Tanzania: 30+ Years of Legacy in Advancing Gender Equality

TGNP has spent over 30 years building a transformative feminist movement in Tanzania. Through grassroots organising, feminist pedagogy and collective advocacy, communities have seen improved access to services, stronger voices and expanded leadership for women and marginalised groups.

The Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), founded in 1993, has grown from a collective movement resisting patriarchy and neoliberal oppression into a national force leading feminist transformation. Built on transformative feminism, TGNP’s work recognises intersections of gender, class, race, disability and other structures that shape exclusion.

In 2021, TGNP launched its seventh strategic plan, drawing on nearly three decades of movement-building experience. Grounded in the Intensive Movement Building Cycle (IMBC), the strategy brings together participatory action research, grassroots animation, local knowledge centres and investigative journalism. These methods support communities in identifying issues, developing collective solutions and engaging authorities.

TGNP operates across 24 regions and 99 districts. Through the IMBC, activists and community members address gender-based violence, economic justice, climate adaptation, social norms and women’s leadership. The work intentionally includes women and men of all ages and abilities.

Before the strategy, many communities faced inadequate access to services, frequent incidents of gender-based violence, limited male allyship and low representation of women in decision-making. Through TGNP’s efforts, significant improvements have taken place: increased access to social services, more effective responses to violence, increased male engagement, rising numbers of women leaders and improved gender-responsive planning.

Examples of this change appear across Tanzania. In Kipunguni, harmful female genital mutilation practices were challenged and reduced. In Mbeya, young women strengthened their economic participation. In Shinyanga, communities mobilised for improved girls’ health in schools. In Dar es Salaam, policy campaigns strengthened local shifts.

TGNP’s movement-building is rooted in a long feminist history, including the global Beijing Conference of 1995. TGNP continues to celebrate and document this legacy through publications like the ‘Beijing Journey’ and success stories from knowledge centres. These stories honour the pioneering women who shaped feminist organising and continue to inspire the next generation.

Sustainability will be ensured through continued policy monitoring, expanding knowledge centres, strengthening feminist organising spaces, and applying results-based evaluation. As TGNP moves into a new strategic planning cycle, its commitment remains rooted in feminist values, community ownership and long-term transformation.

Quotes: 

Lilian Liundi - We are standing on the shoulders of 12 strong and courageous women and men.

Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka - The Queen Mothers of TGNP... We have just begun. 

Hon. Festo Mwalyego - These results are certainly excellent results. 

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