[ad_1]
GERMANY has said Tanzania is doing well than many other African countries in handling human rights’ affairs.
The Germany Ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Regine Hess, said the East African nation is ahead of many African countries on defending women and children’s rights by having the appropriate regulations and laws as well as enforcing them effectively.
“No county in the world is 100 per cent doing well in human rights… but Tanzania (on average) is better in human rights than many other countries in Africa,” Ambassador Hess told the ‘Daily News’ on Tuesday evening.
The envoy said every country has some shortfalls, but the problems of many African countries is that they have good laws regarding human rights, only that they are falling short on enforcing them.
Ms Hess said the country excelled in defending the right in education, children and women against any abuse–underage marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and young mothers’ right to education, among others.
“Human rights are universal that all should enjoy. People have to defend their rights and enjoy them,” Amb Hess said at a brief ceremony, when presenting the Franco-German Human Right Award to Noelah Msuya for defending the right of education to intellectual impaired children. The event took place at the Ambassador’s residence in Dar es Salaam.
Ms Noelah, the Executive Director of Child Support Tanzania (CST), is the second winner of the award from Tanzania since it was introduced some six years ago.
The first winner was Rebecca Gyumi, Founder and Executive Director at Msichana Initiative. She filed and won a petition challenging the Law of Marriage Act, which violated girls’ rights to education due to early marriage at age 14.
Ms Noelah was presented with a certificate and medal, which symbolises the active commitment to the defence of human rights and sends a clear message of appreciation.
“I don’t have enough words to express this award. It is a big thing to CST,” Ms Noelah told a small gathering after receiving the award:
“To us, we thought we were doing our normal daily works but others recognise our efforts. This means a lot to us and challenge to us to do more.”
She said the award in general means a new beginning for disable and disadvantage children in Tanzania since it supports CST vision and objectives.
She said the passion to save the intellectual impaired children started at her early stage of secondary education and her late mother cemented it all by telling her that to support her dream she should first be a teacher.
“I was in Form Two when I consulted my late mother regarding my passion to save the underprivileged,” Ms Noelah recalled, further saying: “She told me to first be a teacher to save children better”.
French Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Nabil Hajlaoui, said the award stands as a game changer in the country, to see more disable people getting the rights to education.
“(Noelah) you are doing an outstanding job. Thank you. The award highlights your good work,” Mr Hajlaoui said.
Noelah has found women’s self-help groups and children’s rights clubs that have a total of 2,500 active members.
Some ten basic human rights are the right to life, the right to freedom from torture, the right to equal treatment, the right to privacy, the right to asylum, right to marry, the right to freedom of thought, opinion and expression and the right to work.
[ad_2]
Source link