Message from our Chief Executive

Dear stakeholders and valued supporters,

I am honored to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the exceptional team that forms the backbone of our organisation – the Board of Directors, Staff, and Volunteers. They are the driving force that propels our mission forward, akin to a steadfast steam engine that ensures our proverbial boat remains afloat. Their unwavering dedication and unwavering support provide me with the privilege to lead this outstanding institution.

Since its inception in 2013, C-Sema has remained steadfast in promoting and safeguarding child rights in Tanzania. We have remained resolute in upholding the boundaries of our core organisational mandate, focusing on six crucial result areas: Child Protection, Skillful Parenting & Positive Discipline, Maternal & Child Nutrition, Early Childhood Development (ECD), and Adolescent and Sexual Reproductive Health (ASRH).

Our tireless efforts have centered on creating platforms where children and young people can raise their voices, empowering them to address the issues that threaten their well-being and the societies they inhabit. We recognise that achieving this goal requires overcoming the deep-rooted historical traditions and customs that perpetuate violence and misinformation, which we are tirelessly working to eradicate.

Chief Executive

C-SEMA

In the past year, we were incredibly fortunate to witness the remarkable generosity of our donors, as we raised approximately 1.6 billion TZS. This significant achievement directly reflects their unwavering confidence in our ability to deliver tangible results and the tenacity we exhibit in our work.

The numbers speak volumes about the urgency of our mission. In 2022 alone, we received a staggering total of 975,577 calls from Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.

As an organisation, we are fully aware of the direction our calling beckons us to follow. Above all, we recognise the importance of having competent professionals in the fields of social welfare, nutrition, mental health, justice, early childhood development, and sexual reproductive health, available to attend to these calls around the clock.

Aligned with our strategic plan for 2021-2025, we remain committed to upholding the established frameworks that facilitate significant changes in child welfare, healthcare for children and young people, education, community economic empowerment, as well as citizenship and governance in Tanzania. Furthermore, we will continue to extend our work in Zanzibar, pioneering child development initiatives within the aforementioned parameters of C-Sema's core organisational mandate.

Looking ahead to 2023, we are determined to invest in creating a robust demand for our Helpline services in both Mainland and Zanzibar. We will advocate tirelessly for all child protection concerns to be addressed appropriately by the relevant reporting authorities within society. Additionally, we eagerly anticipate raising additional funds that will serve as a strategic foundation for recruiting new professional call attendance and department staff.

Here's to a promising and transformative 2023, where we fortify our resolve to protect and empower the children of Tanzania. Together, we can build a brighter future for them, one filled with hope, opportunity, and unwavering support.

With profound appreciation,

Kiiya JK

C-Sema is committed to promote and protect children’s rights, to safeguarding the welfare of children.

We are dedicated to championing the welfare of children. Our unwavering commitment centers around prioritising the child's best interests in every aspect of our work. We firmly believe that any form of child abuse constitutes a grave infringement upon their rights, compromising their ability to thrive and grow. Every child deserves the opportunity to reach their utmost potential, receiving access to high-quality education and meaningful participation.

We reached over 8,900 school-going & non-school-going children through our school outreach and GBV & VAC awareness-raising children dialogues.

School Outreach

#Mfanyakazi Project

KUWAZA

Chaguo Langu Haki Yangu

National Campaign on Ending Violence Against Women and Children

The GRREAT Project

International Day of the Girl Child

2022 Child Helpline Statistics

One of C-Sema’s core values is learning, which is why she aims to ensure that the counselors at the Helpline are continuously attaining valuable information and knowledge that will keep them well informed. In that regard, C-Sema conducted periodic quarterly refresher training and Case Management Review audits on Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV), Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health (ASRH), Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Stress Management Sessions for Counselors and Staff throughout 2022.

We were able to reach 140 counselors (78 females and 62 males).

The training sessions were conducted in two-day intervals with a variety of sessions on the aforementioned topics in between. In every session, the counselors were given a chance to ask questions and share their ideas.

C-Sema constantly strives to cultivate partnerships that serve the goal of protecting children. For the year 2022, we partnered with Feed the Children International to conduct school outreach activities in Morogoro Districts with the main objective of sensitizing children in schools to identify and report incidences of Violence Against Children (VAC) and to raise awareness on the use of the National Child Helpline number (116). The activity covered 10 schools with approximately 8,000 children and began with a 3-day stakeholder consultation and capacity building where 30 individuals from the areas around the schools covered attended.

During the entirety of the activity, participants discussed topics related to Child Protection, Child Rights, Child Abuse, Positive Skillful Parenting, Online Child Protection & Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA), general principles of UNCRC, and the duties of aid rights holders.

Sessions involved people from different community levels i.e., Ward Executive Officers (WEO), Ward Education Officers (WEO), Social Welfare Officers (SWO), Headteachers, Police Children and Gender Desk, District court magistrates, guidance and counseling teachers, and supporting staff from Feed the children.

After this consultation, we were happy to learn that in some wards, bylaws were set to guide local cinemas also known as ‘vibanda umiza’ on how to protect children from watching movies with adult content, and in some wards these cinemas were completely banned from showcasing everything except football matches.

Teachers learned how to properly assist children who experienced sexual abuse, in one instance the perpetrator received a prison sentence after the case was reported to the appropriate authority.

As a result, child protection issues in schools improved after the sensitization. Headteachers reported that after the training they shared the knowledge with their staff and promised to pay close attention to the children in their care and in the surrounding villages.

For two weeks the team set out to Mvuha, Dalla, Msonge, Tambuu, Lundi, Kiroka, Bondwa, Kinole, Lung’ala, and Ngong’olo primary schools. They spent their time sensitizing children on issues of reporting VAC and building the capacity of Guidance & counseling teachers to improve student-to-student relationships by stopping bullying behavior and empowering them to report any violence on behalf of their fellow students.

This was done via focus group discussions in sessions that were scheduled with adherence to the students’ timetables. Facilitators explained the concepts of Physical abuse, Sexual abuse, Neglect, Emotional abuse, Gender-Based Violence, Online abuse and reporting systems including the 116 number. We observed that children are more aware of their rights and responsibilities than what VAC issues are. The majority of them were aware of the available reporting systems because of their teachers.

Child trafficking for domestic servitude has been among the contributing factors to domestic violence against children, it deprives them of their right to an education but also allows perpetrators to abuse them sexually, physically, and emotionally. In addressing this problem C-Sema throughout 2022, continued her implementation of the MFANYAKAZI project in the Singida Region of Tanzania with support from BRIS (SvEO). The project aims to contribute to the eradication of child trafficking for domestic work and strengthen the child protection system in Singida.

In its Pilot and 2nd Phase the project focused on first, strengthening capacity & linkages between C-Sema, the allied service providers, and actors in the Singida Region to prevent and respond to cases of child trafficking for domestic work

The main targeted group here were Local Government Officials (LGAs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), women & children from the targeted wards, and committee members (NPA-VAWC). We held 4 capacity-building sessions on Violence Against Children (VAC) that brought together guidance and counseling teachers of all targeted schools, the ward Police Gender and Children Desk (PGCD), and representatives of all wards.

The key objective of these sessions was to capacitate the actors who primarily respond to children’s cases at the ward level and at schools on how to deal with VAC. The regional office used this opportunity to train the teachers who are the key primary custodian of children in schools, on how to handle VAC cases once they are reported.

The main objectives here were to share experiences on how to best handle child trafficking cases, learn how to deal with VAC cases from all levels and get recommendations from child protection actors and different CSO’s on how to combat child trafficking issues in Singida.

The Project also sought to raise awareness among children and community members to prevent, detect and report cases of child trafficking for domestic work.

Under this we held three different activities i.e.,

We conducted 18 school outreaches and reached 15,422 children (7764 girls and 7658 boys). 540 of these children were JUU club members. We had meaningful talks with them and shared pamphlets they could read and discuss whenever they met. This turned children to be ambassadors for child trafficking issues and VAC. These school outreach activities contributed to the increased awareness of the National Child Helpline (116) and an increase in calls from the Region during that time.

In 2022, we had a great partnership with Standard Radio Ltd – Singida, a local radio that has estimations of reaching a population of 4.5 million with coverage in four regions (Tabora, Manyara, Shinyanga and Singida) and can be streamed online through their website (www.standardvoice.co.tz).

With Standard Radio, we held 16 successful half-hour live programs and Q&A interactions with listeners in Standard radio. The radio shows turned out to be the best-suited platform for addressing child trafficking matters in the community and gave room for people to participate; giving advice and airing out their opinions on the ways to combat child trafficking in their areas.

We were able to hold 12 different community dialogues in 5 wards that aimed at raising awareness at community level on how to detect, prevent & report VAC cases focusing on child trafficking for domestic servitude reaching 1542 community members.

This intervention brought us closer to the communities and helped build synergies between key frontline service providers and even among the children. It also uncovered challenges in the community that need prevention and response.

KUWAZA, (Kuzuia Udhalilishaji wa Watoto Zanzibar) which translates to Prevention of Violence Against Children in Zanzibar, is a three-year multi-component VAC prevention and response intervention funded by the Oak Foundation. The intervention is focused on the Unguja North region in both districts, North A and B as it has been since 2014. We are implementing KUWAZA in collaboration with Action Aid Tanzania, Pathfinder, and International Center for Research on Women (ICRW).

In 2022, we entered into phase 3 of the project which specifically focuses on addressing Sexual Violence Against Children (SVAC), our task in the consortium is advocacy, documentation, and sharing uptakes/learnings from the project with the wider community since the project is meant to pilot what works to prevent SVAC to be adopted widely in Zanzibar and other regions.

In our effort to achieve the intended project goal, several activities have been implemented and are ongoing including (1) strengthening the referral system in Zanzibar. Child protection frontline service providers including, Police, Gender and children’s Desks, health workers and child protection frontline service providers, Shehia committees, and children’s court officials were introduced to the project goal and provided with the knowledge and skills needed to prevent SVAC through strengthened coordination.

In collaboration with partners including the government, the referral protocol, and directory of child protection service providers were updated, (2) Community Engagement. 250 Community members (183 female and 66 male) were reached and shared their knowledge and awareness of SVAC and the presence of the helpline 116 prior to the actual implementation that will train the mon SVAC prevention with the aim of measuring the impact of the project; (3) Social & Mainstream Media Sessions.

We amplified KUWAZA’s work to the community to capture their take and perspective on SVAC status prevalence in Zanzibar so that in its course of implementation the community will support it, in order to get the desired outcome.

Through radio dialogues and social media engagement, it was learned that the community, especially that of youth and young people acknowledge the presence of SVAC incidents in Zanzibar and suggested several solutions to address it including improving bystander intervention and parenting practices especially positive parent-child communication and strengthening law enforcement to ensure justice for children is served by holding perpetrators accountable. This was an encouraging lesson to take with us towards the implementation of KUWAZA III as the suggested solutions reflect our objectives.

Face to face Youth and Children dialogues on the situation of SVAC was held in different Shehias of the project site where 140+ children and youth attended (80 girls and boys 49). Some of these children represented the children’s council and our takeaway from their discussion is that SVAC exists and they are aware but insist on law enforcement and perpetrators’ conviction.

We have so far learned from these activities that our objectives are valid and as consortium members we are on the right track with our planned activities to execute KUWAZA III. Our objectives are to achieve social norms and behavior change needed to support the primary prevention of sexual violence against children by improving adult protection of children in their care; strengthening joint decision-making and communications between children and adults, and improving bystander intervention at the community level.

We are proud to be an Implementing Partner for Chaguo Langu Haki Yangu 'My Rights My Choices', a three-and-a-half-year program (2021-2025) implemented by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, in partnership with the Embassy of Finland in Tanzania.

The program’s goals are to ensure that the rights and choices of women and girls, particularly women and girls with disabilities, are protected and enhanced through a multi-sectoral and holistic response that tackles gender-based violence (GBV) and harmful practices including early, forced & child marriage, and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).The program is implemented as part of activities to realize the National Plans of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children (NPA-VAWC) in Mainland Tanzania (2016/17 - 2021/22) and Zanzibar (2017 - 2022).

Together with other Implementing Partners, we conducted field visits to AT-FGM Masanga and WiLDAF to establish rapport and close working relationship which we believe will effectively help us implement all planned activities towards achieving the goals of the CLHY Programme.

We also made advocacy efforts through IEC / BCC Materials development and radio programs to raise awareness on GBV, child marriage, and FGM. This was done in consultation with organizations and institutions working with persons with Disabilities in Shinyanga, Tarime, Butiama, Mara & Zanzibar. These organisations include the likes of; Jumuiya ya Watu Wenye Ulemavu Zanzibar (JUWAZA) and Shirikisho la Jumuiya ya Watu Wenye Ulemavu Zanzibar (SHIJUWAZA) who also participated in validating the content depicted in the IEC&BBC materials.

The CLHY program also gave us an opportunity to conduct internal training on Sexual Gender Based Violence in relevance to the rights of persons with disabilities with the National Child Helpline counselors and staff in Mainland and Zanzibar. We as an organisation understand that we cannot speak for marginalized groups which is why we are as adamant as ever to continue making efforts to make the Helpline accessible and give them a sustainable platform they can use when need be. We are just getting started!

In 2022 we set out to assist the Government of Zanzibar in reviewing and revising the National Plan of Action for Violence Against Women and Children (NPA-VAWC) with support from The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This activity was conducted in phases and aimed to improve the inclusivity of persons with disabilities as well as dissect all spectrums of Gender Based Violence (GBV).

We preliminarily started out by sharing the current draft of the NPA-VAWC with key stakeholders in Unguja and Pemba including Government Representatives, NGOs, Law Enforcement Officers, and Service providers to review and gauge how well the plan of action was implemented with a keen eye on its three thematic areas i.e., Enabling environment, Prevention & Response, and Sustainability.

All inputs obtained from these meetings informed the technical team on what needs to be added or deducted from the current NPA-VAWC, whether it should be extended, for what period of time, and if there is a need for a new NPA-VAWC to be developed.

Girls’ Reproductive Rights Education Accelerated in Tanzania (GRREAT) is a project by the Ministry of Health supported by UNFPA and we happen to be one of implementing partners in this project which is meant to accelerate girls’ and boy’s (adolescents and youth) rights to access quality Sexual and Reproductive Health Services and Education in Zanzibar through adolescent-led quality assurance mechanism (e-platform).

C-Sema was entrusted by the Ministry of Health Zanzibar through the Department of Integrated Reproductive and Child Health Program (IRCHP) in 2020 under GRREAT program supported by UNFPA to develop a digital platform where youth can confidentially access info-education on SRH and provide feedback on the quality of SRH services provided at youth-led centers known as youth-friendly service centers (YFS).

One of the targeted outcomes of this project was to reduce barriers for adolescent girls’ and boys’ access to rights-based, gender-sensitive, and adolescent-friendly SRHR and nutrition information and services in selected districts. Through the Mrejesho platform, we were able to establish adolescent-led quality assurance mechanisms for SRH Services-Demand Creation for Youths in Zanzibar and Mainland.

Every year on October 11th, the world commemorates the international day of the girl child (IDGC) to celebrate the achievements and potential of girls, recognize girls’ rights and identify the unique challenges that girls face around the world. This year’s commemoration marked 10 years since IDGC started to be observed in 2012, in that regard, we were able to coordinate a number of events in different regions of the country.

In Dar-es-Salaam we partnered with four other girls’ rights organisations; Flaviana Matata Foundation, Girl Effect, Msichana Initiative, and Tai Tanzania to launch the Girl Agenda Forum, whose goal is to put girls at the center of discussions to raise their voices, highlight their issues and come up with recommendations.

The Forum was launched by the UN Women global Executive Director, Ms. Sima Bahous at an event that was also graced by the Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Dr. Dorothy Gwajima at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Centre (JNICC).

The event brought together 200 girls of ages between 14 - 22 from Zanzibar and the Mainland regions of Iringa, Dodoma, Shinyanga, Tabora and Dar es Salaam. The girls had two extremely specific demands. They wanted immediate commitments from the UN Women delegation and the Minister That the Law of Marriage of 1971 will be amended to ensure that girls can only be married upon attaining the age of 18 years; and that taxes on sanitary pads be removed to allow girls from low-income households a chance to afford them.

In Ikungi, Singida

The activity brought together a total of 150 in-school and out-of-school girls. (The out-of-school girls are those who lost school opportunities due to teenage pregnancies and teenage marriages).

In Msalala, Shinyanga we hosted a total of 350 people among them 114 girls and 56 boys from Ntobo, Segese, Mwalimu Nyerere, Shilela and Nyikoboko Secondary Schools. We also invited 80 out-of-school girls from Segese and Shilela wards.

In Zanzibar, we started off by conducting a satellite event that was held at Mikunguni Tech Secondary School. The event was conducted in the form of dialogues concerning; How high taxation on menstrual pads and the available legal frameworks affect girls' education. The main speakers and performers during the dialogue were 55 girls & 4 boys from Mikunguni and 8 girls & 6 boys from Fujoni Primary School. The event also involved other stakeholders from the Ministry of Education and Teachers from both schools.

In 2022, we saw an increase in digital engagement and profile visits across all our platforms;

Post interactions

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FINANCIALS

C-Sema received a total of 1,648,397,667/= grants in 2022.

Segal Family Foundation

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