C-Sema has been working in Zanzibar since 2015 and has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with the Ministry. This is why our management team led by our Chief Executive Mr. Kiiya JK together with Mr. Michael Marwa the Director of the National Child Helpline and Ms. Fatuma Kamramba the Manager of Childline Zanzibar saw it best to meet with the newly appointed Minister for Community, Development, Gender, Elderly and Children in Zanzibar the Hon. Riziki Pembe Juma and her Deputy Hon. Anna Athanas Paul as well as Mr. Abdallah Omar Saleh, the Director of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Department, and Mr. Mohammed Jabir Makame Head of Division of the Children’s Department.
We were excited for them to hear about the work that we do in Zanzibar in running the National Child Helpline and ensuring that all children are protected from any and all forms of abuse.
Our Chief Executive, gave a brief background on the operationalisation of the Child Helpline Globally and shared how well the collaboration and support from and with the Ministry has helped C-Sema in its pursuit to ensure that the rights of every child in Zanzibar are met. He also brought up the progress made in the discussions that were initiated by the deputy principal secretary at the former Ministry of Health.
The minister was very happy to hear and learn of all our interventions, especially on how we respond to VAC through Childline Zanzibar via 116. She was quick to mention that she was not aware of the reach and help that the helpline has been providing to the community more so for women and children, and asked that we keep up with the good work and increase efforts to raise more awareness on matters involving VAC and GBV in Zanzibar.
They were also able to discuss the recently launched DISRUPTING HARM REPORT IN TANZANIA that highlights findings and evidence on Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA). The Disrupting Harm Report is a key document to advance the policy and strategic interventions in Tanzania on progressive interventions to address child sexual abuse and more, specifically online child sexual abuse and exploitation. The consensus was to have a similar launch in Zanzibar and have the report contextualised and domesticated. The minister encouraged the continuation of these discussions to garner the possibility of having the launch take place as soon as possible.
Another key issue that was discussed was the provision of office space for C-Sema and the 116 Childline by the Ministry as part of the commitment to the implementation of the MoU between C-Sema and the Ministry. The Hon. Riziki Pembe Juma confirmed that the ministry will provide us with office space at ‘SEBLENI – KWA WAZEE’ and we will be responsible for the needed renovations to make the space work-friendly for use.
The minister also asked to visit C-Sema’s headquarter offices in Dar-es-salaam to see and learn how the Child Helpline operates in Mainland and it will help her and her team to comprehend how Child Helplines work and operate on a daily basis. The fruitful discussions, plans, and agreements made were encouraging and we look forward to many more prosperous collaborations that bring positive growth and development to the country, the community, and the children we serve.

This story was written by C-Sema’s Media Team.