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UN supports Tanzania’s poverty eradication drive

THE UN Resident Co-ordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Mr Alberic Kacou.

THE United Nations has set a budget of over 700 million US dollars (about 1.1 trillion/-) to support Tanzania address various social and economic challenges facing the country.

The four-year programme (2011 - 2015) is part of UN Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP) and would be directed to priority areas in the country’s poverty alleviation drive.

Speaking at the Editors’ Forum in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, the UN Resident Co-ordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Mr Alberic Kacou, said Development Assistance Programme (DAP) was meant to boost government’s efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. He said so far 63 million US dollars (about 99.5bn/-) which is equivalent to eight per cent of the allocated budget has has been released.

The UN Co-ordinator emphasized that the plan would be measured by its relevance and impact to development of the country and lifting of the standard of living of the poor. Presenting a report on economic growth and economic governance, the UNDP Country Director on Governance, Mr Philippe Poinsot, said though Tanzania’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown steadly since 2000, many Tanzanians were still poor because growth was recorded in areas where job creation is low.

He noted that the country’s employment to population ratio stood at 80 per cent, a relatively high ratio by global and regional standards. However, he said, 36 per cent of those employed live below the nationally defined poverty line, an indication of low productivity and lack of decent work.

UNESCO Representative Vibeke Jensen said since school fees for primary education was abolished in 2001, enrolment shot up but the number of dropouts has also increased. He noted that increased dropouts signalled that enrolment has not been matched by the supply of quality inputs such as qualified teachers, educational materials and decent infrastructure.

The UNAIDS Country Director, Dr Luc Barrier, said that through second phase of the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (MKUKUTA II) and Zanzibar Poverty Reduction Plan (MKUZA II), UN Tanzania was stoutly working to improve survival, health and wellbeing of all children, women and vulnerable groups as HIV/ AIDS remained one of the leading causes of deaths among the young people in Tanzania.