Inclusive Skills and Sports Centre – Mtwara, Tanzania

LiiKe, together with Tanzanian civil society organization Sports Development Aid (SDA), is renovating an old, abandoned sports center in Mtwara, Tanzania, into an inclusive facility for the entire city.

The new center will include a dedicated classroom where young people with intellectual disabilities will be trained for employment in gardening or restaurant work.

A café-restaurant will also be opened within the center, creating job opportunities for persons with physical and intellectual disabilities.

You can support the completion of the center with a donation of your choice. Your contribution will be used for:

• purchasing kitchen equipment
• renovating training and common spaces
• constructing accessible toilets
• restoring sports facilities

By donating, you help create education and employment opportunities for youth with disabilities.
Climate change is already affecting students with disabilities — where can you move when it’s +50°C outside?

The Reality for Persons with Disabilities in Tanzania

In Tanzania, persons with intellectual disabilities face minimal opportunities and rights. Their access to education and sports is often dependent on the interest and availability of parents or caregivers. Disability is still frequently perceived as a punishment toward the family, and children with disabilities rarely receive financial support for their education — especially girls, whose situation is often even more challenging.

LiiKe, together with SDA and the Karimjee Foundation, has supported vocational training for persons with disabilities in Mtwara. Thanks to this initiative:

• Hazina, a young woman with an intellectual disability, has graduated as a baker
• Shabiru, a hearing-impaired young man, has trained as a plumber

The Global Context

More than 1 billion people in the world live with a disability, and 80% of them live in developing countries. Statistically, disability is more common among women than men.

When discussing the rights of persons with disabilities, it is essential to understand how societal barriers — physical, structural, attitudinal, or communicative — cause exclusion and discrimination. Disability alone does not prevent an active life — social structures do.

A particularly alarming example is the significantly increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence faced by persons with disabilities. Women and girls with disabilities are 4 to 10 times more likely to experience sexual violence than those without disabilities. Stigma, discrimination, poor service provision, and physical inaccessibility make it difficult or even impossible for persons with disabilities to access protection, services, or information.

Due to harmful gender norms and social structures, women and girls face greater discrimination. Those with disabilities are at even higher risk of violence because of both their gender and their disability, resulting in intersectional discrimination.

In Tanzania:

• People with disabilities make up 6.8% of the population, significantly lower than the 15% global average reported by the WHO — a figure likely influenced by underreporting and stigma.
• Most people with disabilities live in rural areas, where services are even more limited.
• Persons with disabilities are the most marginalized, poorest, and most discriminated group in Tanzanian society.

Currently, no disaggregated data on sexual violence against persons with disabilities is collected in Tanzania, so we don’t know how many women and girls with disabilities face sexual abuse, female genital mutilation, or child marriage. (Source: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, 2022)

How You Can Help

The renovation of the inclusive skills and sports center in Mtwara is funded entirely through private donations. Every contribution — big or small — brings us one step closer to a more inclusive and just world.

Join us in building opportunities where they’re needed most.