Tanzania

Home to over 41 million, Tanzania's large geographical spread boasts the highest mountain in Africa, as well as the tourist attractions of safari and beaches.

However, the majority of the population are heavily reliant on agriculture for their livelihoods, and employment opportunities are limited. Young people are further hampered by ever lower retention rates within education and rising HIV rates. To address these issues youth in general, and young women in particular, need to be empowered to improve their own lives and encouraged to engage in decision-making on the policy issues that concern them.

Restless Development (Tanzania) runs a rural peer education programme (Kijana ni Afya – Youth is Healthy) in the Southern Highlands region, and urban livelihoods and HIV/AIDS programmes in Dar Es Salaam, Mbeya and Iringa.

Our approach has been cited repeatedly as best practice by both government officials and the international community, and we were the proud recipient of the 2007 STARS Impact Award for Education in recognition of the impact of our youth-led approach and the transparency of our management systems.

Independent evaluations of our programmes have shown statistically significant increases in young people’s knowledge, confidence and attitude markers across a range of areas. These include improvements in sexual and reproductive health, reductions in teen pregnancies and behaviours associated with risk of HIV infection, and improved engagement in income generation activities.

Restless Development is working with the Tanzanian government in a range of ways:

• We support the Ministry of Education to roll out effective peer education across the Southern Highlands.  We reinforce the National Multi-Sectoral HIV Prevention Strategy through our youth-centred approach that recognises knowledge alone does not necessarily result in behavioural change. 
• We have taken a lead role in ensuring young people feed into Mkukhuta, Tanzania’s 5-year poverty reduction plan.
• We uphold and bolster the Tanzania National HIV/AIDS Communications and Advocacy Strategy, through targeting advocacy, district and community response, mainstreaming HIV/AIDS, condom promotion, health promotion for specific groups, and school-based prevention for Primary and Secondary levels.