21/7/2022
“In our communities in the past, we faced a lot of discrimination from men, we were not seen as valuable but now, through PWC, women are gaining more respect.” Nayai Sungare
PWC hosted pastoralist women and youth summit on 31st March and 1st April in Arusha, Tanzania. The summit was also attended by many prominent pastoralist leaders including Dr Steven Ole Kiruswa-Longido Member of Parliament and the Deputy Minister of Minerals, Christopher Ole Sendeka-Simanjiro Member of Parliament, Edward Ole Lekaita- Kiteto Member of Parliament, women District Councillors and traditional leaders. The primary purpose of this summit was to promote women’s solidarity and unity. This summit took place at a crucial time when women’s leadership in pastoralist communities is picking up pace. The meeting participants shared the challenges they face in terms of leadership, entrepreneurship, and gender discrimination in their societies. The summit resolved to secure pastoralists’ women’s land rights and enhance gender parity in leadership and decision-making at household and community levels to advance gender justice and to further economic, social, and civic engagement for all. Traditional leaders also committed to be ambassadors for women’s rights and equity and include women in decision making.
“I have planned my life as I was taught at this summit because I involve my wives when I sell anything we must meet and organize everything together.” Kiplul NaKite
We also had an opportunity to share a best practice case study of how we support Maasai women to secure rights to land through our Women’s Rights and Leadership Forums (WRLFs). Our submission was shortlisted among the top 6 good practices under the Gender Justice theme and was featured in the Fair of Ideas at the Global Land Forum held in Amman in May 2022. Check it out here Additionally, Comic Relief profiled our WRLFs and case studies during a recent engagement on Power Up: critical conversations which engaged webinar participants from across the world on power and accountability. Check it out here:
In an effort to enhance access to justice, we have been engaging with justice actors to establish Court User Committees (CUCs) in Longido District. The court use committee is made up of community members and local leaders such as traditional leaders, women champions, people living with disability, religious leaders, youth, and paralegals, as well as civil actors in the justice system, including ward executive officers, magistrates, police and social welfare officers. The CUC meets every quarter to evaluate the number of GBV cases reported in court, their status, and challenges faced in the process. It creates linkages between the community and justice workers and ensures that citizens can access justice in a timely manner. In June 2020, members of the CUCs received training on conflict resolution, which gave them tools to help navigate and resolve conflicts in the execution of their duties. Participants highlighted land disputes, including violation of women’s right to own property and inheritance as one of the prevailing types of conflict in their villages.
The communities we serve are often found in very remote areas with little access to services. As such, we work with community paralegals to raise awareness on rights and support community members to access justice. In May and June 2022, our paralegals facilitated community dialogues on women’s land rights in six villages (Mairowa, Matale A, Matale B, Ketumbeine, Lubwa and Meirugoi) of Mairowa and Ketumbeine wards. During the outreach, community members brought forward different cases related to land conflict and matrimonial issues. The paralegals also held meetings to raise awareness on land conflict management using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) available at village and district levels. They encouraged citizens to make use of available community structures within the villages like traditional leadership instead of taking all the cases to court as the court process is lengthy and often very expensive, therefore inaccessible to most community members.