Dada Wakili was delighted to take part in last week’s Vision 2050 – Tanzania Annual ICT Conference in Dar es Salaam, which focused on harnessing the ideas and energy of every sector in society for Tanzania’s digital transformation, with inclusion, for prosperity and self-reliance.
After keynote inputs and panel discussion on women’s inclusion in and through Tanzania’s digital transformation, Dr Cecilia Ngaiza from the University of Dar es Salaam and Dada Wakili, highlighted Dada Wakili (‘Sister Lawyer’) – the bespoke AI-powered legal companion for Tanzania that helps women and girls understand their rights and navigate common justice challenges.
Dr Cecilia presented the origins and concept of Dada Wakili, to harness ICT and the power of Artificial Intelligence to provide women and girls across Tanzania with instant, reliable legal information on core justice issues, helping them to access ad navigate the justice system.
In one desktop version, Dada Wakili supports legal aid clinics and advisers offering guidance on topics of vital interest to women’s equitable inclusion in society, such as inheritance, land rights, legal matters around marriage and widowhood, and redress in the event of gender-based violence.
Another version of Dada Wakili, targeted at women directly, uses simple language (in both KiSwahili and English) to inform women about Tanzanian laws and accessing justice on these same issues. This version works like a chatbot, using simple tools like SMS and WhatsApp, on basic or smart phones.
Dr Cecilia described Dada Wakili’s engagement with women’s groups, legal aid providers, international development and state agencies in the piloting, rollout, and scaling of the tools to reach the greatest number of women possible across the country – particularly women living with coercion, abuse, or social exclusion.
“This was a great opportunity to explain how Dada Wakili, intent on using ICT and AI for social good, helps women understand their legal rights with confidence, and make informed decisions about family, land, and finances – thus supporting social and economic transformation,” said Dada Wakili founder, Dr Sarah Stephens.
Dada Wakili is grateful to the Embassy of Ireland in Tanzania for its critical early support and ongoing engagement, and to the British Governments Foreign, Common and Development Office (FCDO), which has undertaken to support its expansion. Additionally, really appreciates the invitation to participate from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and the ICT Commission; and our continuing engagement with the Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs (MOCLA), which will be vital to the uptake, scaling, and transformative effect of Dada Wakili’s frontier legal companion technology.