza works to foster what it calls an ‘ecosystem of change,’ through building on, as well as triggering, the actions of citizens to make a difference.

Policy Forum

Policy Forum (PF) is a network of 79 Tanzanian civil society organizations (CSOs) drawn together by their specific interest in augmenting the voice of ordinary citizens to influence policy processes that help in poverty reduction, equity and democratization with a specific focus on public money accountability at both central and local levels. PF’s network works to influence policy processes through enhanced governance and accountable use of public resources by the Tanzanian government.

Foundation for Civil Society (FCS)

Msichana Initiative

Msichana initiative is an initiative established to advocate for the girl child’s rights in Tanzania. Msichana Initiative envisions a society with empowered girls who are able to realize their full potential and build from it. Msichana Initiative aims at impacting the lives of young girls and women between the ages of 10 - 25 years, and it seeks to achieve this by finding solutions for key challenges which limit the girl child’s right to education.

HakiRasilimali

HakiRasilimali is a platform of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on strategic issues around minerals, oil and gas extraction in Tanzania. HakiRasilimali envisages an extractive industry (oil, gas and mineral resource extraction) which contributes to equitable and sustainable national development and works by supporting collective learning and jointly influencing policies, laws, regulations and practices around extractives.

UNA Tanzania

UNA Tanzania is an NGO first registered in Tanzania in 1964, with the objective of advocating for the implementation of the UN Charter principles in Tanzania and as a strong people’s movement in support of ideals, principles and purposes of the UN in Tanzania. UNA Tanzania works by carrying out capacity building, education, advocacy, lobbying and activism activities to increase stakeholders’ influence and participation in implementing the UN agenda in Tanzania.

Sikika

Sikika is a non-governmental Organization registered in 2009 to take over the work of Youth Action Volunteers (YAV), which was registered in 1999. Sikika works to enhance health and public finance systems through Social Accountability Monitoring and advocacy at all government levels.

Tanganyika Law Society (TLS)

The Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) is the Bar association of Tanzania Mainland, founded in 1954 by an Act of Parliament – the Tanganyika Law Society Ordinance 1954 and is currently governed by the Tanganyika Law Society Act, Cap 307 R.E. 2002. TLS envisions a society where justice is upheld, and it works to promote and protect access to justice, good governance and rule of law for all with sustained professional standards.

AcT2

The Accountability in Tanzania (AcT2) Programme is an innovative and exciting programme whose purpose is to increase the responsiveness and accountability of government in Tanzania through a strengthened civil society. AcT2 supports civil society organizations (CSOs) to implement contextspecific strategic interventions that will enable them to influence positive change in the attitudes and behavior of citizens, civil society and government, thus making the government as a whole more responsive and accountable.

SHIVYAWATA

SHIVYAWATA is a non-governmental federation which brings together ten national Disabled People’s Organizations that was established in 1992. SHIVYAWATA envisions a society which advocates for and empowers persons with disabilities through the recognition of human rights creation of a barrierfree environment and an inclusive society for all people of Tanzania.

Tango

The Tanzania Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (TANGO) is the largest and longest standing national umbrella organization serving the Tanzanian NGO community. TANGO was founded in 1988 by 22 NGOs. It now has over 485 member organizations. As an umbrella body it is committed to promoting the well being of its constituency by acting as a unifying organ and mandated representative in advocating for transformation for the common good. TANGO’s vision is to create and maintain a strong and vibrant society in which NGOs are taking an active and effective role in promoting peoplecentered development.