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The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are based on the Agenda 2030 according to which ‘no one is left behind’, highlighting the need for inclusive citizenship at all levels. This article examines self-help groups in rural Tanzania as potential arenas for inclusive citizenship, which is defined as bottom-up practices of membership, participation, and livelihood enhancement. However, inclusive citizenship is also characterised by exclusions. Therefore, while acknowledging the important contribution of self-help groups for development, this article scrutinises the question of patterns of exclusion, first, in practices of self-help groups, and second, in the relationships between self-help groups and their wider environments. Based on participant observation, individual interviews, and focus groups discussions in three villages in Mpwapwa District in Tanzania, we found exclusions in the process of establishing groups, while participating in the groups, and in relation to the community and the wider socio-economic system. The findings show how less privileged members of a community are easily excluded from the groups based on criteria related to wealth and perceived trustworthiness, and how the improvements in livelihoods, capacities, and collective action remain local, and do not expand to engagement in wider decision-making nor to addressing the root causes of poverty. peerReviewed

ti Uusi koronaviruspandemia on saanut osan maailman maista turvautumaan poikkeuksellisiin ratkaisuihin pandemian pysäyttämiseksi. Hallitusten reaktiot ja toimet ovat vaihdelleet tiukoista sulkutoimenpiteistä lähes täydelliseen rajoitusten puuttumiseen, kansanterveyden asiantuntijoiden pätevyyden ja tieteellisen tiedon kyseenalaistamiseen ja pandemian uskonnollistamiseen. Esimerkiksi itäafrikkalaisessa Tansaniassa valtiojohdon ajamilla koronatoimilla oli mittavia yhteiskunnallisia vaikutuksia. Tansaniassa koronaepidemia politisoitui osaksi sisäpoliittista valtakamppailua istuvan presidentin ja opposition välillä. Presidentti John Magufulin ajama, uskoa painottava koronanäkemys muodostui maan viralliseksi linjaksi, jota hyödynnetiin hallituksen vastaisten toimijoiden identifioinnissa ja vaientamisessa. Lokakuun 2020 vaaleissa Magufuli ja valtapuolue Chama Cha Mapinduzi saivat murskavoiton, joka sinetöi niiden valta-aseman. Koronaepidemian uskonnollistaminen Tansaniassa tapahtui maan kristillisten valtakirkkojen myötävaikutuksella. Lopulta epidemian toinen aalto rikkoi politiikan ja uskonnon yhteisrintaman pakottaen kirkot asettamaan jäsentensä terveyden taloudellisten ja poliittisten hyötynäkökulmien edelle. Keväällä 2021 Tansania oli yhä vailla selkeää kansallista strategiaa koronan pysäyttämiseksi.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Sozialen Arbeit in Ländern der East African Community. Die immer noch in der Soziallandschaft verankerten kolonialen Strukturen machen auch vor der Sozialen Arbeit in ostafrikanischen Ländern keinen Halt. Die vom globalen Norden eingeführte Profession unterdrückte bereits vorhandene indigene Unterstützungs- und Hilfssysteme. Die lokale Soziale Arbeit verlangt nach einer Indigenisierung, um auf die Kontexte der örtlichen Problemlagen einzugehen und adäquat reagieren zu können. Die Inhalte der einschlägigen Ausbildung sind durchzogen von westlichem Wissen und beinhalten kaum lokale Informationen. Die lokale Soziale Arbeit kann auf viele indigene Ansätze zurückgreifen und somit einen Großteil der vielfältigen Handlungsfelder mit traditionellen Konzepten abdecken. Schlussendlich wird auf das Projekt PROSOWO eingegangen, welches längst überfällige lokale Forschung betrieb und sich stark für eine indigene Soziale Arbeit in Ostafrika einsetzt. This thesis deals with social work in countries of the East African Community. The colonial structures are still deeply anchored in the social landscape. The modernised profession, which was introduced by the global North, suppressed already existing indigenous social support and assistance systems. The east african social work requires indigenization in order to address the contexts of the local situations and to respond adequately. The curricula of social work education are steeped in Western knowledge and contain very little local information. Social work within the East African Community can draw on many indigenous approaches and thus cover a large part of the diverse fields of action with traditional concepts. Finally, the project PROSOWO is discussed, which conducted long overdue local research and is strongly committed to promote indigenous social work in East Africa.

The StrongPaed study in the paediatric ward of a referral hospital in Mwanza in the lake region of Tanzania showed the prevalence of S. stercoralis, G. lamblia, E. histolytica and E. dispar as well as of other intestinal parasites with various diagnostic methods. The prevalence of S. stercoralis was 2-10 % depending on the diagnostic methods used. There were no symptomatic infections but only carriage of the nematode. The positive results differed greatly depending on the performed diagnostic methods. None of the diagnostics showed satisfying results, neither in sensitivity and specificity nor in feasibility for this population in an endemic region in sub-Saharan Africa. PCR and microscopy were limited by the low amount of examined stool samples and by the resulting lack of sensitivity. Stool cultures were limited by time-consuming procedures and mainly by the problem of differentiation from hookworm and the resulting lack of specificity. ELISA was limited by the need of blood samples and also by poor specificity in the ELISA used. The prevalence of G. lamblia was high, but mostly only carriage and not symptomatic infections was seen. No E. histolytica was detected, but 8.5 % samples were positive for E. dispar. Among the performed diagnostics, the rapid test showed sufficient results. It showed better sensitivity than microscopy and is cheaper and more feasible than PCR. Differentiation between E. histolytica and E. dispar was only possible with qPCR performed in Germany. More children were positive for intestinal parasites from rural than from urban areas. The profession of the parents working as farmers was a risk factor for intestinal parasitic infections. Hygienic living conditions such as access to tap water and flush toilets at home were preventive for intestinal parasitic infections in children., Die StrongPaed Studie auf der pädiatrischen Station des Referenzkrankenhauses in Mwanza in der Seeregion von Tanzania zeigte die Prävelanz von S. stercoralis, G. lamblia, E. histolytica und E. dispar sowie weiteren Darmparasites mit verschiedenen Diagnostikmethoden. Die Prävalenz von S. stercoralis betrug 2-10 %, abhängig von den gewählten diagnostischen Methoden. Es traten keine symptomatischen Infektionen auf, sondern lediglich Besiedelungen durch Würmer. Die positiven Ergebnisse unterschieden sich stark in Abhängigkeit von den durchgeführten diagnostischen Methoden. Keine dieser diagnostischen Methoden zeigte für die gewählte Population zufriedenstellende Ergebnisse, weder in Bezug auf Sensitivität und Spezifität noch in der Durchführbarkeit. PCR und Mikroskopie waren durch die geringe Menge an untersuchten Stuhlproben und die daraus resultierende fehlende Sensitivität limitiert. Die Stuhlkulturen waren durch zeitaufwändige Verfahren und vor allem durch das Problem der schwierigen Differenzierung zum Hakenwurm und der daraus resultierenden mangelnden Spezifität limitiert. Der ELISA war durch den Bedarf an Blutproben und in dieser Studie auch durch die geringe Spezifität limitiert. Die Prävalenz von G. lamblia war hoch, meist handelte es sich jedoch nur um eine Besiedelung und nicht um eine symptomatische Infektion. Es wurde in keinem Fall E. histolytica nachgewiesen, aber 8,5 % der Proben waren positiv für E. dispar. In der durchgeführten Diagnostik zeigte der Schnelltest zufriedenstellende Ergebnisse. Er zeigte eine bessere Sensitivität als die Mikroskopie und ist billiger und praktikabler als die PCR. Eine Differenzierung zwischen E. histolytica und E. dispar war nur mit der in Deutschland durchgeführten qPCR möglich. Mehr Kinder aus ländlichen als aus städtischen Gebieten waren positiv auf Darmparasiten. Der Beruf der als Landwirt arbeitenden Eltern war ein Risikofaktor für Darmparasiten. Hygienische Lebensbedingungen wie der Zugang zu Leitungswasser und Toilettenspülung im Haushalt korrelierten mit einer niedrigeren Rate an nachgewiesenen Darmparasiten bei Kindern.

This chapter argues that civil society organizations (CSOs) engage in continuous legitimacy negotiations that both shape and are shaped by civic space. It focuses on President John Magufuli’s term in Tanzania, which was labelled as an authoritarian turn characterized by shrinking civic space. The chapter employs broad definitions: of civic space as an arena for action by formal CSOs as well as groups and individuals; of legitimacy as a continuous negotiation of appropriateness; and of democracy as a dynamic form of governance with different manifestations. Drawing on interviews with both professional urban NGOs and rural self-help groups, the chapter investigates restrictions experienced by CSOs, analyses the central themes negotiation over CSO legitimacy, and reflects on these vis-á-vis the evolution of democracy in Tanzania over time.

Background Children are the most vulnerable group affected by malaria and other tropical, vector-borne diseases in low-resource countries. Infants presenting with acute onset fever represent a major sector of outpatient care in the Lake Victoria region. Misclassification and overuse of antibiotics and anti-malarial medications are consistent problems. Identifying the prevalent mosquito-borne pathogens in the region will reduce the prescription of non-indicated medicines. Methods The literature was reviewed focusing on the mosquito-borne pathogens most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Accordingly, an assay comprised of a multiplex-reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (multiplex-RT-PCR-ELISA) was designed and validated in its ability to identify and differentiate nine human mosquito-borne pathogens including eight arboviruses and Plasmodium sp., the aetiologic agents of malaria. Blood samples obtained from 132 children suspected of having malaria were spotted and preserved on Whatman® 903 protein sample cards. Multiplex-RT-PCR-ELISA analysis was assessed and compared to results obtained by blood smear microscopy and the malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT). Results Nine out of nine pathogens were amplified specifically by the multiplex-RT-PCR-ELISA panel. Twenty-seven out of 132 paediatric patients presenting with acute fever were infected with Plasmodium sp., confirmed by multiplex-RT-PCR. The results of blood smear microscopy were only 40% sensitive and 92.8% specific. The malaria RDT, on the other hand, detected acute Plasmodium infections with 96.3% sensitivity and 98.1% specificity. The preservation of Plasmodium sp. in clinical sera and whole blood samples spotted on sample cards was evaluated. The duration of successful, sample card storage was 186 to 312 days. Conclusions Reliable, easy-to-use point of care diagnostic tests are a powerful alternative to laboratory-dependent gold standard tests. The multiplex-RT-PCR-ELISA amplified and identified nine vector-borne pathogens including Plasmodium sp. with great accuracy. Translation of improved diagnostic approaches, i.e., multiplex-RT-PCR-ELISA, into effective treatment options promises to reduce childhood mortality and non-indicated prescriptions.

Zusammenfassung Mehrere Kritiker*innen warnen, dass die Verbreitung des Biookonomie-Diskurses die Kolonialitat von Markten und Wissen weiter verfestige, welche die formal postkolonialen Nord-Sud-Beziehungen pragten. In diesem Text stimmen wir diesem Gedankengang nur teilweise zu. Kritiker*innen der globalen Wirkungsmacht des Biookonomie-Diskurses setzen ein zu enges Verstandnis von Biookonomie voraus. Wir argumentieren, dass ein unumstrittener Kern des Biookonomie-Diskurses darin liegt, Visionen und Wege zu konzipieren, wie Institutionen zur Ermoglichung menschlichen Wohlergehens derart organisiert werden konnen ("Wirtschaft"), dass sie den Erfordernissen inter- und intragenerationeller Gerechtigkeit entsprechen und alle moralisch berucksichtigungswurdigen Wesen berucksichtigen ("Bio"). Um diesen "Raum des Moglichen" zu offnen, schlagen wir vor, die Idee der "Biookonomie" strategisch neu anzueignen und stattdessen den Begriff "Bio_Okonomie" zu verwenden: Der Unterstrich verweist auf eine breite Vielfalt ethisch rechtfertigbarer Visionen, wie das "Bio" mit der "Okonomie" verknupft werden sollte. Das gesamte Spektrum der politischen Diskurse uber die Zukunft der Landwirtschaft in den Landern Subsahara-Afrikas enthalt das Potenzial, einen kritischen Diskurs uber Biookonomie-Visionen entstehen zu lassen. Diese These belegen wir anhand von zwei Fallstudien aus dem landwirtschaftlichen Diskurs in Tansania: zu Landnutzung und zu gentechnisch veranderten Organismen. In beiden Bereichen finden sich Indizien dafur, dass es eine Vielfalt bio_okonomischer Visionen gibt, die von verschiedenen Interessengruppen in Tansania, wenn auch implizit, befurwortet werden. Schlagworter: Umweltethik, Ethik der Biookonomie, implizite Normativitat, landwirtschaftliche Visionen, afrikanische Zukunfte, sozial-okologische Transformationen, Landnutzungskonflikte, Tansania, genetisch veranderte Organismen ----- Which Bio_economy for what Kind of Future? Towards Re-politicization of a Discourse from the Global North through Insights from Tanzania Abstract Several critics have warned that the proliferation of the bioeconomy discourse is further entrenching the coloniality of markets and knowledge engrained in formally postcolonial North-South relationships. In this paper, we only partly agree with this line of reasoning. As we claim, critics of the global power of the bioeconomy discourse understand bioeconomy in too narrow of terms. An unanimous core of the bioeconomy discourse, we argue, is the quest for visions and ways to organise institutions that enable human flourishing (“economy”) in ways that comply with the requirements of inter- and intragenerational justice and that take all morally considerable beings into account (“bio”). To open up this “space of possibilities”, we strategically reappropriate the notion of “bioeconomy”, instead using the term “bio_economy”, with the underscore signifying a broad variety of ethically justifiable visions of how the “bio” ought to be entangled with the “economy”. As we demonstrate in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, the full range of national policy discourses on the future of agriculture contain potential for the development of critical visions of bioeconomy. We demonstrate the latter by turning to two articulations of agricultural discourse in Tanzania: land-use and genetically modified organisms. These cases provide evidence of the diversity of bio_economy visions already endorsed, albeit implicitly, by different interest groups in Tanzania. Keywords: environmental ethics, ethics of bioeconomy, implicit normativity, agricultural visions, african futures, socio-ecological transformations, landuse conflicts, depoliticization, Tanzania, genetically modified organisms ----- Bibliographie: Pissarskoi, Eugen/Ouma, Stefan/Schopp, Kerstin/Singo, Leiyo/Potthast, Thomas: Welche Bio_Okonomie fur welche Zukunft? Zur Repolitisierung eines Diskurses im Globalen Norden durch Einsichten aus Tansania, PERIPHERIE – Politik • Okonomie • Kultur, 3+4-2020, S. 258-283. https://doi.org/10.3224/peripherie.v40i3-4.03

While many studies dealing with the problem of militarised refugees analyse when and how militarised refugees lead to a diffusion of violence, it is unclear what conditions contribute to the avoidance of it. The present paper tackles this issue by linking securitisation theory to research on militarised refugees and war diffusion and thus offers new insights into the conditions of prevention of conflict diffusion. Specifically, it compares the two cases of former Zaire (now DR Congo) and Tanzania. Both countries faced an influx of refugees and refugee militarisation following the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and the civil war in Burundi in the 1990s, though their outcomes varied in terms of regional war diffusion. The article suggests that while certain security strategies such as closure of borders and the repatriation and expulsion of refugees might be successful in preventing conflict diffusion, they often include a breach of international refugee law when preventing bona fide refugees from entering the country. Hence, communicating and cooperating with peaceful members of the refugee communities and confronting those suspected of being responsible for the violence are necessary steps to deal with this issue.

Residents of informal settlements in urban centres in Africa are known to suffer disproportionate burdens of environmental and socio-economic inequalities and are often excluded from macro-level visions and policies that seek to make cities safer and prosperous (Birkmann, 2007; da Silva & Braulio, 2014; Dodman et al., 2013). This tension undermines the validity of orthodox, ‘expert-led’ visions, policies and measures of prosperity that are distant from the lived-experience of marginalised urban residents. Based on new empirical work with communities in three informal settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this article argues that novel methodological and theoretical approaches to co-producing context-specific policy-relevant knowledge about pathways to prosperity (translated by the communities as maisha bora, ‘the good life’) creates inclusive spaces for both community participation in processes of urban knowledge production and critical social enquiry that can lead to grounded theory building. By co-producing both an agreed and relevant methodological approach for the study, and its subsequent documentation and analysis, this work contributes valuable empirical insights about the capacities and capabilities of local communities to shape and influence urban policy-making and in this way speaks to calls for a global urbanism (Ong, 2011; Robinson, 2016) that brings diverse voices and geographies to urban theory to better account for the diversity of urban experiences and processes found in twenty-first century cities.

Self-building is the prevalent mode of urban production in rapidly urbanizing African cities. National and international policy frameworks, as well as popular discourse, still portray self-building as an informal and temporary fix for insufficient state investment—as the exception, rather than the rule. Meanwhile, emerging literature about the Global South draws from an analysis of processes, practices, spatialities, and lived experiences of urbanization and dwelling. This literature seeks to unveil how ordinary processes such as self-building unfold in different localities and realities, challenging the reluctance of government and private actors in recognizing self-building as a long-term mode of urban production. This article contributes to this literature through an ethnographic analysis of the oldest and most common modality of self-built houses in Tanzania—the Swahili house—and its unfolding in two traditional, centrally-located neighborhoods of Dar es Salaam. It emphasizes the home and dwelling aspirations, practices, and trajectories of a predominantly low-income population settling in the city. Based on the analysis, this article proposes that the self-building of Swahili houses and neighborhoods in Dar es Salaam represents a form of popular urbanization, characterized by long temporalities that simultaneously facilitate and are facilitated by affordable and incremental forms and processes of home building through residents’ appropriation of their own territories. However, in the city’s increasingly contested inner-city territories, top-down policy responses and large-scale, infrastructure-led urban development generate tensions and make such a popular form of self-building vulnerable to erasure and un-homing.

Religion has become increasingly contentious in recent years. Faith-based discrimination, hostility and violence seem to have increased worldwide. But how can faith lead to conflict? In this article, we test the impact of two important dimensions of religion that have been neglected in previous research: the belief in ‘one true religion’ and perceptions of threats by other religious groups. Putting these two potential drivers to the test, we conducted a representative survey experiment with 972 respondents in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Results show that one of the tested dimensions, perceptions of threats by others, increases the support to use violence to defend one’s own group. This is particularly the case for religiously intolerant respondents with characteristics such as pre-existing threat perceptions, unfavorable views on intermarriage, or belief in the superiority of their own faith. In contrast, we find relatively weak evidence that the prime of ‘one true religion’ increases the readiness to use violence. Our findings have important implications for policy: We conclude that appeals by leaders to threats by others and intolerance toward other faiths can contribute to more conflict. Political and religious leaders should refrain from capitalizing on such notions and should promote tolerance towards other faiths instead.

CEPS Journal 12 (2022) 2, S. 239-265, The paper is about a study that investigated how the integration of assessment for learning enhances learning achievement among secondary school biology students in Tanzania. A quasi-experimental design involving pre-test and post-test of non-equivalent control and experimental groups was used to ascertain how the integration of assessment for learning into teaching and learning processes enhances students’ learning achievement. Two boarding secondary schools located in the suburbs of Dar Es Salaam were selected. Students in the two schools had maintained equivalent performances in national examinations in previous years. The results showed that the students taught using teaching and learning processes integrating assessment for learning outperformed those taught using conventional approaches. The integration of assessment for learning is likely to have contributed to the higher learning achievement in the experimental group. The study contributes to our understanding of how teachers in resource-constrained classrooms can integrate assessment for learning techniques into their day-to-day lessons, thereby harnessing the power of assessment to enhance learning and raise standards. (DIPF/Orig.)

Die weltweit steigenden Antibiotikaresistenzen sind zu einer globalen Herausforderung geworden. Von dieser Entwicklung betroffen ist auch das Bakterium Helicobacter Pylori (H.p), welches in Ländern des afrikanischen Kontinents besonders hohe Prävalenzraten aufweist. In ressourcenschwachen Ländern wie Tansania ist aufgrund der begrenzten Verfügbarkeit diagnostischer Testverfahren die Identifizierung und Therapie von H.p. infizierten Personen oft unzureichend. Tansania weist im internationalen Vergleich bislang nur wenige Studien zur H.p.-Prävalenz und Antibiotikaresistenzlage auf. Um die Datenlage für Tansania zu verbessern wurden im Rahmen dieser Arbeit potentielle Risikofaktoren für sowie die Prävalenz und aktuelle Resistenzlage von H.p.-Infektionen bei Patientinnen und Patienten mit epigastrischen Beschwerden in Tansania untersucht. Darüber hinaus wurden diagnostische Schnelltestverfahren für H.p.-Infektionen im Hinblick auf ihre Testgenauigkeit und Anwendbarkeit in Tansania geprüft. Zur Identifizierung mögliche infektionsassoziierte Faktoren wurden mittels Fragebögen soziodemographische und klinische Merkmale sowie Aspekte der Lebensgewohnheiten und Lebensumstände der Probanden erhoben und statistisch ausgewertet. Die Prävalenzbestimmung des untersuchten Studienkollektivs erfolgte anhand der auf dem 23S-rDNA Gen basierten qRT-PCR, welche für diese Arbeit als Referenzverfahren definiert wurde. Die resistenzcodierenden DNA-Abschnitte wurden auf bekannte Resistenzmutationen gegen Clarithromycin- und Fluorchinolon-Antibiotika hin untersucht. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie deuten auf eine weite Verbreitung von H.p.-Infektionen bei Patientinnen und Patienten mit epigastrischen Beschwerden in Tansania hin. Die darüber hinaus festgestellte hohe Anzahl molekulargenetisch nachgewiesener Resistenzraten von H.p.-Stämmen gegenüber Antibiotika verdeutlichen die Wichtigkeit einer sicheren Diagnostik und resistogrammgerechten Therapie im Klinikalltag. Die in dieser Arbeit untersuchten Schnelltestmethoden scheinen aufgrund der geringen Sensitivitäts- und NPW-Werte als Standardverfahren hierfür nicht geeignet. Die Etablierung einer routinemäßig durchgeführten prätherapeutischen Antibiogrammerstellung und eine daran angepasste Therapie wären wünschenswert., Increasing antimicrobial resistance to commonly used antibiotics have become a global challenge. This development also affects the bacterium Helicobacter Pylori (H.p.), which shows high prevalence rates in African countries. The identification and therapy of H.p. infected people in resource-limited countries such as Tanzania is often insufficient due to the limited availability of diagnostic tests. By international comparison, there are only a few studies on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance rates of H.p. for Tanzania. In order to improve the data situation for Tanzania, this study investigates potential risk factors as well as the prevalence and current resistance situation of H.p. infections in Tanzanian patients with dyspeptic symptoms. In addition, rapid diagnostic test methods for H.p. infections were tested to identify their accuracy and applicability in Tanzania. Data about the patients’ sociodemographic situation, symptoms and aspects of lifestyle habits and living conditions were collected and statistically examined in order to identify possible risk factors for infection. The prevalence of H.p. is based on the results of the 23S-rDNA gene-based qRT-PCR. The resistance-encoding DNA segments: the 23S rDNA gene region and the gyrA gene were sequenced and evaluated for known resistance mutations to clarithromycin and fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The results of this study indicate that H.p. infections are widespread in patients with dyspeptic symptoms in Tanzania and that the resistance rates of H.p. strains to antibiotics are relatively high. This underlines the importance of reliable diagnostic tests and resistogram-based therapy in clinical practice. The establishment of a routine pretherapeutic antibiogram and an accordingly adapted therapy are desirable.

Teachers enter the profession with enthusiasm for the new adventure. Unfortunately, when they start working, they encounter circumstances that give rise to stress. The present study, which used a sample of 550 participants from 50 primary schools selected from the Kisarawe district in the Coastal Region of Tanzania, examines the extent of stress among primary school teachers and the factors influencing stress. Overall, the results indicate that teachers’ levels of stress range from low to moderate. Moreover, the results from hierarchical regression analysis indicate that factors such as sex, class size, age, career intentions and teaching subject significantly predict teachers’ stress. The study concludes that there is a need for the government, policymakers and school administrators to reduce teachers’ workload. Furthermore, school administrators in particular should be supportive and should design mechanisms that could develop a sense of collegiality among teachers in order to improve teacher-to-teacher relationships.

This working paper investigates the livelihoods, trajectories, networks and self-generated opportunities of vulnerable migrants in refugee-like situations in Dar es Salaam. Its main purpose is to arrive at a deeper understanding of protracted displacement through a ���figurational approach���, which stresses the networks and the interdependencies of urban refugees in Dar es Salaam, across Tanzania, and across national borders. Refugees��� social relations do not unfold in a vacuum but are shaped by the regimes of aid and asylum that govern their lives. In a context of constant fear of imprisonment and deportation, this working paper gives particular attention to the alliances that the vulnerable migrants build within Dar es Salaam. It underlines their agency and coping strategies, as they bring with them many valuable skills. Capitalising on these skills can result in longstanding partnerships between vulnerable migrants and locals. Spaces of freedom where displaced people do not need to live in a perpetual state of fear and uncertainty are equally important. More than focusing on constraints, this paper underlines the urban refugees��� agency and survival strategies. We pay particular attention to the mobility and connectivity of female urban refugees, also within a digital context. Through (social media) entrepreneurship, women in refugee- like situations have managed to overcome immobilisation and create new opportunities for themselves. By analysing a variety of life situations throughout this paper, we seek to recognise and promote urban refugees��� agency and dignity., TRAFIG Working Paper No. 8