Projects
SANAA RIGHTS (2022-2025)
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Sanaa Rights is a project that aims at enhancing the policy and legislative landscape for the Tanzania arts scene. The initiative has invested its resources to come up with innovative recommendations for the improvement of policy and legal framework that govern the arts and cultural sector in Tanzania. It is a three-year program (2022-2025) under the coordination of the Tanzania Artists Rights Organization (TARO) in partnership with Culture and Development East Africa (CDEA). Sanaa Rights is receiving financial support from the Norwegian embassy in Dar es Salaam.
The program engages in roundtable meetings with various strategic stakeholders in the arts and cultural sector. Its implementation includes the drafting of legal position papers, parliamentary advocacy on artists’ human rights, public dialogues on the status of artists, and drafting of policy briefs.
On behalf of the partnership, CDEA signed a three years grant of NOK 3,000,000 with Kjetil Schie, Head of cooperation of the Norwegian Embassy in Dar es Salaam. The project focuses on enhancing the status of the artists’ enjoyment of cultural rights and artistic freedom in Tanzania
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SHERIA NA SANAA (2021-2022)
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Sheria na Sanaa is the Swahili term that means “Law and Arts”. It is a program designed to offer virtual and in-person dialogues, conferences, lectures, and workshops which are dedicated to share insights, information, networking opportunities, awareness, skills, knowledge, events and legal matters relating to arts and cultural sector in Tanzania. It is engineered to work closely with artists, law school, student societies, law firms, arts organizations, Embassies, government authorities, public, corporate entities, individuals, and bar associations to strengthen the sector. Today, it has achieved to spread public awareness on the weaknesses of the laws governing the arts and cultural sector through social media.
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Starting from 2021-2022, TARO implemented a project to raise public awareness about artists' rights. The project released over 15 legal position papers to the public on various issues affecting artists in the arts and cultural sector, "Fifteen artists received legal aid from the organization. Engagement with mass media for dissemination of information on artists' rights, and finally the Networking and coalition building at a national level for promoting and protecting artists' human rights. The annual budget cost for the project was TZS 30,000,000. (Equivalent to USD 14,000). The project received funding from contributions made by members. "The following are the key takeaways from the project implementation:
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There are significant violations of artists' human rights in Tanzania.
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Restrictions on exercising artistic freedom of expression
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Our community does not provide urgent protection for artists who are also Human Rights Defenders.
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Artists' human and cultural rights defenders and their works are not being recognized.
The range of Swahili language legal position papers were released on (2021-2022). Download below
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