Sofia's & Salome’s Journey: From Silence to Empowerment
As the world celebrates Women's month, the global theme For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment reflects the core values driving transformative efforts across Tanzania. This month serves as a reminder of the ongoing journey towards achieving full equality for women and girls, emphasizing the importance of providing the skills, knowledge, and opportunities needed to empower women and girls, including those with disabilities, regardless of their background or circumstances.
At the heart of these efforts is UNFPA’s flagship program My Rights, My Choice, supported by the Government of Finland, that is changing the lives of countless women and girls, including those with disabilities across the country. The program is designed to provide women and girls with life-skills education, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, ending gender-based violence and child marriage through empowering them with the knowledge and resources to make informed choices about their lives, bodies, and futures.
Sofia's Journey: From Silence to Empowerment
For Sofia, a bright 21-year-old girl from Kishapu, Shinyanga region, a rural district in Tanzania, My Rights, My Choice has been a life-changing experience. Born in a community where early marriage is common, Sofia’s future was thought to be limited to taking care of the household and family. However, with the programme support, Sofia has defied these expectations and carved a path toward a future she once believed was not possible.
Through the program, Sofia also gained access to essential sexual and reproductive health information that allowed her to make informed decisions about her body and her future. These lessons have empowered Sofia to gain independence but also enabled her to stand up for herself in a community, where women and girls are often expected to live by societal norms that restrict their freedom and autonomy.
“I used to feel like I didn’t have a voice like my choices didn’t matter,” Sofia shares. “But now I understand and claim my rights. I am empowered to decide when and who I want to marry, when I want to have children, and I can stop up against gender-based violence. If I want to continue my education. I know I can follow my dreams and become a doctor one day.”
Salome's Path: Empowering Women to Lead and Advocate
For Salome, a 26-year-old community leader in Kahama, empowerment means taking control of her own life and helping uplift others. A mother of three, Salome was once confined to the traditional roles expected of women in her community, where many women have limited opportunities to engage in decision-making. However, through the My Rights, My Choice program, Salome has become a powerful advocate for women’s rights in her community and beyond.
“Empowerment is not just about me,” Salome explains. “It’s about lifting others up, especially women and girls who struggle to understand their rights. When we have the power to make decisions about our bodies and our futures, we are unstoppable. I see women in my community starting businesses, attending school, and standing up for their rights. This is the change we need.”
Salome’s journey is a powerful example of the broader impact of the My Rights, My Choice program. By providing women and girls knowledge about their rights, access to essential vocational skills and sexual and reproductive health services including prevention and response to gender-based violence and harmful practices, the program empowers women and girls with the decision-making power. When women and girls are aware of their rights they can sit in the driver seat and decide whether to pursue higher education, set up a business or engage in community leadership and become agents of change in their communities. Being able to decide over their own future significantly improves women and girls life and also protects them and their peers from gender-based violence and child marriage.
Empowerment Through Education: Building a Future of Equality
A key element that connects Sofia and Salome's stories is the transformative power of life-skills education and understanding of their rights and how to exercise them. By providing life-skills education, the My Rights, My Choice program ensures that women and girls are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to stand up for themselves, seek support if they have experienced and/or are in fear of facing gender-based violence and make informed decisions about their bodies and futures.
Education, including vocational training, provides women and girls with the tools to succeed academically, set up businesses, and offer a pathway to economic independence and leadership. With the life-skills education and skills learned through the My Rights, My Choice program, women and girls are better prepared to break free from cycles of poverty, early marriage, and gender-based violence and build successful futures for themselves and their families.
A Broader Impact: Shaping Communities and Changing Lives
Through programs like My Rights, My Choice, UNFPA is transforming the lives of individual women and girls and shaping the future of entire communities. When women and girls are empowered to make their own choices, their whole communities benefit. Empowered women contribute to healthier families, improved economic stability, and stronger, more resilient societies.
The My Rights, My Choice program emphasizes the importance of human rights, gender equality, and ending gender-based violence and child marriage.By providing women with the tools to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and stand up against gender-based violence and child marriage, the program is helping to create a world where women and girls are not just surviving but thriving and contributing to the development of society.
As we celebrate women’s month, the stories of Sofia and Salome remind us that empowerment is not just about individual success—it’s about ensuring that every woman and girl has the opportunity to live a life of dignity, choice, and opportunity, thereby changing the narrative for future generations.
UNFPA’s support through the My Rights, My Choice programme funded by the Government of Finland is helping pave the way for a future where women and girls everywhere can live free from violence, claim their rights, embrace equality, and experience true empowerment.
--
Media Inquiries:
Dr. Warren Bright,
UNFPA Communications Analyst,
United Republic of Tanzania
Mobile: +255 764 43 44 45
Email: bwarren@unfpa.org
