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TANZANIA: New era dawns in foreign aid

By Tamara Shephard
ETOBICOKE (ON) GUARDIAN

It's a new era in the world of foreign development aid.

Once, Canada and other global donors contributed project-specific development aid funding to Tanzania. Foreign governments were project implementers.

Then, in 1997, the government of the East African country of 36 million developed its first national Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), following targets of Vision 2025, the United Nations' Millennium Project. Development priorities focused on roads, water, health care, education, agriculture, HIV/AIDS and the judiciary.

Now, international donors - including Canada - get in on the ground floor of planning, and offer technical assistance in priority-identified sectors in Tanzania, such as health and education.

"In the early '90s, relations between the Tanzanian government and (international) donors deteriorated. There was no trust. We felt the development process was not in our own hands; that there was no way to lead our own future," said Neema Siwingwa, development officer with the Canadian High Commission in Dar.

No fewer than 22 recommendations followed, aimed at improving donor-government relations:

- The Tanzanian government was encouraged to develop a clearer vision of priority areas to combat poverty, jumpstart the economy; take leadership (not just rely on donors); and develop more efficient financial management that trickles down to communities;

- Donors were encouraged to shift power from their headquarters to the local field level so decisions are made faster, and more in tune with government cycles.

The second PRS, in draft form and expected to be finalized later this year, looks at the entire Tanzanian economy, focusing on three priority clusters: good governance (human rights, transparency, accountability, justice); social development (health, education, agriculture) and growth (transportation).

But measuring improvement in social wellbeing is proving a tougher go than gauging the benefits of newly paved roads: "There's controversy about what is the best approach," Siwingwa explained.

The Tanzanian Assistance Strategy, published in 2002, guides external (foreign) aid provision. Its goal - increase Tanzanian ownership of the development agenda; improve the partnership between government and stakeholders, and enhance aid effectiveness.

"It allows the government to plan and forecast based on predetermined aid flows," she said.

The strategy is significant.

Planning, and focusing aid dollars on priority sectors marks a new road in the history of Tanzania's development.

"Before, projects were scattered across Tanzania. The government had difficulty knowing specifics. Where was the funding going? How was it being managed? How could it monitor all the (development) activities? In Dar (the commercial capital), the government didn't know where the pockets of poverty were. And there was aid fatigue; the (development) results weren't so obvious, and there was very little sustainability of projects once donors pulled out."

In fact, in its Millennium Project report, the United Nations (UN) indicates "most (international partnership-funded) development processes are stuck in the short run."

UN Millennium goals, set for 2015, include:

N reducing by 50 per cent the number of people living on less than $1 US per day;

- universal primary education;

- gender equality;

- reducing by two-thirds the mortality rate of children five and younger;

- improving maternal health; halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases;

- ensuring environmental sustainability; and

- developing a global partnership for development.

Predictability of aid dollars comes at a time when donors are harmonizing their own policies and procedures, aimed at proving aid effectiveness.

While donors monitor programs, a government checking system channels foreign aid funding directly through the government budget.

Public management reforms is widely forecast to result in increased Tanzanian government transparency and accountability for aid dollars.

Development partners, including foreign governments, are given the lead on projects based on their individual areas of expertise.

Canada provides $43 million in direct budget support, with additional funding for priority sectors.

It's a learning curve, for the Tanzanian government, and donors like Canada, acknowledged Beatrice Omari, education advisor with the Dar-based Canadian Cooperation Office (COO), a bilateral project of the Canadian International Development Agency.

"Conceptually, it's easier, but it's not all that easy. It brings with it new challenges.

It's moving us away from being micro-managers; we're more involved in vast monitoring on a macro level," she said.

Development partners, including Canada, discuss policy "to ensure it's in line with our expectation of aid," she added.

Donors are permitted independent monitoring of their respective program funding.

Tanzanian government reports are coming, but less frequently than some western donors expect, Omari said.

COO is now requesting quarterly reports of government, she said.

"We have day-to-day contact with the (education) ministry to do monitoring," she said of her area of responsibility. "Are we there yet? Where's the report? We read reports as donors, comment on them, then provide technical assistance where necessary to ensure we're getting value for our money."

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(784 words)

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