Dr. Fenella Mukungara, gender programme coordinator at the University of Dar es Salaam, is interviewed by Ambika Kapur, Carnegie Corporation of New York’s coordinator for public affairs and media relations.

Kapur: You have championed the cause of the education of Tanzanian women. What factors influenced your decision to embrace this issue?

Mukungara: First of all, I strongly believe that access to education and particularly higher education is the key to women’s empowerment in Tanzania. Education enables women to conceptualize, articulate and question various elements of inequality, even those perpetuated by cultural practices and tradition. I think my perceptions have a lot to do with being a woman who grew up in Tanzania at a time when principles of gender equality were being brought to the surface for the first time in Tanzanian society. I was also fortunate to come from a family, who provided equal space and access to education to me and my siblings. However, this was not the case for many of my classmates. When I was in school, a large part of the cost for education was covered by the government, but a lot of families couldn’t afford to cover the remaining education expenses. I witnessed some of my classmates being asked to leave school for failing to cover the portion of expenses that their parents had to contribute. Most often, the students who were sent home were girls. For example, if two or three children from the same family were sent home because they couldn’t afford to pay for school, the parents would manage to secure funds for the boy in the family and the girl would be left behind. I remember another incident, when one of my classmates who was doing very well in school, did not show up after our summer break. I thought her parents may have been transferred to another town or she may have changed schools. But I learned later that she had been forced to get married. It did not make sense to me then but now I understand that her family, like many others in Tanzania, believed that a women’s role is first as a child in her father’s home and then as a wife in her husband’s home.

After my postgraduate studies, I got involved with the women’s movement in Tanzania and educational access was and still is one of the key issues that we work towards—particularly the education of girls. So things have not changed very much. Even today in Tanzania, a substantial part of the female population does not have the opportunity to enjoy what we take for granted—decent, basic education, let alone higher education.

Now, at the University of Dar es Salaam, I am trying in my own small way to ensure that sustainable measures are taken by the university to promote access to higher education for Tanzanian women. I am also trying to raise awareness of not just the general problems that female students face and how they can be overcome, but more importantly, I am creating networks so that women can begin to share their concerns and experiences relating to gender issues at the university.

Kapur: In an attempt to create new educational pathways for women, the University of Dar es Salaam has been revamping its policies and programs to help boost female enrollment and to improve opportunities for women at the university through its “Transformation Programme.” What role has this university transformation program played in promoting this agenda?

Mukungara: Over the years, there have been many efforts to promote a more gender-equitable environment at the University of Dar es Salaam. The forward-looking strategies advised by the 1985 Nairobi Women in Development Conference influenced the establishment of an University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Association (UDASA) Committee to address gender equality at the university. Then, slowly but surely, in the early 1990s, some courses on gender issues were introduced into the curriculum.

But for the University of Dar es Salaam, with a mission that includes teaching and research, translating women’s development and gender policy into action meant addressing all facets of gender imbalances in student enrollment, staff recruitment, representation in decision-making bodies, the teaching curricula etc. So, in 1995, the Gender Dimension Task Force was formed, which documented several aspects of the university’s environment and academic culture. This was part of the university-wide transformation process that was taking place at the same time. One of the objectives of this transformation process was to ensure gender equality at all levels of university operations.

The Gender Dimension Task Force was required to make specific recommendations about how to address the problems proactively and attain a 50 percent increase in female student enrollment and at least 30 percent increase in female staff recruitment by the year 2002. However, after some study, the task force found that only a few departments at the university had incorporated gender studies in their curricula, that the majority of the university community was not gender-sensitive and could not articulate the concept of gender in broad terms. There was also a continuing gender imbalance in staff recruitment and promotion and in student admission.

As a result of these findings, a Gender Dimension Programme Committee was formed in 1997 with the main objective of mainstreaming gender equity into all university activities. I am part of that committee.

Kapur: What is your role as the gender programme coordinator at the university?

Mukungara: As the coordinator and facilitator of the Gender Dimension Programme Committee, I am responsible for the administration and implementation of the committee’s day-to-day executive decisions. My functions include promoting the university’s gender programme vision, ideas and conceptual framework. Generally, I am involved in preparing annual plans and implementation reports and in assisting in and overseeing mobilization of funds for the programme, as well as promoting local and international networking on gender studies and research, and in pushing forward the ideal of effective representation of the gender programme in the university’s planning and administrative structures; in this regard, I am one of the key spokespersons for the gender programme.

I also follow up on and pursue issues of resource allocation for the gender programme from the university administration, as well as oversee the use of funds and materials. But mainly, I coordinate the Female Undergraduate Scholarship Programme (FUSP), initiated by the Gender Dimension Programme Committee and managed by the university under the general guidance and principles stipulated by the Female Undergraduate Scholarship Committee (FUSC), which is chaired by the chief academic officer. The Scholarship Programme began operating in October 2001 with a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. From the time when it began, a total of 100 students from various faculties and course programs have participated. I am involved in its day-to day management, and implementation and in publicizing the scholarship programme.

Kapur: How have the Gender Dimension Programme Committee and the scholarship program for women helped in the promotion of a gender equitable environment at the University of Dar es Salaam?

Mukungara: The changes that the Gender Dimension Programme Committee have implemented are already having a noticeable impact. Female students at the university are now 27 percent of the total enrollment of 7,000, compared to about 15 percent before the Transformation Programme was put in place. In some departments, increases in the number of female students have been much greater: in the 2000-2001 academic years, the enrollment of women in the Faculty of Arts grew from 13 to 51 percent; in Law, it went up from 28 to 48 percent; and in the Faculty of Medicine, enrollment rose from 8 to 25 percent. In many of the science-based faculties, however, the same types of gains for women have not been seen.
The scholarship programme, which began in 2001, has proven to be an important strategy for increasing the enrollment of women in the university to date. Fifty young Tanzanian women have received scholarships each year, so now 100 of them are attending the university. Each scholarship is worth about $3,000 and covers tuition and fees, books and room and board.

To build support for and awareness of the scholarship programme, an eleven-person scholarship committee, including representatives from the government, the private sector and the university, review applications and monitor the program and the recipients' progress. Scholarships are renewed each year on a pass/fail basis. Since the criteria for selection includes both academic qualifications and financial need, we have been able to provide scholarships for highly qualified women who normally would not have been able to attend the university because of the cost. Given the fact that these young women—most of whom come from families of modest means—even made it as far as the university level is a major accomplishment. For many of them, from the time they reached school age, the path to education, which is essential to their development, was blocked by poverty and by cultural attitudes holding that education is wasted on girls because their only role in society should be as wives and mothers.

Kapur: What are some of the lessons you have learned in your gender mainstreaming work at the University of Dar es Salaam?

Mukungara: I think institutional capacity and commitment in support of gender mainstreaming is very important. If the university can reorient itself in its processes and structures and support its staff and students to carry out gender-equitable activities within the framework of institution building, there can be a sustainable impact. Also, I think men at the university have to be involved in the process right from the start. And of course there must be adequate funding. Much of our funding comes from external sources like American foundations. Therefore, one of the challenges we face is to ensure that funding is locally available and sustainable. In fact, this process can be started by the university incorporating funding initiatives for gender programmes as part of its university-wide budget allocations.

Kapur: You mentioned the importance of prioritizing the needs of African women. Where would you place education in a list of priorities and why?

Mukungara: Education is a very top priority. When you educate women, you help to prepare and empower them for participation in all other sectors of society. That in turn, enhances and enriches many aspects of society, including politics, income generation, employment and self-employment. We do need to listen to women, though, to understand the issues and concerns that they consider to be top priorities for their own lives and for their future. One thing that is certain is that more and more women need to be given the opportunity to attend universities, so they can realize their potential.

Kapur: As a long time-activist, what do you think about the state of African women's visibility in the world today?

Mukungara: There is a clear improvement in terms of womens visibility in Africa today. For example, visibility in regard to research, theoretical frameworks to capture and explain the problems and the possible solutions for women in Africa have been clearly documented by the United Nations and public debates about women and gender issues have emerged across the continent. However, much more work needs to be done. For example, a lot more resources need to be allocated specifically to gender issues from the national to the local level. The importance of gender programmes exist is not being translated into practice.
Work also needs to be done to create opportunities for higher education for women. We cannot expect to achieve development in Africa when a large part of the population is denied their rights and the means to contribute to development. This goes hand-in-hand with educating our male partners—colleagues, husbands, brothers and sons.

Kapur: What role do you see that foundations and other donor agencies can play in supporting the campaign for higher education in Africa?

Mukungara: Foundations and donor agencies can play a vital role in supporting higher education in Africa. The University of Dar es Salaam has managed to make bold decisions and put policies in place to fulfill its core functions within the university transformation process. We are glad that foundations have been able to see our willingness to help ourselves and continue to support our efforts. Carnegie Corporation, the Ford Foundation and the Norwegian government have provided substantial support for initiatives at the University of Dar es Salaam that we would otherwise not have been able to implement. We consider them partners in strengthening and improving programs and opportunities in our institution.

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