Saturday, January 31, 2015

Agriculturalists to release Acts in lay language


Agricultural Non-State Actors Forum (ANSAF)
Agricultural stakeholders have resolved to produce popular simplified versions of Warehouse Receipt System Act 2005 and Cooperative Societies Act 2013, print for wider dissemination to farmers and quick reference by other players. 
The version to contain pictorials and cartoon aims at enabling farmers and other players understand the two critical laws that govern production, storage and marketing of farm produces. 

Most laws in the country are written in English, a language most people do not understand and to some extent even the Kiswahili translations typical of jargons too hard to be understood  by the targeted audience, it was revealed this week in a stakeholders’ meeting held in Dodoma.
The meeting was hosted by the Agricultural Non-State Actors Forum (ANSAF) and brought together representatives of smallholder farmers (primary cooperatives), union cooperatives, AMCOS and Region & District cooperatives. 
Others included financial institutions, crop boards, warehouse operators, exporters/traders, government agencies, Ministry of Agriculture Food security and Cooperatives, Ministry of Industry and Business as well as officials from the Prime Ministers’ Office.

Speaking at the event, ANSAF executive director, Audax Rukonge explained that there is need for farmers to understand the regulations governing their activities, thus the need for a friendly version.
He said the plan is not to alter the meaning of the laws but to put it into a simpler format that would be clear to everyone. “The target is to use simple, attractive version that farmers and other players can understand with ease,” he said.
Prof Marjorie Mbilinyi echoed Rukonge, saying despite the fact that the two Acts are written in English, they are very technically presented, too difficult for ordinary laypersons to read and understand. 
“The decision to publicize the two Acts is commendable; hopefully the relevant government departments will routinely produce popular versions of all such key Acts in Kiswahili in the future,” she said.

Fidelis Temu from the Tanzania Warehousing Licensing Board (TWLB) admitted that there is dire need for such user friendly versions of the law to help farmers understand the concept of warehousing and cooperative societies.
He noted that the warehouse system has been in the country since time immemorial though in different forms but farmers were yet understood the concept, thus a simpler version of the law will be very useful.

“Many people do not understand legal jargon used in most laws in the country, even if translated into local language and a more simpler version would bridge the gap,” said Temu.
Participant Alvin Ulomi expressed concerns over an extremely a few people who have been reached in regard to educating the public about the warehouse receipt system.

“It is important for the public, especially farmers to understand the two laws which are aimed at improving their conditions,” he said.
According to Ulomi much as there are those campaigning against WRS, the system has other benefits but many farmers do not understand them due to technicality of the language used in literatures about the system.
While office of the Attorney General (AG) would translate the laws into Kiswahili the group plans to produce the user friendly version soon and disseminate it throughout the country through cooperative officers.  

Friday, January 30, 2015

Unlocking the Potential of the Tourism Industry for Tanzanians

More than 1 million tourists visited Tanzania’s world-class tourist attractions in 2013, including Mount Kilimanjaro, the wildebeest migration in Serengeti and the warm beaches of Zanzibar, making tourism a strong driver of growth for the country. Although tourism has grown rapidly in the last decade attracting a growing number of tourists each year, a new tourism strategy would provide even greater benefits for a larger number of Tanzanians, according to a new World Bank Group report.
In addition to providing an assessment of the current economy, the sixth Tanzania Economic Update, The Elephant in the Room: Unlocking the potential of the Tourism Industry for Tanzanians, explores the current benefits of tourism and the benefits it could provide if developed and managed appropriately. 
The report’s recommendation to expand tourism to increase economic growth comes on the heels of a recent rebasing of gross domestic product (GDP) and the latest household budget survey, which challenges the traditional view of the Tanzanian economy. With the income per capita at $950 and the poverty rate down from 33% to 28% in 2012, the country is closer to reaching middle-income status, according to the report. In 2014, the report notes that the economy continued to expand by around 7% with controlled inflation averaging 5%.
Despite significant tourism growth and currently employing around a half million people, many Tanzanians do not reap the benefits; about one-third of the country’s population still lives below the poverty line. According to the report, not only is tourism a booming global industry, it is also capable of creating a large number of jobs, setting the stage for a new tourism strategy that reaches more Tanzanians.
To help the country reach its goal to increase tourism revenue eightfold by 2025, the report outlines three pillars to address current tourism challenges;
  • Pillar I: Diversification of Geographic Locations and Tourism Segments
  • Currently, tourism caters to the high-value tourist who can pay several thousand dollars to see animals while at exclusive resorts in two specific locations: Northern circuits around Arusha and Zanzibar. Diversification of the industry would include both expanding geographic options and other tourist attractions that meet the expectations of a broader range of tourists, such as beach activities, cultural as well as business tourism.
  • Pillar II: Integration of Tourism Activities at Existing Attractions
  • Arguably, Tanzania’s tourism industry is not creating enough high-value, productive jobs for local workers, with an average worker making only one-third of what his or her counterpart makes in Kenya. In addition, many resorts rely on imported materials, equipment and food. Proactive policies, developed jointly by the public and private sectors, are needed to address these two areas with the goal of enhancing local skills and quality to meet the standards of this highly competitive industry.
  • Pillar III: Improvement in the Quality of Governance
  • The tourism industry is currently constrained by the imposition of multiple taxes and levies that discourage investors, particularly small investors and increases opportunities for rent seeking and corruption. This pillar involves the implementation of a fair, business-friendly taxation system and the development of transparent redistribution mechanisms, including to local stakeholders.

If the goal of increasing tourism is achieved, the increased pressure on the environment will also present some challenges that will need to be managed, according to the report. These include managing uncontrolled poaching of giraffes and elephants, competition for water resources and land that can generate l conflicts of interests between farmers, hydropower operations and the preservation of natural ecosystems that support Tanzania’s tourism.

The Delegation of the European Union Issues the Following Statement


The government decision of January 23rd to suspend the circulation of "The East African", a long-established regional newspaper, gives rise to concerns about freedom of press in Tanzania.
It is the duty of the media to work within the law and to make every effort to adopt and a dhere to professional standards. But Press Freedom and freedom to express opinions are fundamental rights of the people, which call for circumspection and proportionality in the application of the law.
The Delegation of the European Union expresses its concern that modern media legislation in Tanzania, including on the citizens' Right to Information, has not yet been promulgated despite the longstanding requests of the media profession and the repeated commitments of the Government.
It is recalled that in October 2010 the EU's independent Election Observation Mission recommended expediting modernisation of the media laws, taking into account stakeholders' views.
The Delegation of the European Union calls upon the Government to make every effort to preserve the freedom of expression in Tanzania and it urges all stakeholders to prioritise constructive dialogue as the primary means to resolve differences.
It also reiterates its commitment to monitor, support promote and monitor media freedom as a shared value of the EU partnership with Tanzania.
The High Commission of Canada and Embassies of Norway and Switzerland associate themselves with this statement.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

World is ‘Dangerously Unprepared’ for Future Pandemics


World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim
Saying the world was “dangerously unprepared” for future pandemics, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today laid out a vision in which insurance companies, governments, multi-lateral organizations, corporations and international donors worked together to build a system that would help all countries prepare for potentially catastrophic health disasters.
“The Ebola outbreak has been devastating in terms of lives lost and the loss of economic growth in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone,” Kim told an audience at Georgetown University.“We need to make sure that we get to zero cases in this Ebola outbreak. At the same time, we need to prepare for future pandemics that could become far more deadly and infectious than what we have seen so far with Ebola. We must learn the lessons from the Ebola outbreak because there is no doubt we will be faced with other pandemics in the years to come.”
Kim said that the World Bank Group has been working for several months with the World Health Organization, other United Nations agencies, academics, re-insurance company officials and others to work on a concept of developing a pandemic facility; discussions also were held in informal sessions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week.
He said he expects that a proposal will be presented in the coming months to leaders of developed and developing countries. While a proposal would likely involve a combination of bonds and insurance instruments, he said that in some ways, a future pandemic response facility was similar to a homeowner’s insurance policy.
“This could work like insurance policies that people understand, like fire insurance,” he said.“The more that you are prepared for a fire, such as having several smoke detectors in your house, the lower the premium you pay.”
Kim continued: “The more that countries, multi-lateral institutions, corporations and donors work together to prepare for future pandemics – by building stronger health systems, improved surveillance and chains of supply and transportation, and fast-acting medical response teams --  the lower the premium as well. That would benefit donors and others who would pay the premium, but the greatest benefit would be that market mechanisms would help us to push improvements in our preparedness for epidemics.”
The World Bank Group president said that one possible outcome from the development of a pandemic facility would be a strengthened World Health Organization, as well as building capacity in developing countries for stronger regional disease-control agencies.
Kim delivered his talk during the inaugural Global Futures Lecture at Georgetown. The lecture, titled ‘Lessons from Ebola: Toward a post-2015 strategy for pandemic response,” will kick off a semester-long conversation about the “Global Future of Development” at Georgetown as part of the university’s new Global Futures Initiative.

Immunization Saves Millions of Kids


President Jakaya Kikwete has hailed the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) for its initiatives on immunization, saying the move has made immunization possible to 370 million children in developing countries.
Addressing the Margins of GAVI second Replenishing Conference here on Monday, Dr Kikwete, said the initiative has helped the developing countries to prevent more than 5.5 million future deaths since 2000.
"These would have been caused by preventable diseases such as Hepatitis B, Haemophilus Influenza type B (HiB), Measles, Pertussis, Pneumonic disease, Polio, Rotavirus, Diarrhoea and Yellow Fever," said Head of the State.
The meeting aimed at discussing to scale up of the immunization programmes to reach more children and save more lives, brought together heads of state and different stakeholders in the programme.
Mr Kikwete pointed out that it took a lot of efforts and commitment on the part of a number of players including GAVI, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners, to prevent the diseases.
"We in Tanzania have made remarkable achievements with regard to vaccine and immunization coverage.
Thanks to GAVI every child irrespective of the place they came from, family they belong to or gender are now granted free access to immunization," he said.
Mr Kikwete thanked the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the outstanding contribution to the programme.
"Tanzania is proud to be part of this great GAVI family, and part of this historical mission of saving lives of innocent children through vaccine and immunization," he said.
President Kikwete is here on official tour whereby among the other things is expected to hold discussion with French leaders.

Human rights activists again appeal to government to amend Marriage Act


LHRC Executive Director, Dr Hellen Bisimba

Human rights activists have called on the government to amend section 13 of the Marriage Act, 1971 saying it is toothless and enhances the increase of the child marriages in the country.
 
They made the call on Monday in Dar es Salaam when commenting on the particular law during a seminar organised by Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC).
 
In her opening address, LHRC Executive Director, Dr Hellen Bisimba said that despite the presence of the Child Act, 2009 which states that a child is any person under the age of 18, still section 3 of the Marriage Act, 1971 allows a girl child to be married under the age of 18 with the consent of her parents.
 
“This is what we call discrimination and violation of child rights…girls are married because of this act. We no longer need it since it results into health and psychological problems to most of the girls,” she explained.
 
Dr Bisimba noted that child marriage is a global issue and it undermines children development mainly in developing countries. She said the specific act contributes into girls failing to complete their studies thus affecting their future.
 
“We want this act amended because the situation in Mara, Manyara and Dodoma regions is worse,” she said.
 
Speaking at the events, Canadian High Commissioner, Alexander Leveque said that while Tanzania has been struggling to ensure early marriages are compacted, there are still challenges to overcome. 
 
“The launch of national ending child marriage campaign ‘Child Marriage- Free Zone’ is recommendable though there is an increase in the number of early marriage especially in Mara Region”, he said.
 
He added that child and forced marriage put the lives and future of the girls at risk, calling on international organs to put applicable laws to combat the issue.
 
“It is a violation of their human rights and hinders the development of girls, their communities and their countries,” he added.
 
“The implication of child marriage, early and forced marriage is widespread and profound. Complications related to pregnancy, HIV/ Aids and childbirth are leading cause of death for girls between 15 and 19,” he noted.
 
According to Leveque the economic impact of educating girls are undeniable. His country has managed to end the practice by ensuring that education for girls is among the priorities. He advised the  government to do the same.
 
“We played an active role in development of the first-ever stand  along with resolutions on child, early and forced marriage at the Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Assembly”, he explained.
 
For her part, LHRC Programme Officer, Naemy Sillayo said, “Contradiction between the two laws puts the lives of most girls in danger”. 
 
It is estimated that 14 millions girls are married every year before they turn 18, which means that one in three girls in developing world marries before she turns 18. And one in nine marries before the age of 15.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Exim Bank donates sanitary facilities to Kigoma municipality


Kigoma Regional Commissioner Lt. (rtd) Issa Machibya (centre) cuts a ribbon to officially open one of the dust bins donated by Exim Bank – Kigoma Branch for them to start being used on keeping the city clean. Others are Exim Bank staff and Kigoma municipality leaders. 

Exim Bank Tanzania has donated sanitary facilities to Kigoma municipality a purposive move that aims to complement the government efforts on keeping the city clean.

Speaking during the handover ceremony in Kigoma recently, Exim Bank (Kigoma) branch manager, Mr. Alphaxard Etanga, said despite being the part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility (CSR), the deliberate move aims at subsidizing the government efforts in maintaining a conducive environment for the city residents.

“It has been our spirit to give back to the community and today, after recognizing the great efforts made by government in providing sanitary services to its residents with the end goal of keeping the city clean, we decided to condense pressure into these efforts by donating these equipment which will also help to ensure that the city residents are placed far from the verge of contracting epidemic diseases,” Mr. Etanga said while adding:
“For Exim Bank, building close ties with its public means being involved to communities and contributing to societal well-being. Handing over of these sanitary facilities came as an easy decision for the bank and we are pleased to play part in boosting the environmental sector in the country.”

He said the government could not solve all the challenges that confront the environmental sector; therefore it is up to other corporate organizations that should also enumerate the gesture of supporting the government efforts on environment conservation.

Expressing gratitude to the bank for the donation Kigoma - Regional Commissioner, Lt. (rtd) Issa Machibya said that the donation came at the right time as the municipal was running short in some equipment and facilities.
“We want to thank Exim Bank for their zeal and commitment in supporting the environmental sector in the country. The presentation of these sanitary equipment will go a long way in helping keeping our city clean,” said Mr. Machibya.

Friday, January 23, 2015

This is why there aren't more women at Davos

This year only 17% of Davos participants are women. That number doesn’t reflect how bad gender diversity in global leadership really is.

As the world’s most formidable leaders prepare to gather at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, the event’s glaring lack of gender diversity has once again been brought to the public’s attention. Of the 2,500 participants, only 17% of Davos’ participants will be women.
That number may seem low—but it’s up from last year’s 15%.
Despite the criticism, Davos gender breakdown is merely a reflection of a global reality. CEOs like Yahoo’s  Marissa Mayer and General Motors  Mary Barra get a lot of press, but they’re outliers. The vast majority of the world’s largest companies are led by men: In Fortune‘s Global 500, only 3.4% of companies have female chief executives.
It’s slightly—only slightly—better in politics. Women make up 6% of all heads of state and 8% of all heads of government.
And, of course, women are famously underrepresented in the boardroom. Only 11% of board seats at the world’s largest and best-known companies are occupied by women.
But targeting Davos misses the point. Yes, the fact that the organization (which bills itself as “committed to improving the state of the world through public-private cooperation”) doesn’t go above and beyond to engage more women is an issue. But it’s not the crux of the problem.
Consider this: In 2011, the World Economic Forum did make a concerted effort to recruit more women to its annual meeting. It created a gender quota system, requiring large corporations to bring one woman for every four men who attend Davos. The quota won’t do much, though, if women aren’t crowding companies’ corner offices. As Barri Rafferty, CEO of Ketchum North America, pointed out in an interview with Fortune’s Caroline Fairchild, “If your company is going to send five people, they are going to look at their C-Suite people, which likely has fewer women.”
So really, who’s to blame for the lack of women at Davos: The World Economic Forum or the corporations themselves?

BRN ‘success’ in education queried

Inadequate number of teachers in both primary and secondary schools; lack of learning and teaching materials in public schools; no in-service teacher training opportunities; no staff houses; low salaries and above all, lack of modern educational infrastructure. This was the situation of Tanzanian schools until 2012, before Big Results Now (BRN) initiative was launched.
Now, one year after, the question is: has the education sector improved in terms of quality? Not really, at least according to the assessment conducted a local non-governmental organisation with a bias towards education, HakiElimu.
Yesterday, the NGO said the much-touted Big Results Now, insofar as education is concerned, has failed to attain the aspired goal.
HakiElimu’s verdict comes at a time when International Review Panel (IRP) is also reviewing the entire BRN programme in the education sector during the past two years.
BRN set the following targets: to increase the pass-rate of students at both primary and secondary schools by between 60 and 70 per cent; to give education subsidy to all students as agreed in the budget; to train 19,035 teachers in education management skills; to train additional 12,300 teachers in early childhood education; to build 500 houses for secondary schools teachers; to repair infrastructure in 1,200 public secondary schools and to ensure there are enough textbooks to students at both primary and secondary schools.
HakiElimu says that though there was some progress, especially in the pass rates, the BRN failed to meet targets during the past two years.
Under BRN, the number of students who passed their exams at secondary level increased by 58 per cent in 2013, from 50.6 per cent recorded in 2012. The target was to increase the pass rate by 70 per cent.
At primary school level, the number of pupils who passed their final national exams increased to 50.6 in 2013, from 30.7 per cent achieved in 2012—before BRN.
According to HakiElimu, despite the progress achieved in secondary education, the situation was still pathetic at primary school level—which is the foundation of any successful education system.
But, even at the secondary school level, where there were higher achievements in terms of those who passed the national exams, the success was just cosmetic—achieved because the government introduced new grading system that made passing easier.
Critics are likening the new grading system, with someone who expands the dimensions of the goal to enable players to without difficulty.
In terms of subsidy, though every pupil in primary school was supposed to get Sh10,000, at the end only Sh3,580 was doled out. For secondary schools, every student was supposed to get a subsidy of Sh25,000 a year, but only Sh16,384 was released.

Private sector, ‘care economy’ will be key engines of job creation for next 5 years


Private sector services, such as business and administrative services, and real estate, as well as related industries, will employ more than a third of the global workforce over the next five years, according to new data released by the United Nations labour agency.
“Service sector employment will remain the most dynamic with respect to job creation in the next five years,” said Raymond Torres, a head researcher of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in a statement released today.
The ILO’s Economic and Social Outlook, released earlier this week, found that public services in health care, education and administration will also continue to be a major source of employment. While increasing at a slower pace than the private sector, they will still represent 15 per cent of total employment.
Industrial employment is expected to stabilize globally at slightly below 22 per cent because the pace of job creation in the construction sector is estimated to decline in comparison to the period 2010-2013. Meanwhile, employment levels in manufacturing will remain largely unchanged over the next 5 years and will account for only 12 per cent of all jobs in 2019.
The good news is that there is also growing demand for jobs that require face-to-face interaction, such as in health and personal services, signalling the emergence of a large care economy.
“These trends highlight the role of policies to help enterprises and workers seize the opportunities associated with new technology, while at the same time breaking barriers for moving up the economic and social ladder, especially for women,” said Mr. Torres.
But global trends show significant regional variations, with medium-skilled jobs disappearing in advanced economies at a faster pace than is the case in emerging and developing countries.
This polarization between higher and lower-skilled jobs is having a direct impact on labour incomes. The increase in jobs at both the lower and upper ends of the skills ladder, at the expense of those in the middle, has and will continue to contribute to widening income inequality.
The number of routine jobs, such as machine operator or assembler has decreased in many countries, raising concerns over the role of manufacturing in helping workers to escape poverty.
Without manufacturing jobs, opportunities for rural workers to improve their employment situation will be scarce. This shift of employment to services and a decline in manufacturing means a significant change in the skills demanded by the labour market.
“There will be a hollowing out of jobs needing medium levels of skill for routine tasks that can be automated,” said Mr. Torres.
People who once occupied these jobs will need to acquire new skills, or instead, face the prospect of competing for jobs at the lower end of the skill spectrum, he concluded.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Act on child marriage crisis, Graca challenges Dar varsity

                                 
The widow of former South African President Nelson Mandela yesterday urged the University of Dar es Salaam to come up with a methodology, which would help  address child marriage in the country.
Ms Graca Machel, who visited the UDSM’s Gender Centre and Institute of Development Studies, said the institution must come up with a solution on the matter, especially in Mara Region.
She said studies show that Mara Region had the most cases of child marriages and that a special programme should be designed for it because it is deeply rooted in cultural beliefs.
Ms Machel, who has been an international advocate for social and political freedom for decades, said UDSM was in good position to research and come up with lasting solutions on the matter.
“My visit to this university is to request you to form a methodology that will help address child marriage in Mara Region and other areas in this country. I understand that you are in a good position to draw a roadmap and manage to monitor the campaign,” she said.
She added, “the institution has the capacity to give and develop the right path to address the root causes because gender issues are real development issues.”
According to Ms Machel, the programme should involve selecting some schools and conduct studies as to why girls perform poorly in class.
“Let’s do that job and come up with answers. Girls are capable and are as intelligent as boys, but there have been bad records in their academic performance,” she said.
UDSM’s Professor Bertha Koda said Tanzania has impressive policies regarding gender issues, but most of them have not been implemented accordingly.
Moreover, Dr Rose Shayo from the Institute of Development Studies said gender issues were highly linked to stereotypes. Communities believe that if a girl is not in school the only option was to get married.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

New York Times Gives Dar 'Gold Medal


TANZANIA has been named among 52 places to go this year by the 'New York Times', in a new development that gives a further boost to the country's growing tourism industry.
The American daily newspaper mentions in a recent edition the newly high profile hotels and camp sites in the main tourists attractions of Serengeti National Park, Tarangire, Selous Game Reserve and Ruaha National Park.
The Serengeti National Park, which is a UNESCO heritage site, is famous for its annual migration of over 1.5 million white bearded (or brindled) wildebeest and 250,000 zebra and for its numerous Nile crocodile.
Commenting on the report, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Lazaro Nyalandu, told the 'Daily News' that the report was testimony of continued efforts to implement right policies in the tourism sector and fighting against poaching.
"The New York report makes all of us in Tanzania proud. It is a demonstration of our continued efforts to implement the right policies related to tourism and keep us with an on-going battles against poaching," he said.
The desire of the government is to see Tanzania becoming the leading conservation state in the world, he added. The Minister further said the government projected the number of tourist arrivals shooting to two million in the near future and and up to five million by 2020.
"These require sustained investments in hotel and other tourist related infrastructure and we are committed to do that," he said. Zanzibar, a well known tourist hotspot, is also mentioned with the upcoming opening of Park Hyatt Zanzibar, a five-star luxury hotel located in Stone Town.
It further says security fear that affected tourism industry in Tanzania had inadvertently benefited Tanzania. Kenya's tourism sector is currently facing crisis due to security concerns. International tourist arrivals in Kenya decreased from 1.7 million in 2012 to 1.5 million in 2013.
According to the 2014 Economic Survey released in 2014 by the Devolution and Planning Ministry, this decline in international arrivals may be attributed to travel advisories by traditional tourist markets due to security concerns.
"Security fears in neighbouring Kenya have inadvertently worked in Tanzania's favour, as far as tourism goes: Its luxurious new lodges are enticing diverted visitors. The everpopular Serengeti retains its cachet with high-profile openings," the newspaper says.
"Asilia Africa's secluded Namiri Plains property and roving mobile camp Kimondo opened in July, followed by Legendary Expeditions' Mwiba Tented Camp in August, and a revamp of & Beyond Grumeti Tented Camp is slated to be unveiled this April."But the real new treasure here is unprecedented access to sparsely trafficked regions.
Nomad Tanzania opened Kuro amid the baobab-studded landscapes of Tarangire; Azura opened a new camp in southern Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve, home to large concentrations of elephant, wild dog and leopard; while Ruaha, one of Tanzania's largest yet least visited national parks, is now home to Nomad's new Kigelia camp and Asilia's Kwihala.
"Not to be outdone by its bush brethren, the alluring isle of Zanzibar is scaling up its luxury hotel offerings in the form of the coming Park Hyatt Zanzibar."
The 'New York Times' (NYT) which is an American daily newspaper, has won 114 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization.
The paper's print version remains the largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and second-largest newspaper overall, behind The Wall Street Journal. It is ranked 39th in the world by circulation.

Youth to Get Training On Project Proposals Writing

The government is to train all cooperative officers in the country on how to write project proposals so that they can in turn train youth groups in the country.
Deputy Minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports Mr Juma Nkamia made the remarks when the Parliamentary Committee on Community Development toured youth groups in Temeke district who have benefited from the ministry's Youth Fund.
In 2014 the youth fund disbursed 17m/- to Temeke Municipality and under the Temeke Youth Saccos, money which was later loaned out to three youth groups.
The groups include Sokoine Youth Development which received 5m/- which has gone into horticulture farming in Kigamboni area, Waungwana Youth Family 5m/- that operate a hair cutting salon and music studio and African Legends Kigamboni who received 7m/- which was invested in a restaurant and an Information Communication Technology (ICT) company.
The purpose of the visit by the deputy minister and the community development committee was to inspect the Saccos and the youth groups that have benefited from the loans and their projects.
Mr Nkamia said the government felt that by training cooperative officers it would be easier for them to reach youth groups at the grassroots level and train them on how to write project proposals so that they can access loans from Saccos.
"We saw the need to train youths in writing good project proposals after noting that some of the project proposals are poorly written.
The training will also help youths access other loans once they are able to produce good written documents," he said. Chairman of the committee, Mr Said Mohamed Mtanda commended the groups for exhibiting such exemplary projects.
He particularly praised the African Legends Youth Group which is formed by four students, some of who have completed their studies and others still in colleges for embarking on such a project.
"This shows that even those in colleges and university can start a small income generating project while they plan how to improve their lives using the knowledge acquired," he said, adding that the idea of the groups to get into agriculture in the near future was commendable.
Earlier, the committee received a brief report on disbursement of funds meant for youths and women by the Temeke Municipality Community Development Officer, Mr John Bwana, detailed how they have been distributing the funds meant for youth groups, but gave little details on funds meant for women groups in the district.
Mr Mtanda directed the officials to prepare a detailed report on how funds from the Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children, meant for women and other sources have been disbursed.
He added that the report should, among other things, contain the number of youths and women groups in the district and how many have received loans so far.
Temeke Municipal Director Mr Photidas Kagimbo explained that they felt that the report should focus on the three youth groups that were being inspected by the committee, but promised that a full report would be prepared and handed over to the committee.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Dr Bilal, policy makers to discuss youth matters

Vice President, Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal


Vice President Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal will tommorrow host a discussion on youth with the country’s policy makers. The aim of the discussion is to get views on how the next set of development goals for the youth should look like.

The discussion is part of Action 2015, a citizen’s movement of nearly 1,000 organisations around the world coming together to raise awareness of how important 2015 is.

They also demand truly ambitious agreements to end poverty and inequality in the world.

The vice president’s dialogue with the youth will be held at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dar es Salaam, where the youth selected from all over the country will raise their voice to what they feel are top priorities ahead of the 2015 UN Summit that will come up with a new set of development goals.

2015 is a unique opportunity for world leaders to accelerate progress towards the eradication of extreme poverty and preventable, treatable child and maternal death by 2030 where Leaders meeting at the UN will agree a new set of goals on development targets that will replace the Millennium Development Goals (which ran from 2000 to 2015).

Speaking ahead of the event, Oscar Kimaro of Restless Development said youth in Tanzania comprise about 60 percent of the total population with those 15 years old now being born when the Millennium Development Goals were unveiled.

“The post-2015 development agenda is about building a better future for these people. They will be 30 years old at the end of the second set of the MDGs in 2030.

“These are the people who will hold our leaders accountable for decisions being taken this year. Their voice and perspectives are important in this process,” he said.

Expected at the event will include the Minister of Information, Youth and Culture, Dr Fenella Mukangara, ONE Africa Executive Director Dr Sipho Moyo, ONE Campaign ambassador in Tanzania, Diamond Platnumz, AY and many other government as well as leaders of civic societies.

As part of the launch of action2015, similar activities are taking place in over 50 countries, including South Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, Lebanon, Norway, Britain, USA and Sri Lanka.

Govt moves to curb attacks on albinos

Home Affairs minister Mathias Chikawe addresses a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday.  With him is Inspector General of Police Ernest Mangu
The government has banned witchcraft-related activities and launched a special operation to arrest those linked with the practice.  The move comes after a four-year-old girl was abducted in Mwanza and amid a rise in attacks on albinos.
The Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Mathias Chikawe, told reporters yesterday that enough was enough and the government would be taking tough action against those targeting albinos for purposes of witchcraft. According to Mr Chikawe, the first recorded killing of albinos was in 2006.
A taskforce formed to tackle the matter is expected to travel countrywide consulting street and village leaders on albino killings. Village leaders are expected to offer direction on the local practice of witchcraft.
The taskforce comprises the security agencies and members of the albino community.
“The task force will also conduct campaigns and persuade the people to name those they suspect of practising witchcraft,” Mr Chikawe added.
The operation is due to start in two weeks and the team will start off with visits to the areas most affected, including Mwanza, Simiyu, Geita, Tabora and Shinyanga. The operation will eventually cover the entire country.
Last December 27, armed people invaded a house and kidnapped a four-year-old girl from her home in Ndami Village at around 10pm.
According to Mwanza Regional Police Commander Valentino  Mlowola, a gang armed with machetes and accompanied by a traditional healer raided the family home and fled into the night with her.
Neighbours reported the attack at Kwimba Police Station but the girl was still missing as of yesterday.
Mr Chikawe said the government had declared war on those practising witchcraft and their accomplices.
“We have had a long meeting with various stakeholders including the police and people from Tanzania Albinism Society (TAS),” Mr Chikawe said, “and agreed on several issues to make sure that the albino community enjoys peace and security.”

According to the Minister, the government is also seeking the support of religious leaders since the issue also involves faith and morality.