lthough the Parliament of Tanzania as a major decision-making body adopted a quota system in 1985 to address gender imbalance, the national assembly still consists of about 37 percent of women Members of Parliament whereby 30 percent are from special seats arrangement and 7 percent are elected by the citizens in their constituencies. There is a deficit of 13 percent of women in parliament to achieve a parity with men in the National Assembly.

Policy Forum adopted social accountability monitoring (SAM) in 2008 as one of its strategic approaches to capacitate its members working at the sub-national level in Tanzania to engage in policy processes more meaningfully. Since then, I have seen SAM initiatives contribute to building teacher’s housing at remote schools, the operationalisation of primary health care facilities, and the empowerment of communities to lead participatory forest governance efforts among others.

Development and the use of technology including mobile phones has been rapidly on the rise across Tanzania. According to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), out of 59.7 million people in Tanzania, the number of internet users in 2019 amounted to approximately 23.1 million. This has eased communication and information sharing amongst the public and institutions including the government and among others, has presented the opportunity to utilize Artificial Intelligence in the realization of quality education in Tanzania.

Kindly be informed that Policy Forum secretariat office will be closed for Christmas and New Year Holidays from December 21, 2019 to January 13, 2020.                                    

We would like to wish you a very Happy Holidays.

The Policy Forum Secretariat regrets to announce the untimely death of Mr Sharifu Maloya Kombo, of member organization Lindi Association of Non-Government Organisations (LANGO) who passed away on Saturday 23rd November 2019 (picture attached).

Sharifu Maloya Kombo was the Executive Secretary of LANGO, an organization established to coordinate and enhance relationship and cooperation amongst Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Lindi Region. He worked untiringly for citizens through enhancing Good Governance and Accountability and Financial Management in Lindi and other Regions.

Agreements that are signed between a  government of a developing country and foreign mining companies to supplement or supplant the existing mining legal and fiscal regime also known as Mining Development Agreements (MDAs) are signed with the aim of assuring foreign investors that a developing country’s government will not change the rules of the agreement once investors put in their money and the investment starts bearing profit.

The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania needs only TZS 150 billion for 5 years to cover the cost of 28 percent of health insurance for low-income Tanzanians, the country’s religious leaders have said at a recent Breakfast Debate organised by Policy Forum in collaboration with the Interfaith Standing Committee on Economic Justice and Integrity of Creation (ISCEJIC) on September 27, 2019.

Tanzania Development Vision 2025 and Zanzibar Development Vision 2020 are the main blueprints for the country’s economic transformation towards a middle-income country in 2025 as well as the main vehicles for Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation in Tanzania. Data from the Tanzania Civil Society Report on the SDGs shows that over the last decade, Tanzania has recorded economic growth averaging at 6.6 percent per year making the country one of the fastest growing economies in Sub Saharan Africa.

It is no doubt that whether you read articles or analyses related to extractives industry of Tanzania you will be bombarded with banal phrases such as ‘Tanzania is endowed with immense resources including hydrocarbons and solid minerals like gold, diamond, iron, tanzanite and natural gas.’ The main challenge for the country, however, has remained management of the revenues emanating from the extractives sector.

Successful implementation of Agenda 2030 for sustainable development requires partnerships and multi stakeholder approaches. This was said today by the Hon.