LASWIDA – TANZANIA (Tanzania’s Institute of Legal Assistance for Street Children, Widows, and People with Disabilities) is a Nonprofit Organization registered under Non-Governmental Organizations Act, No. 24 of 2002 with registration No. 00NGO/R1/00894 and LAP-2023-0003. The core purpose is to bring back a smile to Street Children, Widows and People with Disabilities on the consideration that, these groups are particularly vulnerable to rights breaches and abuse because they are either illiterate, have limited access to support systems and representation, and or are currently struggling to meet their basic requirements which are limited by access to income and properties.
To promote, safeguard, and defend the rights and interests of widows, street children, and disabled people in Tanzania.
Restoring a smile to all widows, street children, and persons with disabilities in Tanzania
We are ready to always to tell the truth, good or bad.
What makes different from other institutions is the way we have choosen to address problems facing the neediest people.
Whatever we do, you can always count on us.
We are prepared to provide quality services and outcomes.
We hire only the best and gain cutting-edge knowledge of capacity building.
We colaborate, share, and support one another to achieve excellence.
We leave aside personal considerations and feelings to be helpful and polite to others.
In Tanzania, the majority of widows, street children and people with disabilities face discrimination, have low incomes, and are in poor physical and mental health, which restricts their access to legal services and jeopardizes their financial security. Several legal amendments and ratification of international laws had been done by the Tanzanian government to improve the welfare of the Widows and Children though the challenge remains on the part of implementation and conflict between laws. Customary and Islamic law which is the predominant system of intestate succession in Tanzania limits women’s inheritance based on their gender. Under customary law, a widow is generally denied inheritance thus impoverishing women and leaving their survival at the mercy of men. Women also have to contend with widespread property grabbing, eviction from their homes under witchcraft accusations, and sometimes even the loss of their children by abusive relatives. Women in polygamous families have to further split any meager inheritance they do receive. Suffering is especially severe in light of the AIDS pandemic, which has increased the number and vulnerability of widows and orphans who later become Street Children. The same situation applies in religious intermarriages, particularly where a nonMuslim widow cannot inherit from her Muslim husband. This also encourages greedy relatives to take children away from their mothers to access their property resulting in an increased number of street children who escape from mistreatment done by their relatives and start new lives in town streets.
LASWIDA – Tanzania aims at protecting the street children against tougher, inhumanity and death while preparing them to become the best parents for future Tanzania. Also, though protecting the widows‟ right to property, the organization intends to minimize the number of children running from their homes to the streets. The Organizational Slogan is “FROM STREET CHILDREN TO BEST PARENTS”.
People with different Disabilities in Tanzania like in so many other countries encounter a lot of challenges which push them to humiliation, and abuse of their rights resulting in extreme poverty. The poverty rate for persons with disabilities is an alarming situation which has turned some of them into beggars in the street. LASWIDA – Tanzania aims to address several challenges including but not limited to the list hereunder to improve their livelihood.
© 2023 Laswida Tanzania.
