HABARIPROGRESS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP: COLLABORATION AS A DRIVER FOR DEVELOPMENT IN TANZANIA

Issue No. 02 CSO E-Newsletter 6th November 2019

DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

CSOs have been advised to make a thorough re-evaluation of themselves in order to change their mode of work and adapt

to more innovative and compliant methods for partnering and improving relations with the State.

These remarks were made by the Executive Director of FCS, Mr. Francis Kiwanga during the CSO Week 2019 session on ‘The Evidence: What have we learnt about state - CSO relations in Tanzania?’ after FCS presented findings from a series of Regional CSO Directors’ Forums held to discuss and generate evidence that can be used to advocate for improved relationships between

CSOs and the various government bodies they interact with at all levels.

Some of the findings of the report include: CSOs lack of self-regulatory mechanism; dislike of CSOs to share financial and project activity reports to the government; ineffective CSO networks; financial constraints; CSO’s not being aligned with government’s priorities; vision and missions of CSOs have been influenced by what donors want; CSOs shifting from their thematic areas; and unfriendly regulations and laws governing CSOs.

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Self-assessment needed for improved State - CSO relations

From left: Chairperson of TANGO and moderator of the session - Ms. Anna Kulaya, FCS Executive Director – Mr. Francis Kiwanga, Registrar of NGOs - Ms. Vickness Mayao, and Executive Director of Youth Partnership Countrywide Mr. Israel Ilunde take part in the panel discussion, ‘The Evidence: What have we learnt about state - CSO relations in Tanzania?’ during the ongoing CSO Week 2019 in Dodoma.

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“We must go back to our roots. We must ask ourselves, when we first established these CSOs, what was our original vision for establishing these organisations?” questioned Kiwanga.

“Times change, therefore we must also change. We should therefore try our level best to be compliant and more innovative in what we do in order to deliver the best results,” added Kiwanga.

Indeed, throughout the years, CSOs have made a significant impact to the nation. However, there is a need to see where we have gone wrong. AZAKI need to fulfill its legal mandate and be compliant. There is also a need to have regular consultative forums and rejuvenate CSO networks that can be the voice of AZAKI in communicating its concerns and recommendations to the government.

In the same light, the Registrar of NGOs, Ms. Vickness Mayao, said that AZAKI should look forward to cooperating with government and its entities, as well as do their best as possible to follow all guidelines, regulations and laws governing AZAKI in order to avoid any unnecessary conflict with the State.

“To help AZAKI and the State accomplish better working relations, we have already drafted guidelines for ministries, departments and government agencies on how to work with CSOs which will soon come into practice, with hope that it will help resolve a lot of challenges in our day to day interactions with one another,” said Mayao.

This is good news indeed.

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Civil Society Organizations have been challenged to raise more awareness to judges and magistrates on issues

pertaining to special groups so as to properly advance justice to girls, women, children and the disabled.

This was discussed yesterday during a session organized by the Legal Services Facility (LSF) during the second day of the CSO Week 2019, which deliberated on improving community legal protection and promotion of rights through access to justice.

“We will be making a huge mistake to assume that all judges and magistrates are well aware of issues pertaining to special groups such as girls, women, children and the disabled, and at the same time expect them to do justice without having the right set of information to deliver,” said retired Justice from the High Court of Tanzania, Hon. Robert Makaramba.

The point was cemented by the Registrar of Legal Aid Providers from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ms. Felistas Mushi, who said that despite all Assist Registrars having undergone training and attesting a good

record in upholding the code of conducts, there is a knowledge gap between lower and senior leadership in the judiciary when it comes to issues related to specialized groups.

On her side, Paulina Alex of New Light Children Centre Organization (NELICO), said that it is also equally important to raise awareness to members of this special group, such as children so that they may grow up understanding their roles and rights in promoting justice.

On the other hand, the Spokesperson for the Tanzania Prison Service Department, SSP. Amina Kavirondo urged CSOs and society as a whole to reconsider inmates and prisoners, so that they can also get access to legal services while they are behind bars.

“We have a total of 37,000 prisoners countrywide. And once a person is in prison, he loses communication with the outside world. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to request CSOs to consider this group of individuals, so that they may also have access to their rights and justice in front of the law, similar to people outside prisons,” she said.

CSOs urged to train Judges and Magistrates on the rights of special groups

Retired High Court Judge, Justice Robert Makaramba makes a point during the discussion. Others from left are: CEO of LSF - Lulu Ng’wanakilala, Registrar of Legal Aid Providers from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs - Ms. Felistas Mushi, Director of NELICO – Ms. Paulina Alex, and Spokesperson from the Tanzania Prison Service Department SSP. Amina Kavirondo.

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Online registration platform for CSOs in pipeline

The government will soon be finalizing an online registration platform that will enable new CSOs to register their organizations in a more timely

and effective fashion, the CSO E-Newsletter has learnt.

The announcement was made yesterday by the Registrar of NGOs, Ms. Vickness Mayao, during the CSO Week 2019 session on ‘The Evidence: What have we learnt about state - CSO relations in Tanzania?’.

Responding to questions from the floor, Ms. Mayao mentioned that the government acknowledges the trouble which individuals go through when trying to register new CSOs, most especially when it comes to travelling all the way to Dodoma and having to make a follow up with the relevant authorities to make sure that their respective NGO has been registered.

“Our goal with this new innovative tool is to make the registration of NGOs convenient. Whereas, any individual sitting behind their laptops with an internet connection from any location in Tanzania will be able to successfully complete their application easily, on time and with less bureaucracy,” said Mayao.

According to Mayao, the migration of Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Seniors and Children to the process of online registration is after successful cases in other governmental departments such as BRELA and Immigration when it comes to registering companies and applying for passports.

“Sad enough, our department is lacking the right number of staff to handle efficiently the process the

NGO registration. Thus, we believe that this new online system, will cut down on paperwork and enable our limited number of staff available to process the applications at a much greater pace,” the Registrar added.

The faster the pace of registration, the faster communities can be accessed with more NGOs assisting them in solving the socio-economic challenges facing their communities.

Above: Registrar of NGOs - Ms. Vickness Mayao stresses a point during the session on ‘The Evidence: What have we learnt about state - CSO relations in Tanzania? Below: Panellists and participants take part of the CSO Week 2019 session on ‘The Evidence: What have we learnt about state - CSO relations in Tanzania?

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Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Services and Community Development, Hon. Peter Serukamba (MP) yesterday

commended CSOs, in particular, Sikika, for its role in advocating for a better healthcare environment in the country.

This observation was made during one of the CSO Week 2019 sessions on ‘Advocacy in the health sector: Sikika’s experience’ that aimed at sharing the experience of Sikika in the strengthening of health systems and structures through evidence based advocacy in Tanzania.

“Our healthcare budget keeps on increasing year after year. For example, in 2015, we spent only TZS 30 billion in medicine, but right now, four years later, the government is spending TZS 270 annually to buy drugs. This is a very significant achievement, that couldn’t have been done without your advocacy efforts,” said Serukamba.

“It is also because of your studies and recommendations that medicine is now being delivered directly to our health centres and dispensaries, skipping the old red-tape that used to exist. Health practitioners can now self-inspect and order supplies whenever they have a shortage of drugs, thus creating more efficiency in the delivering of their services,” added Serukamba.

Sharing her testimony, Ms. Lilian Kibanga, Kondoa District Health Secretary said that Sikika has played a great role in advocating for better healthcare solutions in their district.

“Because of a study report prepared by Sikika, we were able to follow their advice so as to meet the healthcare challenges that we were facing in the district. Sikika taught us the right channels of lobbying and after some time we managed to solve the lack of drug supply by 97 per cent,” said Kibanga.

“It is also because of Sikika that we were able to lobby the government through our Members of Parliament and other influential leaders from the area to solve the healthcare personnel crisis in Kondoa. In just one year the government gave us a budget to employ a workforce of over 140 staff to work in the health sector of Kondoa, this was the highest number of personnel recruited by any municipal in the country at the time,” explained Kibanga.

During the session, the Executive Director of Sikika, Irenei Kiria, also shared the organisation’s strategy in setting the agenda, influencing changes (boundary partners), as well as achievements and challenges in their work.

‘SIKIKA doing a great job in promoting health sector’ – Serukamba

From left: Panellists of the Advocacy in Health Sector session, Executive Director of Sikika – Mr. Irenei Kiria, Coordinator from Ministry of Health - Dr. Stephen Kitinya, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Services and Community Development - Hon. Peter Serukamba (MP), Representative from Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Government (TAMISEMI) - Mr. Jumanne Masabila, and Kondoa District Health Secretary - Ms. Lilian Kibanga.

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D I D YO U K N OWAccountability in Tanzania

AcT2 is a £38m programme which supports civil society organisations to implement context-specific interventions that will influence positive change in the attitudes and behaviour of citizens; civil society and government, to make the government more responsive and accountable.

The first phase of the programme started in 2009 and ran until March 2015.

The second phase started in 2018 and will end in 2022. The programme funds mid-to-large sized Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and is managed by KPMG in Tanzania.

Theory of Change Our theory of change aims to support a wide range of actors and networks to analyse, learn and adapt to changing contexts; in order to engage decision makers strategically.

Highlights TZS 236 billion - Foreign exchange earnings

TZS 169 billion - Beneficiaries and service providers

TZS 19 billion - Paid to Govt. as Tax, Tarrifs and VAT

TZS 45 billion - Employees (salaries/wages, pension/dues)

TZS 3 billion – Savings for growth/future

The contribution of 16 CSOs to the national economy (2016 – 2018)

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Policy change is something that has to be inclusive. In the event where policies are made and there was no inclusion, then the

policy legitimacy is shaken.

The statement was made yesterday by Haki Elimu’s Manager for Research and Policy Mr. Mwemezi Makumba during a session organized by Policy Forum on ‘The role of collaboration in influencing policy change at the national level’ during the ongoing CSO Week 2019 in Dodoma.

According to Makumba, it is very important to understand the process of policy making and stakeholders involved so that AZAKI and wananchi can participate accordingly.

Commenting on the same, Lilian Kallaghe of Sikika said that in order for CSOs to influence policy change processes, AZAKI’s should learn how to work with the government, and be willing to sit on the negotiation table. She however cautioned that in order to be heard, CSOs must get their facts right, involve different stakeholders and

learn how adopt to different methods when approaching respective authorities.

Mr. Joram Wimmo from Action Aid Tanzania also agreed that wananchi are the drivers for change, hence, should be involved in every step of the way in the formulation and implementation of policy.

Wimmo gave an example where Action Aid have enhanced the capacity of agriculture groups to scrutinize the national budget on agriculture. “A job which they are doing very well,” said Wimmo.

This session, organized by Policy Forum aimed to share experiences on how CSOs have had successful interventions as a result of closely working together with policy makers at the National level. It entailed highlighting the do’s and don’ts that CSOs in the fraternity should consider. And vivid examples of the contribution that they have made in influencing the same. The session was moderated by Ms. Neema Bwaira of Save the Children.

AZAKI encouraged to push for inclusive policy processes

From left: Action Aid Programme Coordinator - Mr. Joram Wimmo, Sikika representative - Ms. Lilian Kallaghe , Haki Elimu’s Manager for Research and Policy - Mr. Mwemezi Makumba share their views on the session ‘The role of collaboration in influencing policy change at the national level’ during the ongoing CSO Week 2019 in Dodoma.

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