Equitas staff is in Tanzania right now to initiate a new project to reinforce the protection of children and youth rights. Activities will take place at both national and community levels. Children and youth in three communities will be equipped to lead community initiatives designed to reduce violence, advance gender equality and ensure greater respect for their human rights.
The project was launched in Moshi, a municipality located in the Kilimanjaro Region. Equitas staff was greeted by Aginatha Rutazaa, the managing director of Tusonge, a community development organization and Equitas local partner in Moshi. They were pleasantly surprised to see how quickly the community became engaged in the activities. “We got an incredible welcome from the people of this Tanzanian community, says Daniel Roy, Senior Education Specialist at Equitas. We were able to explain the structure of the new project and they were able to tell us what its content should be.”
The community and Equitas readily agreed to cooperate to achieve the objectives of the project: getting youth engaged in the community; setting up protection mechanisms against violence and abuses of children and; working directly with children so that they know their rights.
“We’ve been very impressed by the number of people who showed up at the meetings and by the enthusiasm and sense of commitment they all displayed”, Equitas Program Officer Chris Bradley concludes.