Tanzanian Association for Sign Language Interpretation (TASLI)

TASLI was established as a national platform for connecting Sign Language interpreters in issues of advancing professional development and associated benefits, publicity, and networking with other like-minded institutions. 2006: TASLI official registration under organization act No 24 of 2002 (NGO), with its head office in Mtoni Mtongani area in Temeke Dar es Salaam. First general assembly organized. The first board elected. In 2008 TASLI established a 5-year working plan, which enabled its operation in the Tanzania mainland. The operations included promotion of the organization and the SLI profession, membership soliciting, and SLI‘s training in parts of Tanzania through collaboration with a local partner. 2008 was also the year in which TASLI joined the world association of sign language interpreters congress in South Africa. 2015 TASLI celebrated one of the anticipated advocacy achievements when the government approved the recruitment of the first two official sign language interpreters in the parliaments of the United Republic of Tanzania, which was later followed by the recruitment of two SLIs at the National television. May 2014 to May 2015 TASLI worked with CICED on a pilot project, funded by CISU, wherein capacity building of TASLI and its board, as well as Training-of-Trainers in Sign Language Interpretation, took place. The project also facilitated close collaboration between TASLI and CHAVITA. The above-mentioned pilot project was followed by a joint CICED-CHAVITA-TASLI project 2017-2018 focusing on capacity building in advocacy and facilitating the establishment of a university-based and certified sign language interpretation program. 2020- to date TASLI collaborates with the Tanzania Association of the Deaf-CHAVITA and the Kiswahili National Council-BAKITA to facilitate identification registration and Data bank processing to enable the formal provision of Sign Language interpreting services in Tanzania.