Pamoja Tuwalee, which is Kiswahili for “let’s bring up children together,” supports the Government of Tanzania in implementing the country’s National Costed Plan of Action for Most Vulnerable Children (NCPA). The project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, aims to improve the quality of life and well-being of the nation’s most vulnerable children and their households by empowering households and communities to provide comprehensive and sustainable care, support and protection.
The key objectives of Pamoja Tuwalee are to: 1) increase the capacity of communities and local governments to meet the needs of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their households, 2) increase the capacity of households to protect, care for and meet the basic needs of OVC by improving their caretaking and livelihood skills while promoting health-seeking behaviors, 3) increase OVC households’ access to comprehensive, high-quality, age-appropriate and gender-sensitive services by creating integrated community-level referral networks that strengthen the continuum of care and 4) empower OVC, particularly girls, to contribute to their own well-being.
Our household-based approach is built around two complementary strategies: integration and empowerment. FHI 360 and its partners implement capacity-building activities to provide, manage and access OVC care, support and protection; mobilize and generate support for OVC through developing public–private partnerships; strengthen referral networks for HIV/AIDS and OVC services; improve skills of caretakers; address gender-based violence and other gender issues; and build on children’s strengths to improve their self-esteem and coping skills and reduce self-stigma and the impact of discrimination.
Pamoja Tuwalee works in 25 districts in the regions of Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Pwani, as well as Zanzibar. The project is implemented in partnership with Deloitte and local technical partners such as Pastoral Activities and Services for People with AIDS in Dar es Salaam Archdiocese; the Centre for Counseling, Nutrition and Health Care; the Tanzanian Women Lawyers Association; and Wanawake na Maendeleo Foundation. Pamoja Tuwalee also works with 10 civil society organizations that implement the program at the district level.