REFORM NOT AN END IN ITSELF, BUT A TOOL FOR ACHIEVING LARGER GOALS, DEPUTY

SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS PARLIAMENTARIANS IN UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

 

Following is the text of Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks to the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania, as prepared for delivery in Dodoma on 22 July:

It is a great pleasure to return to this Parliament.  I stand before you wearing a new hat, but Tanzania is still my home.  My roots are firmly planted in this great country that has made me what I am today.  I therefore speak to you as a fellow Tanzanian looking in through the eyes of the United Nations.

I appreciate this opportunity to address this august assembly on the close ties between Tanzania and the United Nations, and on the critical role you play as Members of Parliament and representatives of the Tanzanian people.

The United Nations has been a partner in Tanzania’s development since independence.  The country’s history is closely linked to the values and principles of the United Nations.  Tanzania’s commitment to international solidarity, to peace and security, to human rights and development is unquestionable.  I know I speak on behalf of the entire United Nations family in commending the progress Tanzania has made over the last few decades.

The time has never been more opportune for us to make the most of this partnership.  More than 60 years after its birth, the United Nations is taking a deep and detailed look at itself in order to strengthen its operational activities for development.

This reform process is known as “Delivering as One”.  Its goal is clear: the United Nations wants to provide more coherent support to Governments in their efforts to reduce poverty and achieve economic, social and political growth.

Tanzania is one of the first eight countries where the United Nations is piloting this initiative.  The “One United Nations” programme in the country was launched last October following a months-long participatory process involving the Government, development partners and representatives of civil society.  This initiative now forms the basis of a stronger partnership between Tanzania and the United Nations family.

“Delivering as one” means harmonizing our business practices.  It means changing the type of assistance.  And it means doing our utmost, under the leadership of the Government, to help nations put together their own national strategies to meet the needs of their citizens.

The United Nations family in Tanzania views the reform as an opportunity to live up to the principles articulated in the Joint Assistance Strategy for Tanzania.  The proposed programmes are fully aligned with national priorities outlined in the national strategies for growth and poverty reduction, MKUKUTA and MKUZA, on which the larger United Nations Development Assistance Framework is also based.

I am very encouraged that donors have strongly supported the reform process.  They have invested more than $39 million through the One Fund, thereby allowing the One programme to be fully funded.  These resources are making change possible.  They are also improving the United Nations long-term planning capacity and funding predictability.

Reform is never easy.  But we are fortunate in that we agree on what has to be done.  The United Nations needs to be more effective and accountable in its day-to-day work on the ground.  International development partners must maintain or even further increase the level of support as the programme expands.  And the Government, for its part, has shown a clear willingness to take the driver’s seat.  This commitment must be maintained, both in terms of political will and in the allocation of resources.  A drop in support would risk stalling or even derailing our progress to date.

Let me stress that reform is not an end in itself.  It is a tool with which we are working to achieve our larger goals: to reduce poverty; to put more children in school; to increase access to antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV; to deal with soaring food and fuel prices; and to address global threats that endanger people, not only here in Tanzania, but across Africa and throughout the world.

Here in Parliament, it would seem appropriate to say a few words about the “Deepening Democracy in Tanzania Programme”.  Like all our joint programmes, it is results-oriented.  It supports four broad areas: the African Peer Review Mechanism; elections; civic education; and accountable governance.

Specific activities have focused on building up the capacity of parliamentarians, their staff and their committees to carry out their functions, including in such vital areas as scrutinizing budgets and bills, holding effective public hearings and setting priorities and levels for public expenditures.

We in Tanzania have been gifted with peace and stability for so many years.  We should not take this for granted.  You the Parliamentarians have played, and must continue to play, a critical role to ensure we protect this peace.

Through deepening democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Tanzania, you have a central role to play in translating good governance into gains for our people.

You can press Governments to mobilize resources and adopt policies geared towards real benefits for ordinary men and women.  You can help strengthen the MKUKUTA and MKUZA and then monitor efforts to implement them.

You can broaden public understanding of what is needed to reduce poverty.  And you can create broad alliances for action by reaching out to actors across the spectrum of the community, including the private sector, civil society and the media.

As grave as the challenges we face here in Tanzania may be, Parliaments must also connect domestic concerns with what is taking place at the regional and global levels.  As you know, Tanzania has been very active in the African Union and the East African Community.

The Government of Tanzania and President [Jakaya] Kikwete -- particularly in his role as the Chairperson of the Africa Union -- has shown constructive leadership in promoting peace and security in the region.   Tanzania also plays an important leadership role in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, are a key part of this bigger picture.  Parliamentarians can and must be active partners in this effort, and towards that end the United Nations Millennium Campaign is developing a more systematic strategy for reaching out to you and your counterparts in other countries.  The goal is to raise awareness of the goals and mobilize action towards their achievement.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has launched two key initiatives.  First, the MDG Africa Steering Group, which brings together in one eminent body the principals of the leading institutions dedicated to Africa's development.  The Steering Group includes both African institutes, such as the African Union Commission, and international institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  The Group recently announced a set of concrete measures aimed at advancing the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.

President Kikwete played a key role in launching these recommendations at the African Union Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.  The African Union member States also endorsed these recommendations as a plan for the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.  Second, the Secretary-General will convene, along with the President of the General Assembly, a high-level event in September in New York intended to raise global awareness and generate momentum in support of the Goals.  This will follow a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on 22 September on Africa’s development needs.

We will be counting on you to be part of these undertakings.  I urge you to include the Millennium Development Goals in your debates and to ensure that they figure prominently in the legislation you enact and the budgets you adopt.

This year is the midpoint in our efforts to reach these vital Development Goals by 2015.  I urge you to be bold -- both in the initiatives you undertake and the support you request from your development partners.

The time to act is now.  In Tanzania and around the world, millions of people are trapped in extreme poverty, millions are dying from preventable causes and millions are vulnerable to climate change.  They need our urgent help.

Our vision of a better world, as embodied in the Millennium Development Goals, remains within reach.  But we need all countries to follow through on their commitments.

Poverty transcends borders and concerns us all.  It requires our persistent, collective response on the local, regional and global levels.  The “Delivery as One” reforms are a vital aspect of the United Nations efforts to enhance our support to Tanzania at each of these levels.

And let me stress, what happens here in Tanzania will provide an important test case for all of you, for the United Nations and for the international community.  Let us not disappoint.

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For information media • not an official record