Uwezo Tanzania

Uwezo Tanzania is a Non-Governmental Organization operating in Tanzania mainland, committed to improving competencies in literacy and numeracy among children in Tanzania through an innovative, citizen-driven community engagement and public accountability approach to social change. Uwezo meaning “capability” in Kiswahili. is a citizen-led assessment initiative that was introduced in 2009 in Tanzania to fill the learning assessment gap by generating new information/evidence on children’s literacy and numeracy learning levels in a manner that informs the public, stimulates countrywide debate, and creates pressure for policy change from the bottom-up. Uwezo Tanzania’s main goals are to contribute to improved learning outcomes by generating independent data on levels of learning outcomes, especially in basic literacy and numeracy among children aged 6-16 years, to stimulate evidence-based policies that would result in equitable learning for all children and community engagement for stimulating citizens to take actions to improve learning outcomes for children. Currently, Uwezo Tanzania implements “Jifunze”, a learning initiative to support children who are lagging behind in literacy and numeracy, and mobilizes communities for collective action to improve learning outcomes such as through Community Assessment and Extended Feedback. Uwezo enables policymakers, parents, students, local communities, and the general public at large to become aware of actual levels of children’s literacy and numeracy, and build on that awareness to stimulate community collective response and policy change for improved learning across Tanzania.