At the outset, please allow me to express my heartfelt appreciation for being accorded this opportunity of being your Chief Guest at this opening ceremony of the Social Accountability Practitioners Conference.

I am also pleased to learn that this conference brings over 140 delegates from all over Tanzania and also from neighboring countries. Let me join the Chairperson of the Board of Policy Forum to welcome foreign delegates to Tanzania and to this friendly City of Dar es Salaam.

Ladies and Gentlemen, May I, at this juncture congratulate the Policy Forum, Actionaid Tanzania, Forum Syd, Public Service Accountability Monitor of South Africa, MS-TCDC and the Swiss Development Cooperation for jointly organizing this conference. Gatherings of this nature are crucial in providing space for Social Accountability practitioners to share information and to dialogue on the best ways of monitoring public resources for the interest of their communities.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Prime Minister's Office - Regional Administration and Local Government is particularly interested in the work of civil society organisations that monitor public resources because like them, we are equally committed to the promotion of social justice at all levels of society and are unwavering in our belief that all human beings have equal dignity and an equal claim to the resources they need to exercise their fundamental human rights. To this end, the Government of Tanzania supports civic organisations’ right to monitor whether these rights are being delivered to communities by duty-bearers. To read more click here.