Giving Compass' Take:

• Kizito Makoye discusses programs in Tanzania that are working to help women attain leadership roles at companies and in politics. 

• How can funders support programs like these around the world? Where is the opportunity for impact greatest? 

• Rad about the importance of having women in leadership roles.

Study after study has shown that companies with a strong female presence in leadership roles perform better than those led by men. But the message is slow to reach the boardroom: At the world’s 500 largest companies, just 3 percent of CEOs are women. In Tanzania, the rate of women at the top is only slightly higher than the global average – women make up 8 percent of the country’s CEOs.

Working women and equality advocates often point to the same deeply rooted patriarchal traditions and outdated corporate cultures that keep women out of high-level management positions everywhere. Now, employers’ organizations are trying to break down those barriers with programs that promote equality in the workplace while raising awareness of discrimination against women.

Female Future, which is jointly run by two independent advisory organizations – the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE) and the Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institution – helps women climb the ranks in business or politics by offering them the kind of leadership training they would have trouble accessing on their own.

In 2015, the Tanzania Women Cross Party launched a program to help women politicians improve their campaigning skills and teach them their rights as candidates. That included showing women how to report abusive tactics, such as male party leaders insisting they trade sex for a spot on the ballot. When the country held its general election that year, a record 9 percent of the candidates were women.

Read the full article about women in leadership roles in Tanzania by Kizito Makoye at News Deeply.