UN Briefs Editors on Successes in Tanzania and Way Forward

Yesterday, the United Nations in Tanzania met with editors from different media houses to discuss UN success, challenges and opportunities during the past five years in the previous UN business plan, United Nations Development Assistance Plan I (UNDAP I) and present the new UN business plan, UNDAP II which will run until June 2021. The Editors’ forum event brings together heads of different UN Agencies, Senior Editors from media houses as well as members of United Nations Communication Group with the aim of communicating the UN’s work in Tanzania to the editors and also providing the editor’s with a space to discuss the media climate in the country.

Yesterday’s forum brought together the heads of ILO, WFP, UNHCR, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UN Women as well as representatives of UNIDO and IOM. All of the agencies were given a chance to explain some of the highlights of the work that their respective agency is doing and the UN Resident Coordinator led the team by giving an overview of how successful UNDAP I and how UNDAP II will be implemented. UNDAP II is set among other things, to increase the percentage of the population with access to safe and clean water, protect forests, improve incomes of rural women and contribute to improving quality education.

Speaking at the event and commenting on UNDAP I, the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez stated “UNDAP is the first single coherent plan for the whole of the UN in Tanzania. 87 percent of its planned budget was successfully mobilized and delivered while 97 percent of its outcomes and targets were also completed or partially completed. We faced challenges in terms of enabling environment, Capacity and Financial Constraints, and data Challenges.” He further highlighted that the new UNDAP is designed to respond to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the government’s National Five-Year Development Plan.

There were over 30 senior editors present from a wide range of media houses including The Citizen, Mwananchi, Habari Leo, The Guardian, Clouds, Uhuru and others. The event was organised in conjunction with the Tanzanian Editor’s Forum (TEF), of which all the editors present are members. They were led by several members of the TEF board and were given the chance to present on challenges they are facing and how they would like to see the partnership between the TEF and the UN develop. Among other forms of support, this includes increased capacity-building on the Global Goals as well as the UNDAP II and its four themes. There was also an extended discussion on development issues facing Tanzania as editors were given a chance to ask the heads of agencies questions about issues ranging from the status of the refugee camps to the different mandates that the different UN agencies have.