Friday, May 29, 2015

EAC, USAID launch project on Cross-Border Health Integrated Partnership



Karen Freeman, USAID/Kenya and East Africa Mission Director.
A five-year project on Cross-Border Health Integrated Partnership (CB-HIPP) has been established to extend integrated health services in strategic border areas and other transport corridor sites.

The brainchild of the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), it is among efforts to achieve an AIDS-free generation.

The project’s launch took place yesterday at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha.
It is also supported by the  US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and Trade Africa that will donate over US$1 billion.
It is part of the US Government investment in the region and efforts led by the EAC to safeguard the health of people living, working and traveling along transport corridors and cross-border sites.

"As populations in cross-border towns increasingly move across the region, they become vulnerable to infectious diseases which, without proper treatment, can easily spread along the transport corridors," said Karen Freeman, the USAID/Kenya and East Africa Mission Director.

She went on to say: "CB-HIPP will encourage the civil society, governments and Regional Economic Communities to expand health services, restrict the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases as well as bring together social structures and grassroots organisations to implement HIV prevention activities."

It targets key populations, including female sex workers, men having sex with men, drug users, truck drivers, migrant workers, people living with HIV and other vulnerable community members.

The CB-HIPP will provide outreach and stamina to the burgeoning population and accelerated mobility of East African citizens. It will further serve as a platform for the US Government to strengthen its joint and strategic partnership with the EAC.

For his part, Dr Richard Sezibera, the EAC Secretary General, said: “Our partnership with the US Government will continue to be expanded and strengthened through mutual development and US donor funding of our programmes.

“CB-HIPP also provides an opportunity for the EAC to conduct strategic  discussions on joint priorities which will inform the upcoming 5th EAC Strategy (2017-2021) and the USAID Regional Strategy (2015-2020) under development."

The CB-HIPP is designed to extend quality integrated health services to strategic border areas and other transport corridor sites in the East, Central and Southern Africa region.

In addition to service delivery focused on key and vulnerable population, the project recognises the need for alternative health financing to increase uptake and sustainability of service within an enabling policy environment.
It also highlights the challenges and opportunities that they present to the health sector.

CB-HIPP is a reflection of the growing collaboration between the EAC and the US Government to address shared priorities.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Farmers reap from ICT development

Vodafone yesterday published its Connected Farming in India report which concludes that the introduction of six simple mobile services designed to help small-scale farmers in emerging markets could boost the farm gate incomes of 70 million Indian farmers by US$9 billion in 2020. 
 The Vodafone report, based on research commissioned from Accenture Strategy with support from the Vodafone Foundation, has found that the mobile services summarised below could enhance earnings by an average of US$128 a year for almost two-thirds of Indian farmers, achieving a material positive impact in communities where the average farming household lives on less than $4 a day and many farmers struggle to feed and educate their families.  India is one of the world’s largest food producers with more than 200 million people currently estimated to work in agriculture, around 100 million of farmers and the remainder working as agricultural labourers. In India, around 62% of farmers own less than one hectare of land, significantly increasing their exposure to the effects of crop failure, pests, disease and volatile market pricing.   Vodafone and Accenture Strategy have identified six mobile services with the potential to transform Indian farmers’ lives and livelihoods.  Agricultural information services providing early warning of weather events, information on the best times to harvest and advice on crop techniques to enhance yields. These services could increase an estimated 60 million Indian farmers’ annual incomes by an average of US$89 a year in 2020. Receipt services to provide greater transparency in daily commodity supply chains, allowing farmers to raise their incomes by improving efficiency and eliminating fraud.  Payments and loans enabling farmers to access simple and secure financial products and services using mobile money payment systems such as Vodafone’s M-Pesa, launched in India in April 2013. Access to highly cost-effective micro-finance and quick and transparent electronic payment systems could provide an annual benefit of US$690 for some farmers in 2020, representing a 39% increase in their average farming income. Field audit enabling auditors monitoring quality, sustainability and certification requirements to move away from paper records and adopt instead electronic reporting via tablets and mobile data, greatly enhancing efficiency and potentially increasing annual average income by US$612 for some farmers. Local supply chain enabling small-scale producers to transact with local co-operatives through simple but robust information services and mobile money systems. These could boost some farmers’ annual incomes by US$271 in 2020; a 50% increase on current farming incomes. Smartphone-enabled services to provide deeper functionality and richer sources of information than is possible using basic SMS and voicemail services. While smartphone penetration is currently low in rural areas in emerging market economies, average device prices continue to fall year-on-year. Advanced and affordable mobile services could lead to an increase in average annual farming incomes of US$675 for more than four million farmers in 2020.  Vodafone also announced today that it is launching its Farmers’ Club initiative in four additional emerging market countries – India, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. The Vodafone Farmers’ Club is a social business model which offers a range of mobile services to help farmers boost productivity. It was first launched by Vodafone in Turkey in 2009; around 25 per cent of the Turkish population work in agriculture and the Farmers’ Club programme has benefitted 1.2 million farmers, helping them to enhance crop yields and increase farm gate incomes.  Specific Farmers’ Club services offered in each country will vary but will include information services, virtual marketplaces in which farmers can sell their produce and mobile money financial services and products.  Vodafone will also develop a variant of the Farmers’ Club concept for farmers in New Zealand, a country with an advanced agricultural industry. Vodafone New Zealand is harnessing the strength of its extensive rural network to connect farms, agribusinesses and rural communities, helping to drive productivity, profitability and innovation. Vodafone Group Regional Chief Executive for the Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific region Serpil Timuray, said:   “One-third of humanity relies on food grown by 500 million smallholder farmers with less than two hectares of land.  Mobile has a critically important role to play in increasing agricultural resilience and enhancing quality of life for some of the poorest people on earth.  Our experience in Turkey has demonstrated how mobile services can transform farmers’ ability to increase crop yields, improve efficiency and grow farm gate incomes.   “As the global population continues to expand, farmers have an urgent need to produce ever-increasing amounts of food without destroying habitats or depleting resources in a way which is unsustainable. Smart and forward-looking initiatives such as the Vodafone Farmers’ Club concept can make a real difference in addressing the global challenge of food production and security.”

Thursday, May 21, 2015

17 refugees die of cholera

Seventeen Burundian refugees being accommodated in Kigoma Region have died from an outbreak of cholera and several others appear to be trapped in a health crisis arising from poor sanitation in the temporary camps.
Eight deaths occurred in Kagunga Village which is serving as the holding ground for the arriving refugees while nine others died at Kigoma Regional Hospital, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and health officials in Kigoma confirmed yesterday.
Those who died had suffered bouts of diarrhoea and vomiting, afflictions that have been blamed on lack of safe drinking water and proper sanitation.
An estimated 70,000 refugees have fled to Tanzania from the fighting in Burundi ignited by an attempted coup against President Pierre Nkurunziza whose decision to run for a third term has thrown the country into a political crisis. Over 20,000 of the refugees have been moved to Nyarugusu refugee camp in Kigoma as UN Aid agencies made frantic efforts to shift thousands stranded at Kagunga.
Authorities in Kigoma say samples from some of those admitted have been taken for testing for cholera and a statement released by UNHCR indicated tests had proved positive.
Public health authorities fear the disease could spread and lead to an unprecedented crisis in the area, with figures indicating that more than 2,200 refugees have so far been diagnosed with acute watery diarrhoea and over 10,000 others are suffering from both diarrhoea plus vomiting.
Another 676 others have been diagnosed with malaria in the Kagunga refugee camp.
According to a sanitation officer who declined to be named, the health crisis in Kagunga Village is emanating from improper disposal of human waste and the poor capacity of the authorities to handle the emergency.
Kigoma’s acting district medical officer, Dr James Jumanne, urged residents of Kagunga to remain vigilant following the disease outbreak, and warned that it was unsafe for them to continue drinking water from the nearby Lake Tanganyika.
He told The Citizen that the crisis was proving difficult to handle for the municipal health authorities due to shortage of health staff. He noted that only seven sanitation officers could be deployed in the areas occupied by the refugees to try and contain the health situation there.
A refugee co-ordinator in Kigoma, Mr Tony Laizer, declined to speak on the refugee crisis in the meantime but the The Citizen has reliably learnt that the Nyarugusu camp, where most refugees where being taken, is now full to capacity.
Plans were under way to relocate some to another camp in Kasulu District, to be christened Nyarugusu B.

Tax breaks cost nation billions every year

Controller and Auditor General, Prof Mussa Juma Assad, 

Tanzania loses billions of shillings every year in unwarranted tax exemptions to foreign companies, Controller and Auditor General Prof Mussa Juma Assad told the National Assembly yesterday.
Tabling the CAG’s report for financial year 2013/14 in the House, he pointed out that while the government failed to fund various development projects in the last financial year, it gave tax breaks of a whopping 22.33bn/- to two giant miners – Geita Gold Mine and Resolute Tz Ltd.
“There is shocking revelation that the same government that begs for donor aid from foreign nations loses about Sh2.780 trillion ($1.684 billion) every year due to failure to collect what it deserves from these potential taxpayers,” the CAG report revealed.
He cited that the said amount is actually more than what the government borrowed from the Chinese Bank to finance the construction of the 524km gas-pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam. 
“Put simply, the lost amount represents 18 per cent of this year’s budget,” he told the House.
Similarly, the CAG said the government lost nearly 400m/- in tax exemptions granted to Arusha based Kiliwarrior Expeditions Ltd in the same financial year.
“This is more than the government received from donors to buy radiotherapy machines at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI),” the CAG said.
Prof Asaad also faulted the government’s failure to rule over tax appeal cases that he said now amount to 1.716trn/-. “The amount is more than the USD290million approved by the World Bank to fund the second central corridor transport project Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit,” the professor pointed out.
“The Tanzania Revenue Authority should fast-track and improve pre-audit and investigations to address tax appeals between the government and taxpayers,” he said.
Speaking on the government’s tax base collection, the CAG expressed disappointment on what he described as ‘government’s snail paced investment efforts and its minimal push for the use of Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs).’
The CAG said government loses about 9bn/- annually as a result of private companies defying to use EFD receipts when paying taxes.
According to the CAG, even though the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) issued a penalty amounting to 440.8m/-, the authority collected a mere 72m/-.
“There has been little or poor investment in institutions such as the ATCL, TAZARA and TRL leaving them to rely heavily on government subsidy,” Prof Asaad went on to say.
The CAG also warned over dilution of shares in commercial institutions like NBC Ltd that had negative impacts on government’s revenue collection, he said and urged for the establishment of an investment Fund under the Treasury to manage government shares.
Further, he pointed out that the audit found various shortfalls in government’s budget expenditure that include payments without receipts, over spending as well as in nugatory and uncontrolled spending.
Prof Asaad’s nine-page summary report also revealed that  nearly 500bn/- about 25.45 per cent of the amount set aside for development projects in the national budget was not utilised.
He blamed this on delayed release of funds by development partners, long procedures for public procurements, limited capacity of local government authorities as well as the few experts engaged to oversee implementation of development projects especially in rural communities.
Prof Asaad also revealed that: “The budget allocation for various development projects was very minimal which in turn delayed payment of contractors and in turn up to 3.5bn/- had to be paid in interest.” 
“Payment of ghost workers remains a serious challenge...during the last financial year, at least 1.01bn/- was paid by the government to ghost workers in local government authorities and over 141.4m/- was paid to ghost workers in the central government,” he further told the House.
He summed up citing that the alarming amount lost to ghost workers is manifestation of a complex network of corrupt officials in the treasury, regional administration and local governments as well as in the country’s various councils.

New drive to boost science learning in public schools

Powering Potential Organisation officials accompanied by their country director Albin Mathias (left) listen to President Jakaya Kikwete when he visited the organisation’s pavilion at the climax of the Education Week held at the national level in Dodoma.
For many years Tanzania has been  to uplift academic performance of students in science subjects, albeit with little hope.
Lackluster performance in the filed of science has been attributed to poor learning and teaching facilities, which included lack of well-equipped laboratories and skilled science teachers and laboratory technicians.
But the recently–ended Education Week staged at the national level in Dodoma, came up with encouraging revelations.
Some 56 primary schools in different rural areas across the country will benefit from a Pi-oneers Project (PP), set to be launched in July this year by Powering Potential organisation.
According to its country director, Mr Albin Mathias, the programme will provide rural primary schools with offline education materials and reliable power supply with efficient technology that uses solar system.
“Pi-oneer is an innovative teaching tool, which Powering Potential has designed and is implementing in remote secondary schools through the use of Pioneers – mobile projector computer –with education material and solar recharging unit,” said Mr Mathias.
He said final preparations for the programme to take off are currently underway in partnership with the Prime Minister Office, Regional Administration and Local government. “Already, initial implementation proposed plan had been submitted to PMO-RALG office,” he added.
“We install offline Raspberry Pi computer with Remote Areas Community Hotspots for Education and Leaning (Rachel) as well as digital educational contents on a Pi computer,” he said.
The content, according to him, include Khan Academy videos, Wikipedia articles, medical reference books, Unesco textbooks, and other teaching materials. The programme is currently being used in 10 remote schools in three districts.
Mr Mathias was optimistic that the technology will go a long way in motivating students to study science subject as it simplifies understanding.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Clinton Foundation controversies throw spotlight on nonprofit finances

Addressing participants at the closing session of the Clinton Global Initiative’s Middle East and Africa meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, earlier this month, Bill Clinton invoked what he called the “grandfather test”: “When I see a child, I ask myself, which course would be best for this child’s future?”
Clinton’s lofty pronouncement sought to bring a warm, feel-good ending to an event that for three days had been in the eye of the political storm surrounding the wider Clinton Foundation. The furor had originally been sparked by the launch of a book, “Clinton Cash,” which alleged multiple improprieties connected with the Clinton family’s charitable endeavor.
While some of the book’s claims have since been refuted, it has set off a treasure hunt among the who’s who of investigative journalists, including seasoned sleuths from the The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico and the International Business Times. Since the media hounds caught the first whiff of blood, hardly a single day has gone by without new allegations about misdeeds and improprieties at the $2 billion foundation appearing in the press.
The debate has moved the issue of nonprofit funding and transparency from the shadows to center stage. Two facts stand out. First, the Clinton Foundation has attracted severe criticism for opacity despite broadly disclosing more information than legally required. Second, no clear and universally recognized transparency standards for the sector exist.
For example, Transparency International, arguably the most prominent pro-transparency advocacy group worldwide, has to date not developed any standards or guidelines for foundation transparency and does not formally require its national chapters that make up its global network to reveal in detail who funds their work. (Disclosure: The author is a former employee of Transparency International Georgia, and has undertaken consulting work for the TI Secretariat. He currently serves as Transparify’s advocacy manager.)
While Transparency International itself does disclose its donors in great detail, many other prominent international pro-transparency nongovernmental organizations are reportedly somewhat opaque about their own financial backers.
With scrutiny of nonprofits’ operations on the rise worldwide — the government of India recently moved to place restrictions on the Ford Foundation and on advocacy groups, while some U.S. foundations have come under fire in Germany — and a lack of universally accepted standards, what should development actors do to demonstrate their commitment to transparency, allay suspicions of “hidden agendas” and pre-empt similar criticisms?
Devex canvassed several leading advocates for nonprofit transparency for their opinions and elicited seven rules for excelling in accountability in this new age of heightened scrutiny.
Rule 1: Some donors are worse than no donors.
“The question from a public benefit organization’s perspective is whether you have the funds to support the programs you think are critical to improving people’s lives,” Steven Lawrence, director of research at the Foundation Center, told Devex. “That said, I would expect that many organizations would refuse gifts from the North Korean government based on their policies, just as many have refused funds from major tobacco companies.”
Rule 2: Develop crystal-clear contributions policies.
“We advocate for corporations to publicly disclose all of their political spending. Shareholders have a right to know if their money is being spent for political purposes. Disclosure is good risk management and forces corporations to be accountable,” Marrian Currinder, associate director at the Center for Political Accountability, noted. “Foundations, like corporations, need to have a board-approved policy in place that governs contributions.”
Rule 3: Establish clear ground rules with donors.
“Organizations need to be clear with donors as to what they plan to do with their contributions and then deliver fully on those promises,” Lawrence said. “At the same time, if a donor wants to be more directive about the work of the organization than the organization believes is appropriate, then the organization should not take money from that donor.”
Rule 4: Be at least as transparent as your governmental peers.
“Imagine you’re an activist in Nepal trying to track how the earthquake relief money is being spent. I don’t think you care if the money comes from a government or a foundation. You want to know how much there is, what it is being spent on and what effect it is having,”Publish What You Fund CEO Rupert Simons explained. “We would like to see foundations publish where their money comes from, where it goes and what impact it has. In particular, we encourage foundations to sign up to the voluntary International Aid Transparency Initiative standards; some have already done so.”
Rule 5: Use financial transparency as a risk management tool.
“Public disclosure of contributions and spending is good governance. Being transparent forces recipients to consider whether they are really comfortable disclosing and defending big contributions they have received,” Currinder highlighted. “If the Clinton Foundation had been fully transparent when Hillary was U.S. secretary of state, perhaps it would not have accepted some of the foreign contributions that have since raised eyebrows. I think the lesson learned from this controversy is not to accept contributions that you are not comfortable publicly disclosing, explaining and defending.
Rule 6: Beware of inviting political actors onto your leadership team or board.
“Private foundations should not be established or controlled by government officials or those running for public office,” Craig Holman, a Public Citizen government affairs lobbyist, argued. “We should recognize that such foundations often serve as a means for special interests to throw money at the feet of those in power in order to curry favor. Such relationships pose an inherent conflict of interest.”
Rule 7: Remember that external accountability challenges are legitimate.
“Our position is that there are legitimate questions to be raised and answered, including questions about the organization's financial disclosures … and whether there are potential conflicts of interest,” Jenn Topper, spokeswoman for the Sunlight Foundation, stressed.
By Till Bruckner


Saturday, May 16, 2015

Police call centre launched

Home Affairs Minister Mathias Chikawe yesterday launched a police-public call centre aimed at enhancing communication between the two sides in times of emergency as well as curb crimes by reporting cases before they happen.
The centre positioned at the Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police office is the first to be launched in the country and is expected to provide services countrywide.
Speaking after the launching ceremony, Mr Chikawe called upon the police to avoid being too harsh to the public when they communicate for the intended goal of the centre to be achieved.
“I call upon the police to cooperate with the public because people become frightened whenever they hear harsh words from you,” he said.
According to the Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Mr  Suleiman Kova, the centre can keep records and send emails and is connected to 12 headsets which allow a large number of phone calls to be received at a time.
“The launch of the call centre will enhance communication as well as improve relationship between police and the public,” he said.
The launch of the centre which has been funded by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) means that the public will now be able to dial 110 for accidents in the sea and all the lakes in the country as well as 113 and 114 for reports of corruption and fire respectively.
In his remarks, the deputy TCRA director,  Dr Joseph Kilongola, said considering the growing number of crime incidents as well as improvement of technology, TCRA had seen that there was a need for a platform to connect the public and the police.
Source: The Citizen

Over Sh1bn saved as 66 children undergo heart surgery at MNH



Minister for Health and Social Welfare Dr Seif Rashid shakes hands with Cherish Chatama at Muhimbili National Hospital’s Cardiac Centre yesterday. The child underwent a successful heart surgery this week. Looking on is Cherish’s mother. 
Muhimbili National Hospital(MNH) saved about Sh1.3 billion this week by carrying out heart surgeries on 66 children born with heart defects instead of referring them abroad for treatment.
For the past one week, a team of surgeons from Saudi Arabia have been working with local experts at  the MNH to repair heart defects in children.
The joint project aims at cutting down expenses of seeking treatment in foreign countries, mostly India.
The MNH Senior Public Relations Officer, Mr Aminiel Algaesha, told The Citizen yesterday that the cost of operating on one child was estimated to be $10,000 that the government could have incurred to send them abroad.
For the past six years since open heart surgeries started at the MNH, 453 patients have undergone successful procedures and 105 of them were operated on in the past one year, according to statistics obtained from the hospital’s Cardiac Centre.
MNH Acting Director, Dr Hussein Kidanto said that new state-of-the art surgical equipment have been installed at the hospital’s Cardiac Unit to help treat most cases of heart diseases, but  the facility was grossly understaffed.
Dr Kidanto said that doctors from Israel, under the charity, ‘Save a Child’s Heart,’ will be in the country next month to carry out more heart surgeries on children.
He urged the public to make use of the collaboration between Tanzania and other countries in dealing with Non-Communicable Diseases.