30/03/2026
LEFT WITH NOTHING TO GIVE THAN A FIGHT AGAINST OPPRESSION.
UWAWAMA organized the commemoration of International Working-Class Women’s Day with grassroots women, as it has always done. Our theme this year focused on collective social rights and equality of opportunity for poor women as the foundation for combating structural inequality and achieving substantive gender equality.
In line with UWAWAMA’s six abiding demands for the working-class women and our strong belief in organizing people around their needs, this year’s event reflected on the most forgotten social rights that predominantly affect women, with special emphasis on the right to water. The right to water was highlighted not only because it is among the neglected rights but also due to the ongoing water crisis in Dar es Salaam and other parts of the country, alongside the government’s plan to privatize the service.
The gathering brought together working-class people from various cooperatives, grassroots organizations, and secondary school students. Among other discussions, they reflected on the current water crisis in Dar es Salaam and its resulting socio-economic burden on poor women and the entire marginalized community.
The gathering also addressed the government’s plans to privatize water services amid the ongoing crisis. Poor women criticized the plan, demonstrating how it would add to the existing hardships faced by women and marginalized communities. The group insisted that privatization of social services benefits the market while pushing the poor majority further into poverty.
While the official global theme called for rights, justice, and action for all women and girls, these women emphasized that with privatization policies at the center, rights will largely remain on paper, justice will continue to be an expensive commodity, and actions will primarily benefit capitalists.
As the “Give to Gain” hashtag trended, these women conveyed that the current system takes everything from them by force, leaving them with only one thing to give a fight against such systems in the hope of gaining liberation.