Tanzania Women Architects for Humanity (TAWAH)

Tanzania Women Architects for Humanity (TAWAH) is a women-led professional organization founded in June 2010 by a group of passionate Tanzanian women architects and engineers who shared a common conviction, that the built environment can be a powerful pathway to justice, dignity, economic opportunity, and improved quality of life. Guided by a deep commitment to social equality, TAWAH exists to empower women through knowledge, skills, leadership, and participation in the construction industry, while simultaneously addressing Tanzania’s shelter deficit among low-income and underserved communities.

TAWAH was officially registered as a Non-Governmental Organization in March 2011 under the Non-Governmental Organizations Act, 2002 with Registration No. 4487. Since its inception, the organization has grown in membership, in visibility, and in international recognition for its transformative work in community-based construction, housing innovation, capacity building for women, and sustainable architectural practices.

TAWAH envisions a Tanzania where women actively shape the built environment; where affordable, safe, and decent shelter is accessible to all; and where communities have the capacity to lead and sustain their own development. We operate with the belief that shelter is more than a physical structure, it is a foundational condition for health, safety, economic participation, and human dignity.

We were formed with a clear mission: to enhance social justice by mobilizing women to spearhead shelter development and construction initiatives within poor and vulnerable communities across the country. Over time, our mission has expanded to include not only the development of homes, but also the development of women through technical training, mentorship, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, leadership development, and confidence building. This expansion reflects our understanding that long-term poverty alleviation requires both infrastructure and empowerment.

At the centre of TAWAH’s work is women’s empowerment through construction technology and design innovation. We recognise that the construction sector in Tanzania has historically been male-dominated, which limits women’s participation, income potential, and representation in decision-making roles. We address this disparity by equipping women with practical construction skills, entrepreneurial tools, and opportunities to lead.

TAWAH applies architectural expertise and engineering capability to develop affordable, low-carbon, high-quality housing solutions tailored to low-income communities. Through research, experimentation, and field application, we promote innovative techniques such as: Interlocking stabilized soil blocks (ISSB), Earth-brick building systems, Local material optimization and upcycling, Climate-responsive and sustainable architectural design

These alternatives reduce environmental impact, lower construction costs, and encourage self-reliance within communities. Women trained through TAWAH graduate with skills that enable them to generate income through masonry, carpentry, brick-making, construction supervision, and small enterprise creation.

Strategic Direction for the Future

As TAWAH continues to grow, we are looking into scaling our work, strengthening our leadership structures, expanding vocational training, and deepening our engagement in sustainable construction design. Our future goals include: Expanding training centres and certification programs across more regions in Tanzania; Increasing mentorship opportunities through partnerships with universities; industry experts, and international collaborators; Enhancing research and innovation in eco-friendly housing technologies; Growing the organisation’s capacity through structured staffing, succession planning, and leadership development; Building stronger market linkages so that women’s construction skills translate into consistent income and employment; Advocating for policy environments that advance gender equality within the built-environment sector.

Key TAWAH projects accomplishments include:

An ongoing women empowerment project, focusing on brick-making and construction of decent homes in Mhaga Village, Kisarawe funded by Julius Baer Foundation, Segal Family Foundation and ITV Media. This project started in 2021 and has benefited women who do not have a regular income and girls who did not get the opportunity to finish their formal schooling.

An ongoing mentoring program funded by Simba Cement Company: these two year formal mentoring programs, started in 2019, partner women architects, engineers and quantity surveyors with female university students and recent graduates in those fields to share career advice and build professional networks benefiting 74 mentees and 50 mentors to date.

Ongoing WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) program with Kawe Ukwamani Secondary School, Dar es Salaam. This program is working with secondary school students to solve environmental problems facing the school. Soap making, toilet cleaning and starting school vegetable gardens are the activities supervised by TAWAH, funded by TAWAH members, benefiting 310 students.

Design and construction supervision for the Jokate Mwegelo Girls Secondary School in Kisarawe, benefiting 540 students, funded by multiple donors, including the Government of Tanzania, 2019-2021.

Classrooms for special needs students at Pongwe Primary School, Tanga, 2018: This project entailed designing and building three classrooms for a school serving site impaired students. Among the site impaired students were children with albinism, who were assigned to the school as they had been targeted for attack in their home areas. In addition to building the new classrooms, TAWAH partnered with Under the Same Sun to raise awareness among school staff, students, parents, and people living near the school of the problems facing site impaired students and children with albinism and ways that they can support special needs students. This project was funded by multiple donors, including the US Embassy and ITV Media, benefiting 670 children.

Design and construction of six affordable model houses for flood victims in Mabwepande, Dar es Salaam, 2012: as a response to a major flood in the Msimbazi section of Dar es Salaam that forced the relocation of the flood victims, TAWAH designed and built model low-cost houses that could be used to create a formal settlement for the flood victims. Funded by TSN Group, benefiting 6 households.

Maasai traditional house improvement project, Ololosukwani Village, Arusha, funded by UNESCO Tanzania Office in 2011. TAWAH worked with Maasai women and men to modify Maasai houses to reduce indoor pollution, primarily caused by cooking in poorly ventilated spaces and then worked with community members to disseminate the new design and construction practices. Two model houses were built, benefiting 18 women and 2 households.

For more information on TAWAH projects visit our website: www.tawahtanzania.or.tz