UK Lawmakers Assess Progress of Sexual Health Programs in Tanzania

A delegation of UK parliamentarians recently completed a six-day study tour in Tanzania to review the progress of sexual and reproductive health programs funded by the UK government and implemented by local partners like UMATI Tanzania, IPPF’s Member Association in country.

The delegation was comprised of five lawmakers from the UK House of Commons and House of Lords representing the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Population, Development and Reproductive Health. Throughout their visit, they met with representatives from UMATI, the International Planned Parenthood Federation affiliate in Tanzania, to learn about the  youth center that was established since 1983 to provide sexual health resources and services to both in-school and out-of-school youth.

UMATI operates a youth center in Temeke, Dar es Salaam, that offers a range of adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) services including education on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, access to contraceptives, and support for gender-based violence survivors. Additionally, the center provides skills training in areas like cooking and sewing to teenage mothers while also housing a daycare for their children.

The APPG delegation toured the Temeke facility and met with youth beneficiaries as well as UMATI staff members overseeing operations. The lawmakers praised UMATI's efforts to reach Tanzanian adolescents, who face high rates of early pregnancy and maternal mortality, with critical health services and economic empowerment programs.

The visit to UMATI was part of a broader APPG objective to evaluate UK-funded family planning and reproductive health initiatives in Tanzania. Since 2015, the UK has dedicated significant resources to expanding access to voluntary, high-quality family planning services across the country's disadvantaged regions. Host organizations like UMATI and UNFPA have received British aid support to advance reproductive healthcare access and education for vulnerable Tanzanians in line with the UK's commitment to the ICPD Programme of Action.

Throughout their trip, the parliamentarians met with additional UK implementing partners such as Marie Stopes, Engender Health, and UNFPA to review programming and progress data. The delegation left Tanzania better equipped to advocate future British investments to improve reproductive health outcomes, reduce maternal deaths from unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions, and empower women economically. APPG members called on the UK government to maintain support for local organizations like UMATI working to realize these goals at the conclusion of their study tour.