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MDGs are achievable, Lowassa declares
2006-09-19 09:50:12
By Guardian Correspondent, Nairobi
Tanzania said yesterday that Millennium Development Goals are achievable if African countries set themselves clear objectives.
The observation was made by Prime Minister Edward Lowassa when he addressed delegates at the fourth summit of Africities in Nairobi, Kenya.
The theme of the summit is Building Joint Action Plans for Effective Realisation of Millennium Development Goals in African Local Governments.
Lowassa said building joint action plans for the effective realisation of the Millennium Development Goals in African local governments was a prerequisite to success.
”We all know that there is no great achievement that is not the result of patience, hard work and partnership among the stakeholders,” he said.
The PM said there was a need to build bridges among stakeholders, including central and local governments, development partners and NGOs.
”Let us come up with joint action plans for the effective realisation of the Millennium Development Goals,” the PM said.
Lowassa used the occasion to explain to the delegates how Tanzania is implementing MDGs.
”Tanzania, like other countries, has embarked on a more comprehensive strategy to ensure that we achieve the targets under MDGs initiative,” he said.
Lowassa said: ”We have come up with a Development Vision (Tanzania Development Vision 2025) and strategies, which we hope will lead us to the overall goal of making the life for our people better.”
He said Tanzania has also drawn a National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty that address specific areas development in the war against poverty.
Lowassa said the implementation of NSGRP (2005-2010), will be monitored by a system that will assess changes and effective achievement of its goals and targets designed to contribute directly to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
He said Tanzania had made progress in areas such as universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women and water supply in rural and urban areas.
Lowassa told the delegates that Tanzania has vigorously implemented universal primary education policy, which has raised school enrolment from 58.6 per cent in 2000 to 90.5 per cent in 2004, whereas national gross enrolment increased from 78 per cent in 2000 to 106 per cent in 2004.
He said in gender equality, the Constitution provides that a minimum of 30 per cent of Parliamentarians be women. Currently 30.4 per cent of the Members of Parliament are women, which is above the SADC target,
”Gender parity is encouraging in primary and secondary level education with the ratio of boys to girls almost 1:1,” he noted.
He said Tanzania was on the forefront of implementing Agenda 21 of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, (Johannesburg Plan of Action), where environmental issues feature predominantly.
He, however, admitted that balancing between the basic needs of the people especially those in the rural areas and environmental conservation remain a major challenge.
”We have initiated projects in our major towns in a bid to ensure orderly development of our urban centres by providing planned and serviced land,” he said.
On water supply, Lowassa said it has increased from 68 per cent in 2000 to 73 per cent in 2004.
”The rural water supply service coverage has increased from 48.5 per cent in the year 2000 to 53.5 per cent in the year 2004,” he said.
On health, which is goal number three on Millennium Development Goals roster, Lowassa said mortality rates in Tanzania had declined from 154 per 1,000 live births in 2002 to 127 in 2004.
The first Africities summit took place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in 1999. The summit witnessed the first attempt to promote an African voice on the challenges of decentralisation, local government, regional integration and co-operation in Africa.
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