The Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA) is an NGO that was founded in 1989 and officially registered in 1990. The founding members comprised a group of professional women lawyers who felt the need for an organization that could promote an environment guaranteeing equal rights and access to justice for all, through focusing on vulnerable and marginalized groups, especially women and children. The TAWLA members also recognized the need for women lawyers to foster mutual support for each other in professional advancement and social responsibility.
TAWLA has its headquarters in Dar es Salaam, at Ilala Sharif Shamba Bungoni, Plot 31 and branch offices in Arusha, Tanga and Dodoma. As a way of expanding its outreach TAWLA also networks with legal aid centers and trains paralegals to enable poor women and children to access legal aid services in the regions which it does not have branch offices. Currently, TAWLA has over 470 members, who include women lawyers from diverse backgrounds such as state attorneys, private advocates, judges, magistrates, corporate executives, lecturers and legal advisors in both the public and the private sector.

Mission: TAWLA is an NGO committed to the professional advancement of its members and the promotion of women and children’s rights and good governance.

Vision: TAWLA envisages a society that respects and upholds human rights.
TAWLA’s present activities related to this proposal include: 1). Providing legal aid services to vulnerable women and children, 2). Coordinating the Gender Land Task Force which advocates for better land laws and land rights awareness to women, 3) Undertaking policy research and advocacy for legal reforms, and campaign for women and children on issues of equality and human rights, 4). Educating the public by raising awareness on gender and legal rights issues through the media, workshops, publications, drama and 5). Supporting the professional development of women lawyers in Tanzania