Improvement of quality of life and social wellbeing; and

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1 SPECIAL ADDRESS BY HONOURABLE MIZENGO P. PINDA, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA AT THE GLOBAL FORUM ON LOCALISING MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS) HELD AT SERENA HOTEL, KAMPALA, UGANDA ON 4TH OCTOBER Excellencies; Ladies and Gentlemen. At the outset, allow me to take this opportunity to thank you Mr. President, the Government and the People of Uganda, for the warm welcome and hospitality accorded to me and my entire Delegation since our arrival in this Beautiful City of Kampala. May I also convey greetings to this meeting from H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania. He asked me to express his gratitude for the invitation you extended to him to join this very important Forum. President Kikwete wished so much to participate in these discussions, but due to other pressing commitments at home, he is unable to do so. On the other hand, due to the importance he attaches to this Forum, he has sent me to represent him. Thus President Kikwete wishes this Forum fruitful discussions and action-oriented outcome. Your Excellency, Allow me to take this opportunity on behalf of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to congratulate you for your inspiring opening Keynote Address. We are confident that with your wisdom and capable leadership, you will guide us to a constructive dialogue in this Conference. I also wish to congratulate the panel of eminent Persons and Experts present in this Session. Your Excellency, This Forum is taking place while the Sixty-Fifth Session of the United Nations General Assembly is going on in New York. Some of us here had the opportunity to attend the Session. This Session had Key opening meetings, which among others, was the High Level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). I am of the opinion that this Forum must borrow from the discussions that took place in the High Level Plenary Meeting. I equally believe that this Forum is important as it gives us an opportunity to review progress made, best practices, opportunities, challenges and lessons learned in localising MDGs in our Countries. PROGRESS MADE IN ACHIEVING MDGs IN TANZANIA (IMPLEMENTATION, ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPERIENCE) Tanzania after participating in the adoption of the MDGs in year 2000, has mainstreamed the MDGs in the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty which in Kiswahili acronym is popularly known as MKUKUTA in Mainland Tanzania and MKUZA in Zanzibar. MKUKUTA and MKUZA aim at: Growth and reduction of income poverty; Improvement of quality of life and social wellbeing; and

2 Good Governance and Accountability. These three issues have a direct link with MDGs. They touch the lives of the people on daily basis and have been very instrumental in localising the MDGs from Tanzania s perspective. In this respect, although MDGs are global, they can be effectively achieved through the participation of the people from the grassroots level. In Tanzania, Local Government Authorities (LGAs) have been instrumental in the achievement of the MDGs through the implementation of MKUKUTA and MKUZA. The role of LGAs in this regard is critical as originators of development issues at the local level and implementers of National Development Agenda at the grass roots level. LGAs are the Key institutions in delivering social services especially education, health and water in peri-urban and rural settings. MDGs Achievements Through localising the MDGs strategies, Tanzania has managed to make progress in MDGs number 1, 2, 4, and 6. We have made progress as follows: Goal No. 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education Tanzania has made outstanding progress in MDG No. 2. Progress in Universal Primary Education and construction of Secondary School has been exceptionally impressive. In 1990, the net enrolment ratio (NER) in primary education was 54.2 percent for Mainland Tanzania and 50.9 percent for Zanzibar. In 2000, the rates went up to 57.1 percent for Mainland Tanzania and to 67 percent for Zanzibar. In 2006, the ratio increased to 94.8 percent for Mainland Tanzania and 77 percent for Zanzibar. The net enrolment ratio in the Mainland Tanzania continued to increase reaching 95.4 percent in The International Community has recognised the efforts of Tanzania in achieving MDG 2. Recently, during the on-going 65 th Session of the General Assembly, Tanzania was given an Award by the Committee of Development Professionals of the United Nations in recognition of its efforts in this goal. Lessons learned from our experience is that we were able to realize all these by putting in place good policies, budgetary increase, (up to 18 percent of total budget) implementation of comprehensive education programmes and the use of participatory approach which allow people to be on the driver s seat. Other factors that have contributed to the achievement of this Goal include effort to construct more classrooms, recruiting more Teachers and increasing education materials. Challenges In spite of these achievements, there remain bottlenecks such as insufficient human and financial resources and school dropouts. However, the Country is on track to meet the target of 100 percent net enrolment by 2015.

3 Goal No. 1, 4 and 6 There has been mixed results in implementing Goals No. 1, 4 and 6 as follows. Goal No. 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Poverty as measured by the proportion of population below one Dollar a day has declined from 38.6 percent in 1991/1992 to 33.6 in 2006/2007 for Tanzania Mainland and from 61 percent in 1990 to 49 percent in 2004 for Zanzibar. Surveys reveal that despite sustained growth averaging 7 percent since 2000, poverty levels remain highest in rural areas. Hence, the Government has taken various measures to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger particularly in rural areas, where 80 percent of our population live, and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. These measures include: Embarking on Agriculture initiative known as KILIMO KWANZA (In English literally translated as AGRICULTURE FIRST) aimed at accelerating the implementation of the Agricultural Sector Development Program (ASDP); ASDP is a Program that recognizes Agriculture Sector in its broadest sense to include crop production, animal husbandry and fishing. This is implemented through District Agricultural Development Plans (DADPs), Agriculture Marketing Systems Development Program (AMSDP), District Agricultural Investment Project (DASIP) and Participatory Agricultural Development and Empowerment Project (PADEP). These are interventions that are implemented at Local Government level aimed at catalyzing agriculture sector development in the Country; Another set of interventions in reduction of extreme poverty and hunger include provision of Government subsidies in fertilizers, pesticides and improved seeds through voucher system. The number of farmers benefiting from this arrangement has been increasing every year; We have started witnessing positive outcomes of these interventions on the agricultural sector. There has been good harvest in 2009/2010 season and the food situation in the Country is encouraging. Goal No. 4: Reduce Child Mortality Among the targets for implementing Goal number 4 is to reduce by two thirds ( 2 / 3 ), between 1990 and 2015 the under-five mortality rate. In Mainland Tanzania, there has been reduction of under-five mortality from 165 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 147 per 1000 live births in For the past decade ( ), the number reduced to 81 per 1000 live births (that is 45 percent decrease). Infant mortality rates increased from 91 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 99 per 1000 live births in But between 2000 and 2009, the number of deaths decreased to 51 per 1000 live births (that is 49 percent decrease). Zanzibar has also made significant progress in reduction of under-five and infant mortality. Under-five mortality dropped from 202 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 101 per 1000 in 2004/05 and infant mortality rate from 120 per thousand live births to 61 per thousand live births in Achievements in child health are attributed to health sector reforms, increased coverage of effective interventions; immunization, Vitamin A supplements, Integrated Management of Childhood illness, improved malaria control through Insecticide Treated Nets and access to effective anti-malarial treatment. Goal No. 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases

4 According to the Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey conducted in 2007/2008 statistics indicate that HIV prevalence rates have declined from 7.0 percent in 2003 to 5.7percent in 2003 to percent in 2007 in the Mainland Tanzania. In Zanzibar the rate has remained at 0.6 percent. The prevalence of malaria shows a drastic decreasing trend from 49.2 percent in 2000 to0.8 percent in This is an outstanding and exemplary achievement that has put Zanzibar in the pre-elimination phase. The achievement in Zanzibar is a result of key cost effective interventions for prevention (Insecticide Treated Nets, Indoor Residual Spraying and Intermittent Preventive treatment in pregnancy) and case management with effective drugs. Key Lessons and Experiences Our experience shows that there are some pre-requisite for the achievement of MDGs at Local level which include: Political will at all levels-from, be it national level or grass root level through participatory approach; Continuity in development programmes with predictable flow of resources from our Development Partners to supplement our efforts; Macroeconomic Stability, Peace and Security; Good Governance and well functioning Local Governments. For the LGAs to fully and effectively achieve MDGs, administrative, legal and fiscal measures have to be created and instituted. There must be Accountability at all levels of the Government Structures, be it top leadership or local government leadership; To ensure the effectiveness of the LGAs, Tanzania adopted Local Government Reform Programme which emphasizes Decentralization by Devolution (D by D). Among the priority areas in this programme were Capacity building, increased resources allocation and broad based community participation; Central Government and Local Governments have to create a conducive environment for the involvement of Private Sector in MDGs attainment; and Promotion of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Disadvantaged Groups such as people with disabilities for the achievement of MDGs. Concluding remarks It is obvious that much remains in the achievement of the MDGs for the remaining period of five years to the targeted year of We must renew our commitments and say no to any hinges that will fail us in the realisation of the MDGs; In Tanzania, we are committed to do all we can to accelerate the implementation of the remaining MDGs in the next five years. We will strive to do much on our own, including focusing on sustained Economic Growth and sustainable development. But to succeed we count significantly on similarly renewed commitments on the part of our Development Partners to supplement our efforts; We stress the need for genuine partnership at both National and International levels, and thus the full implementation of MGD 8 by our development partners is a precondition for the attainment of the other seven MDGs. It is my sincere hope that with firm resolve of this Forum, the pace of implementing Millennium Development Goals in most African Countries could be accelerated; and I wish this Forum fruitful deliberations and outcome.

5 I THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.