The 2025 CSO Week returns for its eighth year on 2nd to 6th June 2025, at Mt. Meru Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. Known as an annual gathering that facilitates dialogue and collaboration among civil society organizations (CSOs), and between CSOs and the Tanzanian government, CSO Week has become a key platform for meaningful discussions on CSOs role in Tanzania’s development and its future.
With over 5,000 attendees, 350 speakers, and 175 sessions in the last seven years, CSO Week continues to set the standard for engaged, inclusive, and impactful dialogues that address pressing development issues vital to Tanzania’s future.
This year’s theme ‘Pathways to Progress,’ provides a comprehensive, timely and strategic framework for addressing Tanzania’s development aspirations, especially in the context of the upcoming elections and Vision 2050, and the global polycrisis – climate change, economic instability, and geopolitical tensions, respectively. Sessions at the event will explore five core development pathways for dialogue: Democratization and its Opportunities, the Intelligence Economy, a Green Future, Holistic Futures and CSOs’ Financial Resilience.
‘The theme, pathways to progress speaks on charting pathways of moving from polycrisis to polytunity. As we are developing the Vision 2050, in essence, we are saying that we are not where we need to be but are aspiring and envisioning where we want to go by 2050. As we are shaping Tanzania’s future by 2050, I call upon strengthening civil society ties built through the CSO week and forge a stronger movement for the interests of the civil society sector, broader citizens and the nation. Through collaboration and action, pathways to progress are built for a stronger and more resilient Tanzania,’ said Justice Rutenge, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) while speaking at the CSO Directors’ Dinner on April 10th, 2025, in Dar es Salaam Tanzania.
CSOs Directors’ Dinner
The CSO Directors’ Dinner is an annual pre-CSO Week event that brings together CSO Directors and development stakeholders to reflect on pertinent issues affecting CSOs. This year, CSO Directors reflected on CSOs role in promoting inclusive consumer-centric trade in Tanzania and CSOs’ financial resilience. The event was supported by TradeMark Africa and funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Ireland, and Norway.
Delivering his keynote speech at the CSO Directors’ Dinner, Elibariki Shammy, TradeMark Africa’s Country Director spoke on TradeMark’s role in facilitating trade and emphasized on trade being a powerful tool for poverty eradication.
‘CSOs have an important role to play in ensuring fair trade by advocating for policies that protect local communities, businesses and consumers. They help unpack trade policies, instruments, and institutional setup to help local indigenous traders perform well in the market,’ said Elibariki.
He also emphasized on CSOs role in educating consumers on their rights and responsibilities as consumers which is a key component of the Civil Society for Inclusive and Consumer-Centric Trade project that is implemented by FCS with TradeMark Africa’s support.
What to Expect in 2025 CSO Week
The week-long event will provide attendees with experiences tailored to learning, networking and exchange. These include:
Debates: A popular session format that further amplifies voices on Tanzania’s development trajectory, in which opposing arguments are put forward and aired on Malumbano Ya Hoja as a special.
The Power of Ideas: A session where participants share their innovative concepts without titles or formal introductions. The format puts the focus solely on the ideas themselves. At the end of each session, attendees vote on which ideas they would like to collaborate on, fostering a community-driven approach to problem-solving and encouraging partnerships that can address Tanzania’s challenges.
Community Outreach: A day out in the communities in Arusha where event participants get to interact with a local CSO and the work that they are doing to promote citizen agency and/or democratic governance.
Visioning Salon: These sessions will provide spaces to enhance citizens’ agency and prompt discussions through pre-empted tools and guidelines that include real-time panels voted in by the audience who believe the voices going up-front embody the theme at hand.
CSO-to-CSO Clinics: Sessions where CSOs share their expertise while building the capacity of other CSOs.
Masterclasses: These sessions will involve a carefully selected group of citizens who will be invited to participate in interactive, well-moderated, interview-style sessions that will help CSOs better understand what works and what doesn’t. These sessions will demonstrate an effort to rebalance power between CSOs and citizens, as well as the potential for doing so.
2025 CSO Week offers a valuable opportunity to join a growing movement acknowledging and celebrating CSOs’ role in Tanzania’s development trajectory and building connections across the civil society community. Registrations for 2025 CSO Week open on 2nd of May 2025.
To learn more about 2025 CSO Week and how you can support its mission as a development partner, private sector organization and/or CSO, please contact: CSO Week Coordinator; csoweek_coordinator@thefoundation.or.tz
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