Sixteen Tanzanian human rights defenders were arrested on 9 February. In protest against the Tanzanian authority's act that goes counter their state commitment to protect, respect and fulfill human rights, Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) has drafted a letter urging the Tanzania authorities to release and drops all charges against these activists. They are requesting people to support the 16 activists by:
1. printing and delivering/posting the letter to the president's office in Dar-es-salaam if based in Dar-es-salaam or any part of Tanzania
2. printing and delivering the letter to the Tanzania embassy/consulate in your country if based outside Tanzania,
3. adapting the letter and putting it on your organisation's letter head, signing it and delivering it to the president office or the representative of Tanzania government in your country.

According to the Tanzania government, the three-day floods that hit Dar es Salaam from 20-23 December claimed 39 lives. However, the figure is disputed by eyewitnesses who are putting the death toll to over 100. The floods have left numerous questions over the government’s ability to deal with, among others, natural and other disasters. While the government treated the problem as a natural disaster, there is massive evidence that the floods could have been avoided if successive Tanzanian governments had played their part effectively.