Kijiwe Cha Kahawa (Coffee hubs) is a men engage program aimed at increasing male
participation in women and girls rights agenda through dialogue, capacity building and
development of action plan at the community level. This program brings together men in
community coffee hubs to discuss their gender roles and develop action plans as males and
fathers. During the sessions men of varying ages and backgrounds meet to discuss gender
issues. Topics for discussion include Sexual Reproductive health rights such as Teen
pregnancy, Child marriage and the need for Youth friendly health services level and family
planning.
The project had been running for some time though with little recognition. It was boosted by
media capacity support from our partners Internews Tanzania and Sonke through
MenEngageTanzania, with their support the Kijiwe cha Kahawa dialogues that led into
awareness raising to 2852 male and 2750 female and 55 male champions. Additionally, the
program was featured on a number of networks as an example of good practice and a social
media audience of more than 500K people was reached on various platforms. This digital mode
of operation enabled TIBA to continue to reach out to communities during the COVID 19 crisis
and, to further organise virtual meetings which hit an online participation of 61,000 people
increased our organisational visibility such that TIBA gained recognition a key player in
impacting communities through digital media and use of influencers.
Media and social media influencers covered the dialogue and reported it through media
channels that enabled its production in media outreaches such as print media, video and radio.
The end result was a boost in our social media platforms followers and likes.