Hakizetu Tanzania

Evodius founded Hakizetu Tanzania alongside four other founding members to promote women's rights and prevent child marriage and child exploitation in Tanzania. Hakizetu Tanzania has helped 1,754 women access legal aid, and educated over 5,000 students on women’s rights. Hakizetu is a Swahili word, which literally means ‘our rights’. Hakizetu Tanzania is committed to empowering young women and girls so that they can be heard and supported nationally and internationally. The organisation does this in a number of different ways. Hakizetu Tanzania provides vocational training skills through its Economic Empowerment programme, where young mothers can learn tailoring and garment design, hotel management, computer skills and entrepreneurial skills. Hakizetu Tanzania has helped to put 34 child domestic workers back into school, and it offers support to young mothers, women and children in need by providing legal aid and social counselling. As well as this, the organisation offers capacity building sessions which empower community members to discuss and design strategies for preventing violence against women and reducing stigma around abortion. Hakizetu also conducts education programmes in schools to teach students about safe sexual health practices and to raise awareness for the eradication of early marriage and violence against women. The work of the organisation is supported by a range of organisations including the Africa Women Development Fund, Novo Foundation, Open Society Initiative and Tools Cymru. After returning home from the One Young World 2017 Bogotá Summit, Evodius began forging relationships with delegates across the continent working on economic empowerment for women.