Tanzania Women Lawyers Association [TAWLA]

Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA) is a non-profit, non-governmental, and human rights organization based in Tanzania. Created in 1990, TAWLA has become a fully-fledged association with about 500 registered members and a secretariat of employees engaged in service delivery in five regions of the country. TAWLA’s objectives include providing legal aid to vulnerable women and children, promoting women’s land rights, and raising awareness of the plight of juvenile detainees and child labor.

TAWLA has its headquarters in Dar es Salaam and branch offices in Arusha, Tanga, and Dodoma. As a way of expanding its outreach, TAWLA has networks with legal aid centers and trains paralegals to enable poor women and children to access legal aid services in the regions in which it does not have branch offices.

Currently, TAWLA members, constitute women lawyers from diverse backgrounds such as state attorneys, private advocates, judges, magistrates, corporate executives, lecturers, and legal advisors in both the public and the private sectors.

TAWLA’s activities include :

• Providing legal aid services to vulnerable women and children

• Coordinating the Gender Land Task Force which advocates for better land laws and land rights awareness for women, 

• Undertaking policy research and advocacy for legal reforms, and campaigns for women and children on issues of equality and human rights, 

• Educating the public by raising awareness on gender and legal rights issues through the media, workshops, publications, drama and 

• Supporting the professional development of women lawyers in Tanzania

Some notable projects undertaken by TAWLA are:

1.Mwanamke Imara;

This project aims to end all forms of violence against women and girls in Mbeya, Njombe, and Kilimanjaro by 2030. The project also aims to advance gender equity through programs that promote accountability, progressive laws, transparency, and access to justice at the Zonal, National, and International Levels by 2025.

2.  Enhancing women’s access to justice through protection and securing their land and property rights through legal frameworks

In this project, TAWLA’s vision is to promote gender equality through the review/amendment of laws and policies that hinder gender equality by building the capacities of communities to deliver legal aid in the/nearby community, providing legal aid and platforms for legal literacy sensitization.

3. Contributing to the attainment of gender equity into We effect partners’ programs through technical support provision (GEWPPA)

The aims of this project centered around creating sustainable access to justice for vulnerable women, promoting gender equality through review/amendment of laws, and policies  that hinder gender equality

In conclusion, TAWLA’s aims and objectives are focused on or revolve around advocacy for gender equality, promotion of human dignity, and gender justice through policy, legal, and institutional changes, community involvement, and media engagement.

To learn more about TAWLA, click here