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[ Field reports - Tanzania
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Field reports Tanzania
Foreign governors?
“The freedom of choice that comes with budget support
is healthy. We think and shape our policies according
to our ideas and not those coming from abroad”,
says Joseph Semboja, Executive Director of Research
on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA).
Switzerland in Tanzania: Small contributions
go a long way
Switzerland’s chance to contribute significantly
to Tanzania’s development lies with the quality
rather than the quantity of its contribution. Switzerland’s
approach is to use a mix of instruments: financial
support for specific projects such as spreading
the use of mosquito nets to prevent malaria and
untied budget support by directly co-financing the
health and state budget should mutually complement
and reinforce each other.
The fight against poverty between success
and failure
In order to trace answers to the unresolved
challenges of poverty reduction, government and
donors should jointly address questions such as
the following: Were our expectations (too) high?
Were adequate resources available? Has money been
wasted? Is the direction of change wrong?
Making civil service more attractive
To improve public health, to ensure public
security, to impart an education in schools or to
offer useful agricultural counselling to farmers
– the bottleneck for all these state services is
civil service personnel. Improvements in this area
is therefore high on the reform agenda.
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The malaria success story
Malaria is not only a humanitarian problem but
also a large hurdle for economic growth. Switzerland
is active at all levels – from specific projects
to general budget support. A large scale programme
such as the fight against malaria is only successful
if the health system as a whole is stable and oriented
towards key problems.
Trust is good, so is control
Budget support is faced with a dilemma. On
the one hand it is legitimate for the donors to
ask for accountability when it comes to the use
of their money. On the other hand it is the citizen’s
business to judge their government’s doings. Foreign
donors cannot replace Tanzanian “watchdogs”.
Better media. A better Africa
An independent and diverse media landscape
should give a voice to all groups of the population
– including the poor. It should be a forum for public
concerns and serve as a sounding board against abuse.
Switzerland plays an important role among the international
donors when it comes to shaping the media landscape
in Tanzania.
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