Dar es Salaam, 22 May 2025 CSO Week 2025 will bring over 500 development actors from across Tanzania and beyond, from 2nd to 6th June at Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha. The week-long event comes at a defining moment for Tanzania. With the upcoming launch of Vision 2050, Tanzania’s civil society must step forward — not just to respond, but to reimagine Tanzania’s development future.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam, Mr. Justice Rutenge, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) talked about how deeply involved the civil society has been in the preparation of the Tanzania Development Vision (TDV) 2050, from the translation of Tanzania Development Vision 2050 from English to Swahili to reviewing the TDV Long Term Perspective Plan.
‘Tanzania ‘s Civil Society has been well represented in shaping Tanzania’s development future. Through CSO Week 2025, we want to ensure that we align vision with action, sparking bold partnerships to ensure that progress is not just promised, but delivered to all Tanzanians. This will be in line with this year’s theme of "Pathways to Progress," that underscores the civil society's commitment to collaborative, inclusive, and sustainable development,’ said Mr. Rutenge.
Also speaking at the press conference in Dar es Salaam, Ms. Nesiah Mahenge, Chairperson of CSO Week’s Steering Committee and the Country Director, CBM Tanzania highlighted the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement including the government, private sector, development partners and the community.
‘As the Steering Committee made up of 26 civil society organizations, we have continued strengthening partnerships in the delivery of CSO Week. We have partnered with private sector partners like Vodacom Foundation Tanzania, Stanbic Bank and Aris Insurance and development partners such as the European Union, Ford Foundation, Wilde Ganzen, TradeMark Africa, UK International Development and Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania.’
Doreen Dominic, the Head of Public Sector, Business and Commercial Banking at Stanbic Tanzania who represented private sector partners spoke on its role in supporting locally-led led development in its work and through CSO Week 2025.
"We are honoured to join the civil society for the fourth year in a row to bring you CSO Week 2025. As an organization, Stanbic Bank Tanzania is committed to Tanzania’s development. This is evident in our work: under the business incubator that builds the capacity of youth and women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses; on financial literacy and inclusion and in our financial advisory services,’ said Doreen Dominick.
Closing the conversation, Mr. Ismail Biro, Deputy Executive Director from Tanzania Bora Initiative, a member of CSO Week 2025 Steering Committee spoke on the importance of including youth voices in CSO Week. ‘Nurturing youth innovation, advancing gender equality, and ensuring disability inclusion during CSO Week 2025 is critical to its success,’ said Biro. Through its participation in CSO Week 2025, TBI will help elevate youth voices, advocate for inclusive governance, and influence policy in ways that reflect the lived experiences and aspirations of marginalized communities.
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For more information, please contact:
Sarah Masenga
Communication Specialist, at Foundation for Civil Society
E-mail: smasenga@thefoundation.or.tz
Cellphone: +255 757829004
