UN Women, Unilever partner to back over 1,000 female farmers in Tanzania

03 / 02 / 2020

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The United Nations (UN) Women teamed up with Unilever Tea Tanzania to support over 1,000 female famers to create safer communities for women against gender-violence.

The UN Women – Unilever partnership is part of UN Women’s “Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces” Global Flagship Program and reflects growing efforts to join hands with the private sector on gender equality and women’s empowerment in Tanzania.

Unilever has also signed up to the Women’s Empowerment Principles and working to deliver its commitment to establish gender-sensitive business practices and policies.

The partnership will strengthen Unilever’s Women Safety Initiative, which is paying closer attention to prevention and response to sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence in all Unilever tea estates and factories.

The program will also work through strategic alliances with service providers, such as the police, legal aid officers, health workers and traditional leaders, who are often among the first points of contact for survivors.

UN Women Representative, Hodan Addou says the essence of the program is to ensure that women and girls enjoy their right to live in an environment free of all forms of violence.

“This partnership will conduct a series of activities focusing on training that will raise awareness to empower women living around the Unilever estates,” she explains. “Some of the areas we would like the program to strengthen include the reporting of cases of violence and creating male champions who will advocate to put an end violence against women and girls. The partnership will also mobilize collaboration with traditional and religious leaders for effective prevention and response to incidences of such violence. Our activities will work with service providers to ensure that these critical frontline services are women-friendly and delivered effectively.”

In Tanzania, an estimated 40 percent of women aged 15–49 have experienced physical violence while 17 percent are survivors of sexual violence, according to Tanzania’s 2015–2016 Demographic and Health Survey.

Unilever Tea Tanzania with its five plantations and three factories in the Mufindi district of Iringa region contributes to creating decent jobs for local communities, including women, and fostered sustainable development.

Unilever is one of the largest private-sector employers in Iringa and Njombe regions, providing jobs for more than 6,000 people. Nearly half of its managers include locally recruited women.

“Women are a key resource that drive tea production in all the estates,” says factory manager Rebeca Mamuya.

Faisal Pervez Ansari, Unilever’s General Manager for Kabwele Factory in Mufindi, also emphasized the need for partnerships to strengthen Unilever’s actions against gender-based violence, both in and out of the workplace.

“There is no finish line for improvement. We decided to partner with UN Women to further strengthen our efforts.”