MWANZA: A NON-governmental organisation –WoteSawa – has provided protection services to more than 2,000 survivors of exploitation, enabled over 800 children to access education and facilitated the re-enrolment of more than 500 children into school since its establishment in 2012.
The organisation’s Executive Director, Angel Benedicto revealed the achievements in an exclusive interview with the ‘Daily News’ recently in Mwanza, saying WoteSawa is working to improve the working conditions for domestic workers while combating child labour and human trafficking.
She said the organisation has established 132 school clubs and reached more than one million people through awareness campaigns on workers’ rights, child labour and human trafficking prevention.
Beyond direct support services, WoteSawa has contributed to national policy reforms and evidence-based advocacy to promote decent working conditions for domestic workers and protect children from exploitation.
Ms Benedicto said a 2025 situational analysis conducted across six regions found widespread exploitation of domestic workers, including low wages, excessive working hours and abuse.
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According to the study, only 8.35 per cent of domestic workers have written employment contracts, while 78 per cent receive no overtime pay despite many working more than 56 hours a week.
The study also found that most domestic workers earn between 30,000/- and 100,000/- per month, while only 10.6 per cent are aware of their labour rights.
“Most alarming, 43 per cent reported experiencing emotional, economic, physical or sexual abuse,” she said.
She added that 96.4 per cent of domestic workers lack health insurance and that nearly 69 per cent migrated in search of domestic work, a factor that increases their vulnerability to exploitation and human trafficking.
Ms Benedicto identified poverty, unemployment, limited access to education and unsafe migration as the main drivers of child labour and human trafficking.
She said weak enforcement of labour laws, informal recruitment practices and low public awareness continue to fuel the problem.
She called on the government to strengthen labour inspections, regulate recruitment agencies, expand social protection programmes and improve enforcement of labour laws.
She also urged communities, employers, civil society organisations and the private sector to report suspected trafficking cases, protect children’s rights and ensure domestic workers are treated fairly.
On policy reforms, she appealed to the government to ratify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (Convention No. 189), describing it as a key priority.
She said ratification would strengthen legal protection for domestic workers by promoting fair wages, reasonable working hours, written contracts, social security, occupational safety and protection against abuse and exploitation.
“Domestic workers play a vital role in Tanzania’s economy and deserve the same rights and protections as other workers,” she said.
Ms Benedicto also highlighted WoteSawa’s livelihood programmes, which provide vocational training, entrepreneurship skills, financial literacy and business start-up support to domestic workers and survivors of human trafficking.
She said many beneficiaries now operate successful tailoring, baking, food vending and retail businesses, enabling them to support their families and create employment for others.
Through media campaigns, community dialogues, school child protection clubs and rights education programmes, the organisation has reached more than one million people with information on labour rights, child protection and human trafficking prevention.
She said the increased reporting of trafficking cases; stronger involvement of local leaders and growing recognition of domestic workers’ rights demonstrate that communities are becoming active partners in combating labour exploitation and protecting vulnerable groups.