Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Usaid grants $49m to health sector via results-based plan

US ambassador to Tanzania Mark B. Childress 
The US Agency for International Development (Usaid) has committed $49 million (Sh98 billion) grant to support the health sector in Tanzania through Results Based Financing (RBF) initiative.
Through a single donor trust fund administered by the World Bank, Tanzania will receive $49 million over the next five years, according to a statement sent to the media.
As a result of the grant the ministry of Finance has committed to increase its loan allocation to the health sector by an additional $100 million (Sh200 billion).
In response to the financial commitment from the government of Tanzania, US Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Mark B. Childress, said he was optimistic that the initiative would boost the health sector.
“In alignment with Big Results Now, this initiative will strengthen the quality and sustainability of health services in Tanzania,” said Mr Childress.
The grant will support the Tanzanian government’s plans to increase access to high quality healthcare services, which includes rolling out a facility accreditation scheme, improving the distribution of skilled health workers to regions with critical shortages, and enhancing community-based health interventions.
The statement further noted that as part of the scheme, the Medical Stores Department would also receive performance-based payments to increase the availability of essential medicines.
Usaid will also support its partners to provide technical assistance at national, district, and facility levels, according to the statement.
Tanzania’s RBF initiative aims to improve the quality of primary healthcare services in Tanzania, with a focus on maternal, neonatal and child health services.
RBF priorities in achieving results, greater value for money, and efficiencies, will help secure Tanzania’s domestic resources and ensure long-term security in the country’s health sector.

By Citizen Reporter
 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

UN dishes out USD22.5m in election support



The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) has dished out USD22.5 million to facilitate for smooth  and emphasised the need for government to respect the status of the media during this election period. 
 
In a statement issued over the weekend in Bagamoyo at a two days media and election training seminar organised by the Tanzania Editors’ Forum and UNDP, the UN Resident Representative Alvaro Rodriguez, said as a development partner, UNDP is impressed with the democratic electoral process in Tanzania. 
 
He said media has the power to inform the public about government policies and public institutions which in turn enables the public to make informed decisions and choices during elections. 
 
As for the funding, he explained that is given under the Democratic Empowerment Project (DEP), a three year project (2013-2016) introduced by UN in 2012 to among other things, prevent election-related conflicts. 
 
He highlighted Norway and Sweden as key contributors among others and detailed that they channel their funding via the One fund budget that is under the UNDP coordinated Joint Donor Basket Fund (JDBF).
 
He also pointed out that since 2012, the UN has deployed an electoral Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) to Tanzania following a request by both the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) submitted to the UNDP requesting UN electoral assistance.     
 
“The UNDP partnership with NEC and ZEC as well as other national partners is aimed at strengthening the election cycle to ensure free and fair elections,” Rodriguez said. 
 
“Tanzania has made great strides in socio-economic and political stability since it turned to multiparty democracy in 1992,” he commented. 
 
“The country has held four rounds of successive elections which have been considered well conducted, competitive and open,” he added. 
Rodriguez said the assistance provided by the UN for the 2005 presidential and parliamentary elections was important for the development of democracy in Tanzania. 
 
“As a direct outcome of this assistance, the UN supported Deepening Democracy in Tanzania Project (DDTP) was developed,” he went on to say.  
 
According to him, over the past two decades the UNDP has assisted more than 80 countries through coordination management of about 342 electoral projects that required more than 2.5bn/- in expenditure and most were held in Africa.
 
They were part of the democratic transition of various types of undemocratic leaderships from military, one-party, one-person rule and others.
 
  “The UN electoral support has resulted in capacity enhancement for national electoral institutions and processes and in some countries elections now take place with minimal support,” detailed the UN Resident Representative. 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Friday, July 17, 2015

Why parents prefer English in schools

Ministry of Education and Vocational Training Director of Control and Quality, Mrs Marystella Wassena gives her views in Dar es Salaam yesterday during the launch of the Twaweza report on parents’ preference with regard to the medium of teaching and learning. Right is UDSM Lecture, Professor Kitila Mkumbo. PHOTO|VENANCE NESTORY 
Most parents want English to be used as the medium of instruction in schools from primary level, a recent Twaweza research findings show.
The research shows that nine out of 10 (89 per cent) parents said that children face difficulties in changing languages upon enrolling for O-Levels after finishing primary school.
Under the current policy, Kiswahili is used as a medium of instruction in primary education while English is used for the remaining levels up to university.
The Twaweza research, aimed at finding citizens’ views on education, found out that despite the new Education and Training Policy 2015 stipulating that Kiswahili should be used as the language of instruction for both primary and secondary schools, the majority of parents prefer English.
Presenting the study outcome on behalf of Twaweza CEO, University of Dar’s Dr Kitila Mkumbo, said the findings, which collected from 1,381 respondents from Tanzania Mainland only, show that the majority of parents who prefer English have said it takes time for their children to adjust from Kiswahili to English, something that affects their ability to learn.
He pointed out that the respondents have confidence in the provision of primary education as it has showed that 64 per cent of the general population believes that primary school adequately prepares students for secondary school.
“The data also tells the story of increasing access to education in a new way, one out of ten citizens (11 per cent) report having completed secondary school to O-level, one out of four (26 per cent) report having a son or daughter in secondary school, this implies that more young people have access to secondary education,” he said.
Commenting on the research findings, the director of schools quality assurance from the ministry of Education and Vocational Training, Ms Marystela Wasena, said the ministry acknowledges the challenge.
She said although the government has allowed the two languages to be officially used in schools, the country still needs to promote Kiswahili locally and internationally.
For his part, former Control and Auditor General (CAG), Mr Ludovick Utouh commended the government efforts but said the country needs participatory long- term policies on education.
“We see the challenges of English even to the teachers, which means that even as the majority prefers it to Kiswahili, we must have the good foundation in preparing teaching guidelines and even the human resources (teachers), so I would say we see the challenges on our monitoring, and the reports are already in the ministry for implementation,” she said.
“I cannot say the current system is bad, but we need to have policies that would be implemented for longer period, the policies that were participatory made involving extensive researches and diversity of stakeholders,” he said adding that as the country being bilingual is inevitable.
Source: The Citizen

Thursday, July 16, 2015

'historic' agreement reached on financing for new UN sustainable development agenda


In many rural economies, the forest enterprises of families and communities are major contributors to local livelihoods.
Countries agreed today on a series of bold measures to overhaul global finance practices and generate investments for tackling a range of economic, social and environmental challenges at the United Nations Third International Conference on Financing for Development, being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“This agreement is a critical step forward in building a sustainable future for all. It provides a global framework for financing sustainable development,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said after negotiators reached the deal at the Conference, which has been running in the Ethiopian capital since Monday, 13 July, and officially wraps up its work tomorrow.
“It gives us the foundation of a revitalised global partnership for sustainable development that will leave no one behind,” said of the groundbreaking agreement, which will be known as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
The agreement provides a foundation for implementing the global sustainable development agenda that world leaders are expected to adopt in New York this September and for reaching a binding agreement at UN climate negotiations in Paris in December to reduce global carbon emissions.
It marks a milestone in forging an enhanced global partnership that aims to foster universal, inclusive economic prosperity and improve people's well-being while protecting the environment.
Financing is considered the linchpin for the success of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda, which will be driven by the implementation of 17 goals. In support of implementation of these goals, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda contains more than 100 concrete measures, addressing all sources of finance, and covering cooperation on a range of issues including technology, science, innovation, trade and capacity building.
“This historic agreement marks a turning point in international cooperation that will result in the necessary investments for the new and transformative sustainable development agenda that will improve the lives of people everywhere,” said Wu Hongbo, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the Conference.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

NHIF hands over bedding sets to Muheza district


National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) last Thursday donated 400 bed sheets worth Sh7 million to Muheza District Council, the fund’s community health director Eugen Mikongoti, has said.
 
Speaking on behalf of director general Michael Mhando, Mikongoti said the donation of bed sheets was part of their social cooperate responsibility to Muheza community.
 
He said they had done so in various other hospitals to support communities and in particular, in the health sector.
 
Mikongoti said they plans to bring 120 bed sheets  in the near future  for distribution in other hospitals in the district.
 
He stated that the fund also dished out soft loans to councils, religious organisations and individuals for the rehabilitation of hospital buildings and other activities.
 
According to Mikongoti, they had been setting aside  10 m/- for soft loans every year. “We have already dished out such loans to various institutions for rehabilitation of buildings such as the Muhimbili National Hospital.”
Muheza district commissioner Esterina Kilasi  who received the bed sheets, said she would ensure they got soft loans and continue the rehabilitation of the designated hospital of Muheza.
 
The NHIF community health manager for Tanga Region, Ally Mwakababu said the health fund was well placed to ensure it helped the community.
Muheza Designated Hospital district medical officer, Dr Juma Mfanga thanked the fund, saying the hospital receives patients from various places of Tanga Region.
 
“We also receive patients from our neighbouring Kenya because of the quality of service that we offer,” he stressed. The acting district executive director for Muheza, Antony Senkoro and the acting district medical officer in-charge, Reynard Mndeme called on other stakeholders to emulate the NHIF by donating to the designated hospital.