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Overview

Challenges Addressed

Solutions Offered

Success Stories

Overview

Karagwe District, Kagera Region, Tanzania

The mission of WOMEDA is to promote the status of the marginalized groups in Karagwe by creating and strengthening equal opportunities for women, men and children through provision of socioeconomic, legal and human rights activities in order to attain sustainable development.

Year Founded:

2002

Website:

www.womeda.org

Challenges Addressed

Demographics: WOMEDA is only one of two free legal aid services for the over 224,000 children and 120,000 women in the Karagwe region of Tanzania.

Lack of Rights: Patriarchal customary laws are deeply rooted in traditional practices, creating a situation in which women struggle to hold property or assert independence.

Regional Misogyny: Many traditional attitudes continue to disempower and even violently hurt women. One such practice is called Kushatula, through which a woman is abducted out of her home, raped, then forced to marry the abductor, continues to occur in the region.

Tanzania

Solutions Offered

Human Rights Aid: Free legal and social counseling for victims of domestic disputes, sexual violence, and illegal property acquisition.

Community Education: Promoting gender equality through workshops on women's and children's rights, political leadership, and legal literacy.

Protecting Children: Ensuring the welfare of Karagwe's children by providing couseling services to families, and working with community members to ensure children's rights.

Success Stories

Grace's Story

The Gosais' Story

Mama Fahima's Story

Chiku's Story

Dalila's Story