Launch of the WFP Programme and Office in Zanzibar

• Hon. Hamza Hassan Juma, Minister of State, Second Vice President Office
• Sarah Gordon-Gibson, WFP Representative in Tanzania
• Principal Secretaries, Government officials present
• WFP and other UN colleagues
• Representatives of CSOs and private sector
• Members of the Press; Invited Guests

Asalaam Aleikum, Habari za Asubuhi,

I would like to thank WFP and Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar for organizing this event. I am very happy to join you today for this very important milestone for WFP and for the UN in Tanzania. We at the UN are proud to have a strong presence in Zanzibar. A total of 17 UN agencies funds and programmes support activities in Zanzibar, 11 are resident. They are all implementing programmes in a variety of different sectors. We are very excited that WFP will now be among the resident UN agencies in Zanzibar, this brings us closer to the beneficiaries we try to serve.

The UN works in close collaboration with the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar and CSO’s on:

• improving access to clean and safe water,
• promoting sanitation and comprehensive health services,
• ending violence against women and children,
• championing women’s economic empowerment,
• generating evidence-based development policies,
• supporting employment creation,
• strengthening social protection mechanisms, 
• on blue economy,
• capacity building for coordination,
• and reporting on SDGs and national development plan

All this to try to ensure that no one is left behind.

I am therefore very pleased that WFP will be joining the UN team in Zanzibar. WFP is among the longest serving UN entities in Tanzania and, having served in WFP myself for many years, I have no doubt that the programme they are launching today will be catalytic in bringing sustainable and transformative change for economic empowerment of rural women in Zanzibar, significantly contributing to Zanzibar’s development agenda.

Please join me in congratulating WFP for making a reality the decision to expand its programme in Zanzibar and to establish presence here - hongereni sana!!

Invited guests,

Zanzibar, like the rest of Tanzania, and any developing countries, faces a variety of different complex development challenges, including exposure to natural and man-made hazards associated with climate change and coastal land degradation. This and other challenges require concerted joint efforts from UN agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders to support and complement the Government interventions.

The UN very much appreciates the long-standing cooperation with the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar which has enabled smooth implementation of UN supported interventions on the Isles.

Recently there was a UN Capacity for Disaster Reduction Initiative (CADRI) mission in Tanzania, which visited Zanzibar form 19-26 October. The mission consulted Government entities and other stakeholders in Unguja and Pemba in identifying capacity gaps in emergency preparedness and response - from national to shehia level. The support provided to the mission was exemplary and we reached consensus on strategic priority interventions on preparedness, mitigation, and adaptation measures.

WFP was one of the co-leads of that CADRI mission in Tanzania and is also a lead agency in our UNCT on emergency preparedness and response.

As many of you will be aware, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the UN launched this year the UNSDCF 2022-2027, which will guide our work in Tanzania for the next five years, in support of the national development priorities, both on the Mainland and in Zanzibar.

We thank the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar for being extensively involved in the designing the UNSDCF. This ensured that it is aligned with government priorities as articulated in the Zanzibar Development Plan (ZADEP) and other policy frameworks. Now that we have begun implementing it, we are happy that our continued cooperation will also extend to the implementation of the WFP programme that is being launched today.

Congratulations WFP, on the launch of the new programme and on the opening of your office in Zanzibar!

Hongereni sana na kila la kheri!

Asanteni sana.