1.0 Background and Rationale Local elections in mainland Tanzania are held at the vil ­lage, hamlet and street levels, where citizens directly elect their grassroots leaders. Tanzania held its seventh local government elections in 2024 covering 12,319 village coun ­cils, 64,384 hamlets and 4,263 streets. Village councils consist of 25 members and must reserve one third of all seats for women, including eight women’s group members, alongside the village chairperson, five hamlet chairpersons and eleven mixed-group members. Each hamlet elects a single chairperson, and because only one position exists, the law does not provide for reserved seats for women at this level. Street committees in urban areas have six members, two of whom must be women. The one-third reserved seats requirement has helped in ­crease the number of women in local governance and ena ­bled Tanzania to reach the 30% descriptive representation threshold. Although women are legally permitted to con ­test in open seats, most remain concentrated in reserved positions, with far fewer competing for chairperson or mixed-group roles. Although information for other local election cycles is limited, the 2019 results show that wom ­en held only 2.1%, 6.7% and 12% of elected village, hamlet and street chairperson positions, respectively. Tanzania’s 2024 electoral reforms, the Political Parties Act (2024) and the Presidential, Parliamentary and Councillors Elections Act(2024), introduced important measures to en ­hance women’s participation in politics, including: 1. Criminalisation of gender-based violence in elections 2. Requirements for political parties to adopt gender poli ­cies and establish gender desks 3. Obligations for parties to implement capacity-building programmes for women, youth and persons with disabil ­ities In addition to the national laws, the 2024 local elections were governed by specific regulations, including: → The Election of Street Chairpersons and Members of the Street Committee in Urban Authorities Regulations, Government Notice No. 574 of 12th July 2024. → The Regulation for the Election of Hamlet Chairpersons in Township Authorities, Government Notice No. 572 of 12th July 2024. → The Regulations for the Election of Village Chairpersons, Village Council Members, and Hamlet Chairpersons in District Authorities, Government Notice No. 571 of 12th July 2024. → The Regulations for the Election of Village Chairpersons, Village Council Members, and Hamlet Chairpersons in Urban Authorities, Government Notice No. 573 of 12th July 2024. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES) Tanzania, working together with the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi(CCM)’s wom ­en’s wing, Umoja wa Wanawake Tanzania(UWT), and Omuka Hub, has played a central role in advocating for the 2024 electoral reforms. As part of monitoring the imple ­mentation of the new laws and regulations, FES, UWT and Omuka Hub assessed women’s participation in the 2024 lo ­cal elections in Bukoba Urban. This locality was selected because its remoteness and limited accessibility have his ­torically constrained efforts to strengthen women’s political participation. This policy brief draws on evidence from the 2024 local elections, capitalising on the experiences of women in Bukoba Urban, to identify the strategic interven ­tions needed to strengthen women’s participation and leadership in future local elections. 2.0 Methodology and Approach The study used a rights-based and election-cycle approach to assess how the 2024 legal reforms were implemented by Chama Cha Mapinduzi(CCM) and Umoja wa Wanawake Tanzania(UWT) to support women as aspirants and candi ­dates. Data collection in Bukoba Urban was conducted in three phases a. Pre-nomination phase(October 2024): This phase included a workshop on local election laws and the election calendar, Focus Group Discussions with women aspirants from three wards and key inform ­ant interviews with leaders of CCM, UWT and local government authorities. It assessed women’s prepar ­edness, their understanding of nomination proce ­dures and the early challenges they anticipated b. Post-nomination phase(10 November 2024): A workshop examined women’s performance in the CCM primaries and the barriers they encountered. Additional FGDs with successful and unsuccessful aspirants provided insights into effective strategies, constraints during nominations and factors influenc ­ing withdrawal or nomination. c. Post-election phase(30 November 2024): The final phase, undertaken after the conduct of the local elections on 27 November 2024, involved a work ­shop that brought together elected leaders, CCM and UWT representatives, the President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government, the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties and the media. Discussions identified key enabling factors, persistent structural and informal barriers and prac ­tical recommendations to strengthen women’s par ­ticipation in future electoral cycles. Advancing Women’s Political Participation 2