Dar es Salaam: In the run-up to Tanzania's general elections 31 October, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM (part of UN Women), will conduct workshops throughout September for women candidates in seven electoral zones to strengthen their election strategies. The trainings seek to empower women candidates by improving their skills in public speaking, media engagement, campaign planning, presentations, community mobilization, advocacy and lobbying.

The candidates will also learn about women in Tanzanian politics, current political issues surrounding the elections, the roles of Parliament, House of Representatives and Local Councils, and relevant election laws, rules and regulations.

Women and men must "join hands to promote equal representation, participation and leadership of women in the political processes and representative institutions," said Ni Sha, UNIFEM's Deputy Regional Programme Director for East and Horn of Africa.

In the country's last general elections in 2005, women only accounted for 17 out of 232 contested seats in parliament. However, Tanzania's Constitution has allocated 30 percent of its seats in parliament for women.

Thirty facilitators from across the country - whom UNIFEM prepped in the first workshop of its kind in Dar es Salaam on 12-14 August - will conduct the step-down sessions of female candidates using training methods that have been pre-tested by selected candidates.

Further, UNIFEM, in collaboration with UNESCO, will coach community radio coordinators in Arusha, Pemba and Unguja in September to spread awareness on voter information to women in remote areas. Journalists will also be coached to provide fair and equal coverage of female candidates.

*  For more information, please contact Mohammed Duba, Communications Officer, UNIFEM East and Horn of Africa Sub-Regional Office, mohammed.duba[at]unifem.org.