Francis Barnabas
The government has signed commitment agreement of grant worth 70 million Euros (equivalent to 193.71 bn/-) with the Federal Republic of Germany for the implementation of various development projects in Tanzania.
The agreement was signed between the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Elijah Mwandumbya and the Germany Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Thomas Terstegen on Wednesday during the bilateral negotiations meeting.
Mr Mwandumbya said the support will focus on biodiversity, health sector, peaceful and inclusive societies and good financial governance.
“Biodiversity will involve mainly supporting the National Parks and Game Reserves in order to preserve its rich natural environment and to increase revenues through sustainable tourism, health sector which involves thematic areas Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care, Reproductive Health and Family Planning with a focus on young people and Universal Health Insurance.
“Peaceful and inclusive Societies will ensure that gender equality, the realisation of women’s rights and the prevention of all forms of violence against women and children which are important prerequisites for the sustainable development of a country,” said Mr Mwandumbya.
He added that in Good Financial Governance it will involves support to the public finance sector for the improvement of the public finance system.
He said 9 million Euros will support Mitigation of Human-Wildlife Conflicts (HWC), 15 million Euros will help in Sustainable Development of Protected Area Ecosystems and 9 million Euros to Strengthening Reproductive Health and Empowerment of Young Women.
Moreover, 3 million Euro will be used for Strengthening the Universal Health Insurance System in Tanzania, 15 million Euro will go to introduce the Universal Health Insurance, 6 million Euro Access to justice for women and children/ Society in Action for Equality (SAFE), 10 million Euro will be directed to Gender Based Violence Prevention and Response, 2 million Euro for Good Financial Governance, and 1 million Euro to Studies and Expert Fund. Mr Mwandumbya said the government will closely monitor the projects under the support to ensure that the funds are utilised as intended.
“I re-affirming the commitment of the government to continue strengthening our valuable development cooperation for the benefit of our people,” he stressed.
On his part, the German Embassy Mr Terstegen said they will continue to cooperate with Tanzania and that they are committed to providing more support.
He said Germany believe that the highlighted projects will be implemented on time to achieve the intended development objectives.
The Head of East African Division, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Head of Delegation of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr Marcus Von Essen said they will work together to look at new challenges and maintain international relations.
