Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan has called on the public to recognise the power of women and create a better future for them.
Looking to empower women, the Government has stepped up the fight against humiliation and harassment of both women and children, said the Vice-President while officiating the International Women's Day National Celebration in Dar es Salaam on Monday.
Mama Samia, the first woman vice-president in the country's history, underlined the position of a woman in national development, stressing on various areas which require attention to clear the path towards their successes.
The areas include doing away with ill-practices that affect women and children's development, community participation in ending gender based violence (GBV), gender equality and interest rates relief by financial institutions.
According to the Vice-President, despite the fact that women constitute a large percentage of the population in the country, they are still faced with a myriad of challenges.
Statistics from the 2012 Tanzania Census shows that women comprise 51 percent of the population while males are only 49 percent.
"Also, women constitute 60 percent of the country's public servants and 70 percent of farmers...it clearly demonstrates the power of women," said the Vice-President.
She pointed out that women need to defy all odds and change their mindset by focusing on productive activities for their own development and the country at large.
The VP cautioned the society against ill-practices such as persistent abuse and humiliation of women and children and encouraged women to stand for their rights.
The VP went on to seek the intervention of the whole society in ending the bad practices including GBV urging the collaboration with the law enforcement organs.
She also observed that it was high time women come together as one in supporting each other on development related matters.
Mama Samia also called upon the society to continue identifying and abolishing customs and traditions that obstruct women from participating in contesting for various leadership positions.
"We should fight against traditions and customs that drag women behind, the society must focus on traditions that promote women's rights and welfare," she said.
The Vice-President implored financial institutions to find a way of coming up with low interest rates on loans issued to women entrepreneurs so that the latter could realise profits in their businesses.
"I am asking all financial institutions to think on the best ways to support women entrepreneurs, low interest rates on loans could be of great support," she urged.
Earlier, the VP delivered a message from President John Magufuli who expressed the Government's commitment on continued promotion and improvement of women's welfare.
In his message, President Magufuli said women are strong pillars in pushing forward the country's development and that his Government values women's contribution in political, social and economic development.
On her side, the Minister for Health, Social Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr. Dorothy Gwajima said the International Women's Day is marked each year to give an opportunity to Government and stakeholders to evaluate achievements, identify challenges and set strategies for addressing problems that face women.
She recalled that during last year's celebration, which was held in Simiyu Region, the Vice-President Samia Suluhu encouraged women to take up leadership positions so that they could contribute to the country's development.
Dr. Gwajima said from the VP encouragement, many women appeared in big numbers to contest for various positions in the 2020 general elections including the presidential post.
"At least 293 women contested for parliamentary seats and 668 contested for Councillor's, this was as a result of the Vice-President encouragement during the previous International Women's Day which was commemorated in Simiyu," she said.
On GBV, Dr. Gwajima said about 759 gender desks have been established to deal with violence acts against women and children.
She said officials from the Ministry work closely with security organs, noting that the desks, which operate under security officials are divided as follows; police force (420), prisons (162), Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) 177 gender desks.
Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Mr. Abubakari Kunenge said as a region they plan to set up special areas for women to engage in business activities.
UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Zlatan Milisic commended the Government for its efforts in addressing various challenges that face women and pledged to support in empowering women in the country.