On Saturday 30th of April 2022 The United Nations Association of Tanzania joined hands the Youth of United Nations Association of Tanzania for a thrilling youth symposium with the theme YOUTH ROLES IN SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND ENDING INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE a pre-event towards Tanzania International Model United Nations (TIMUN 2022 ) at the National Museum, Posta. The symposium was attended by 584 young people with the intention of providing information and understanding on sexual reproductive health and rights. To evaluate the challenges and solutions of addressing Intimate partner violence. To raise awareness on the national and International commitments that Tanzania abides with on sexual reproductive health and rights. As well as utilize the space to foster conversations on the importance of youth participation and engagement in policy processes in order to stimulate youth desired change.

The symposium included presentations from guest speakers and a panel discussion. The presentations were from Tausi Hassan, Program analyst – youth development at UNFPA Tanzania and Catherine Fidelis, Program assistant – Education for health and well being at UNESCO Tanzania. Aside from that, there was a panel discussion which was moderated by Ms. Frida Muslimu, Youth Advisory Panel ( YAP ) member at UNFP Tanzania included panelists with rich experience in different components of sexual reproductive health and rights. They were Salha Azizi- Founder of Binti Salha Foundation and SRHR consultant speaking on intimate partner violence, Shedrack Msuya- Founder Salama Foundation and Content Developer at Infolife Tanzania reflecting on age appropriate comprehensive sexuality education, Ummilkher Yassin- President TIMUN 2021 and SRHR Advocate articulating friendly sexual reproductive health services to youth, Catherine Madebe- Program Lead Mulika Tanzania revealing the national and International commitments that Tanzania abides with on sexual reproductive health and rights and Lucas Kifyasi- Head of Programs UNA Tanzania expressed on youth participation on policy processes.

In the first presentation Tausi Hassani gave a situational analysis on youth and adolescents sexual health in the country. It showcased important statistics such as teenage pregnancy (age 15-19) is at 27% (8% in ZNZ), HIV prevalence among youth (age 15-24) is at 1.4% and GBV: Adolescent  girls experience of sexual violence by age 15 is at 4% while the total percentage of young people (aged 10-24) in the country is at 33% and adolescents aged 10-19 years is at 23%. All these are out of the 2018 NBS projections from the 2012 national census. She went on to put greater emphasis on how accurate SRHR information to adolescents and youth would alleviate the situation. She said, “Education and proper information of sexual reproductive health should be accepted by the society and made accessible to youth”. Furthermore she encouraged youth to seek SRHR education.

Ms. Catherine Fidelis, who was among the guest speakers, conveyed the second presentation on the issues concerning intimate partner violence particularly to higher learning students in Tanzania . She noted that “acts of violence  are end results but they actually begin from the mind and in addressing  the issue, among other things we need to create interventions that deal with attitude and mindset change”.

An interesting panel discussion proceeded the presentations diving more deeper on the components of SRHR. Mrs. Salha Azizi spoke about the solution to Tanzania’s Intimate Partner Violence problem and its root causes. Poverty and economic dependency are two of the reasons of violence, according to her. “Youths in relationships should keep an open eye to symptoms of violence, such as a dominating partner, and if they are faced with any physical or psychological violence, they should come out and report to the responsible authority,” she strongly advised the young. Followed on the floor was about Shedrack Msuya, he highlighted Tanzania’s comprehensive sexuality education scenario as well as a few challenges. He added that the government and civic society are working to provide sexual education to teenagers and adolescents, but that the process is complicated by ideological differences in cultures and religion. Another important aspect discussed was friendly sexual reproductive health services, Ms. Ummilkher Yassin presented a review of the country’s youth-friendly sexual health-care conditions, stating that “youth sexual health-care services should be welcoming,administered with less judgment by the health care workers, and confidential to allow youths to feel more comfortable accessing them”. She also recommended the youngsters to seek health services regardless of the present challenges but also to participate in local government health meetings for the sake of suggesting ways to make youth health services more pleasant. Ms. Catherine Madebe spoke on the country’s strategic commitments. She went on to say that since 2018, the government and civil society have been working hard to develop a health strategy for youth that addresses concerns such as providing a safe environment for adolescents to access SRHR while also providing guidelines to non-governmental groups providing SRHR education. Last but not least on the panel was Mr. Lucas Kifyasi Focused on youth participation in decision-making in youth health initiatives. He explained, “No one should decide on the youngsters, it is up to youths to be confident enough to utilize local decision making bodies to express their voice on youth’ health agendas, influence policies and budget because that is where national plans begin”.

UNA Tanzania believes that good health and well being is crucial for the prosperity of the lives of young people and sexual health is not to be ignored. It starts with providing access to accurate information that will allow young people to make informed decisions about their sexual health. Henceforth we support the creation of an environment that enables young people to obtain such information like symposiums for youth by the youth.

“The theme of this year’s World Environment Day, “Only One Earth”, is a simple statement of fact.

This planet is our only home.  It is vital we safeguard the health of its atmosphere, the richness and diversity of life on Earth, its ecosystems and its finite resources.  But we are failing to do so.  We are asking too much of our planet to maintain ways life that are unsustainable.  Earth’s natural systems cannot keep up with our demands. 

This not only hurts the Earth, but us too.  A healthy environment is essential for all people and all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  It provides food, clean water, medicines, climate regulation and protection from extreme weather events.  It is essential that we wisely manage nature and ensure equitable access to its services, especially for the most vulnerable people and communities.

More than 3 billion people are affected by degraded ecosystems.  Pollution is responsible for some 9 million premature deaths each year.  More than 1 million plant and animal species risk extinction, many within decades.

Close to half of humanity is already in the climate danger zone – 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts such as extreme heat, floods and drought.  There is a 50:50 chance that annual average global temperatures will breach the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next five years.  More than 200 million people each year could be displaced by climate disruption by 2050.

Fifty years ago, the world’s leaders came together at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and committed to protecting the planet.  But we are far from succeeding.  We can no longer ignore the alarm bells that ring louder every day.

The recent Stockholm+50 environment meeting reiterated that all 17 Sustainable Development Goals rely on a healthy planet.  We must all take r responsibility to avert the catastrophe being wrought by the triple crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.

Governments need urgently to prioritize climate action and environmental protection through policy decisions that promote sustainable progress.  To that end, I have proposed five concrete recommendations to dramatically speed up the deployment of renewable energy everywhere, including making renewable technologies and raw materials available to all, cutting red tape, shifting subsidies and tripling investment.

Businesses need to put sustainability at the heart of their decision-making for the sake of humanity and their own bottom line.  A healthy planet is the backbone of nearly every industry on Earth.

And as voters and consumers we must make our actions count: from the policies we support, to the food we eat, to the transport we choose, to the companies we support.  We can all make environmentally friendly choices that will add up to the change we need.

Women and girls, in particular, can be forceful agents of change.  They must be empowered and included in decision-making at all levels.  Likewise, indigenous and traditional knowledge must also be respected and harnessed to help protect our fragile ecosystems.

History has shown what can be achieved when we work together and put the planet first.  In the 1980s, when scientists warned about a deadly continent-sized hole in the ozone layer, every country committed to the Montreal Protocol to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals. 

In the 1990s, the Basel Convention outlawed the dumping of toxic waste in developing countries.  And, last year, a multilateral effort ended the production of leaded petrol – a move that will promote better health and prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths each year.

This year and the next will present more opportunities for the global community to demonstrate the power of multilateralism to tackle our intertwined environmental crises, from negotiations on a new global biodiversity framework to reverse nature loss by 2030 to the establishment of a treaty to tackle plastics pollution.

The United Nations is committed to leading these cooperative global efforts, because the only way forward is to work with nature, not against it.  Together we can ensure that our planet not only survives, but thrives, because we have Only One earth”.

On 24th February UNA Tanzania in partnership with The Embassy of Netherlands in Tanzania and HIVOS conducted a climate talk titled “TAKE CHARGE OF OUR FUTURE: YOUNG ACTIVISTS IN TIMES OF CLIMATE CHANGE” which happened at Alliance Francaise Dar es salaam. The event gathered around 150 participants which included secondary school students, University students and young people out of academic institutions who are enthusiastic about climate change. The aim was to showcase young people who are taking charge to tackle climate change and use that as an inspiration for others to trickle down practices and habits of conserving the environment. Also to issue a wake-up call to governments and international organizations to escalate their commitment to climate change.

It was a powerful storytelling event that spotlighted 6 Tanzanian youth climate change activists who shared their stories and ideas about the climate crisis. Their backgrounds are different, from a  Tanzanian independent photographer with a specific interest in SDGs: Imani Nsamila, a youth-led non-governmental organization (ICCAO Tanzania) founder: Zahra Saleh, an environmental activist, humanitarian and educationist working in different conservation initiatives Shamim Nyanda, a member of UNFPA youth Advisory Panel and founder of Mtoto Smart initiative Tanzania: Gertrude Clement, an SDGs champion, the National Treasurer at YUNA and the Coastal Zone Coordinator at Activista Tanzania: Ally Mwamzola as well as one of the leading Tanzanian artists and regreening ambassador: Ben Pol. Even though they are all different they possess one thing in common: a passion for the environment and a strong desire to leave the earth and Tanzania in good shape for the next generations. They conveyed powerful personal stories on their fight against the adverse effects of climate change, each one using their own means starting from their immediate environment until some of them managed to gain global recognition and reach global platforms such as the COP 26 and the Paris Agreement signing ceremony in 2016.