Partnering Effectively withGovernment Structures in Tanzania
USAID Global Educat ion Learning Ser ies
Presenter: Lilian BadiChief of Party & Country DirectorWorld Education, Inc./Bantwana Initiative;Arusha, Tanzania
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Hello, my name is Lilian Badi. I am Chief of Party from the Waache Wasome Project at World Education Bantwana in Tanzania. This presentation highlights our approach to successfully working across different tiers of authority and sectors to support objectives.
Waache Wasome’s Aims
• Improve education retention of adolescent girls
• Influence negative gender norms
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In Tanzania, a significant number of girls fail to complete their secondary school education. Waache Wasome’s overall aim is to support the retention of girls in school and help those who have dropped out to pursue alternative learning pathways.
FOSTER CONDUCIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
EMPO W ER GIRLS
Activities IN Schools
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As a project, in schools, we support Protect Our Youth (POY) Clubs, where girls and boys develop skills to navigate their education life and complete their secondary education. We also foster a girl-friendly environment by training teachers and non-teaching staff to reduce school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) and prevent dropout.
BUILD FAMILY CAPACITY AND COMMITMENT
ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIO N PATHW AYS
Activities OUTSIDE Schools
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Outside the school, Waache Wasome is also supporting savings & lending activities and layered services that build parents’ capacity and commitment to support girls’ education. But we also help girls who have dropped out of school, often, due to pregnancy and many other reasons, with learning alternatives that lead to independence.
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Our project interventions support a range of national priorities around education, child protection, reduction of SRGBV, and socio-economic betterment. Our role is to help schools and communities effectively put policy into practice and achieve intended benefits.
The Challenge: Putting the Pieces Together
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Examples of challenges include harmful gender norms and traditions, coordinating and communication among different stakeholders, and limited resources and implementation capacity.
IMPLEMENTATION & OUTREACH
Rationale for Government Partnerships
SHO RT-TERM LO NG-TERM
CONSOLIDATION
TRANSITION
SUSTAINABILITY
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Our intentionally inclusive strategy to engage government across three main levels helped to address the challenges. In the short term, it enhances effective implementation and outreach. In the long term, it consolidates progress, transitions ownership and responsibility for sustainability.
CO NSULT & LISTEN
VALUE & ACCEPT INPUT
SHARE BENEFICIARY STORIES
SHARE THE CREDIT
Approach to Government Partnerships
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In the effort to be a genuine partner, World Education Bantwana consults and listens at every stage. We seek and value officials’ expertise. We also share beneficiary stories of challenge and change, and we also share credit for achievements.
Regional & District Authorities
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Our closest relationships are with regional and district authorities. These are the middle tier of government and the gateway to direct engagement with schools. They exercise a high degree of co-ownership and encourage communities to do the same, as they see the project is supporting their own goals.
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District officials model acceptance of the project among communities. They participate in training and often co-facilitate, as you can see on the screen. They follow up to ensure that participants apply the new knowledge. And they also provide in-kind support when they are needed to do so.
Local Officials: A vital link to communities
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At the village and ward-level, officials are community members who live and work alongside Waache Wasome’s target participants and beneficiaries. As a vital project link, these leaders help oversee functioning of our community savings and lending groups, they support business linkage opportunities, and they also assist with conflict resolutions.
Local Officials: Countering stigma and helping teen moms who have dropped out of school
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With the help of local officials, it is easier to push for behavior change, for example, increasing parents’ engagement with their children’s education, or in reducing stigma and taking action to help teen mothers who have dropped out of school.
National Level
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At the national level, both the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health count on Waache Wasome as a key stakeholder in supporting the National Plan of Action on Violence against Women and Children, as well as implementation of the education sector development plan.
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We engage with both ministries in several ways: Hosting and participating in public platforms, testing and review of core training manuals for students, teachers, as well as parents and communities. We are also sharing our models for supporting girls who have dropped out of school.
• Improved school environment
• Improved welfare of girls
Impact
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As a result of the above relationships, many officials became “ambassadors” and “early adopters” of project models, and we are impacting the overall school environment and girls’ welfare for the better. Following are three examples from our work in schools in collaboration with the government.
Enhancing Student
Safety at School
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In regards to SRGBV, we have seen that thousands of POY Club students are learning how to recognize, prevent, and report violence and abuse. We also saw that all teachers in participating schools, and many district officials, are being trained to reduce SRGBV and school dropout.
“”I am so thankful for Waache Wasome … which has trained the entire board on their responsibilities. We now have an action plan to retain our students in school. And we follow up on SRGBV and with parents who keep their children home without reasons.‘
-- Mr. Ismail MakonyoChairperson, School Board, Inchugu Secondary School;
Father of six children, including four daughters
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School boards are standard structures in Tanzania, but members are oriented on their roles. Through Waache Wasome, boards have learned that students’ welfare is a key responsibility. They now hold the Heads of School accountable and engage more with local authorities, parents, and community members.
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With the Dropout Early Warning System, teachers are now proactive. In six months, they identified and counseled 761 at-risk students. And over a 12-month period, our savings group members helped almost 3,300 students with uniforms, books, and hygiene products.
“”What I learned from WaacheWasome about teacher-student relationships and preventing SRGBV helped me qualify for higher level work.‘
-- Mr. Yusuf bin YusufProject-trained teacher and master trainer
promoted to be Quality Assurer in a non-project district
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As individuals move through the system, they cascade skills and knowledge to others. Take the case of teacher Yusuf, who we trained in 2018. When recently promoted to a district quality assurer post, he submitted evidence of SRGBV skills gained, and was specifically asked to transfer SRGBV prevention skills to schools in the new district.
In Conclusion
ActiveEngagement
GenuinePar t ner ship
SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS
ASANTENI SANA THANK YOU
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Informing and engaging with the government is always important to project implementation. But going beyond to create a genuine, two-way partnership is essential because that is what enables consolidating project gains, transitioning project ownership, and sustainability of the outcomes and impact. Thank you.
