Newsletter for MS-Tanzania

For MS partners and development workers in Tanzania.

February 2005

Editor: Information worker Tina Loevbom Petersen and Michael Bech
Editor-in-chief: Director Finn Petersen

 

Can you hear the grass grow?

Once in a while it’s good to stop, look and listen. We have had visits over the last year here in Tanzania from the Danish Finance Committee, the Danish Minister for Development and several journalists.

Most of them were in a hurry, they went for the posh organisations, the fancy programmes with smiling and colourful masaais dancing and some times for a quick vacation around the safari-parks or on the beautiful beaches of Zanzibar . They didn’t stop, look and listen. If they had done so, they might have heard the roots moving and the grass grow - as it does in small organisations working in remote areas with the most marginalized people in Tanzania .

Some of them took the time needed, and they have been offered a better picture of Tanzania and development in this part of the world.

MS and her partners didn’t get a lot of attention after the visit from the Finance Committee or from the Minister for Development, Mr. Bertel Haarder. But some of them might have been reminded of the poorest of the poor and the fragility in developing countries, when disaster struck in Asia and the Tsunami killed up to 300.000 people. Then they all stopped, looked in horror and finally listened to the people hurt by tragedy. Let them now remember Africa !

We should also remember to stop, look and listen. Especially as we are two completely different cultures working alongside in a partnership.

News from the director

The 9^th February there will be a General Election in Denmark . In 2001 we didn’t expect the election to have any direct influence on what we were implementing in the south. But were we taught a lesson… For this coming election I will take nothing for granted, but I have to say that I don’t expect major changes, beside what has already taken place in the last couple of years. MS and other NGO’s make an attempt to get development assistance on the election agenda so that the political parties states their policy and the electorate can challenge them on the same, before the election. Talking about election, let me remind you, that we have a deadline for MS-Tanzania’s partners 7^th February, to give feedback on how we should be involved in the election monitoring process of the coming general election in October.

On a personal note, I will inform you that I have extended my contract with the last year to 2006. Administrator Pia Norgaard has decided not to extend her contract beyond July 2005 so that she can pursue her wish of working with relief assistance. From the office side we wish her all the best in her coming new position, we know that she will probably handle it extremely well, as she showed in her position as a administrator in this office with energy and commitment. She will be missed.

How far have we come?

Meaningful monitoring of partner activities within the MS-Tanzania Country Programme is one of the essential ingredients in the continuation of a coherent and thus viable MS Programme in Tanzania .

Since the overhanging threat of a possible closure of the programme in early 2002, MS-Tanzania has developed a new policy paper, the promised and arguably strictly necessary geographical concentration of partners and DW placements is in full effect as from January 2005 and the administrative expenses have been retrenched together with supplementary focus on increasing financial support to the beneficiaries, i.e. the partners.

The cost effectiveness, programme scope and overall logistics of the MS-Tanzania Country Programme is therefore in line with envisaged changes necessary for the survival of MS in Tanzania.

Whatever happened to monitoring?

Alongside more manageable changes to the programme (geographical concentration, administrative cuts etc.) was also the promise and grave necessity of developing, testing and implementing a monitoring system until such was fully operational and indeed certified through evaluation of tangible monitoring ‘results’.

At the Annual Meeting 2003 the programme section presented a computerised monitoring system, a system ‘which at testing proved to be cumbersome to use and later it collapsed. In June 2004, the Country Office finalised development of a simple but effective and user friendly tool for the same purposes. Monitoring receives barely a full page in the latest MS-Tanzania Annual Report 2004.

Perhaps the persistent inadequate internal communication in MS-Tanzania is the reason why some DWs learned about the ‘new’ monitoring tool only when reading the Annual Report 2004. This newsletter could fittingly have kept DWs and partners up to date with monitoring strategy developments as well as obstacles.

If the tool was briefly introduced to partners during recent (October, November 2004) partner review workshops, how can WAMATA particularize that: ‘they have decided to employ the tool not only in the MS partnership activities but also they think of adapting the tool to suit other M&E purposes for the whole organisation.’1 Perhaps WAMATA would consider sharing their monitoring approach related to the above statement in detail with other MS partner organisations – utilising this very newsletter? Let other partners benefit from TAYEN & WAMATAs early experiences with the new monitoring tool!

Comparing, until now, the barely implemented monitoring tool with the programme indicators, one could argue that, for example, the number of partners who conducted meetings, or the number of conducted trainings are merely confirmations of activity but cannot readily be translated into actual organisational progress on behalf of the partner or MS.

The ‘proportion of partner organisations which conducted various internal training as an indicator will only indicate the number of partners who have conducted training, but hardly shed light on the structure of participants and more importantly, to which extent the training actually benefited the partner, training attendants, non attendants and ultimately MS-Tanzania in pursuing its overall objectives.

The immediate need for more detailed monitoring, both qualitative and quantitative, is still pertaining in MS-Tanzania and the more time we spend on developing ‘tools’ without any concrete results, the more our credibility will suffer and the more likely is MS-Tanzania to be shut down completely if further budget cuts become reality.

Monitoring should still be viewed as probably the toughest ‘change’ in the new era of the MS-Tanzania Country Programme, but one which deserves outmost attention from both the programme section as well as individual partners and DWs. Besides, it is a golden opportunity for the partners to show that they have understood the importance of monitoring, and having attended the monitoring and evaluation course at TCDC, partnership monitoring activities ought to be ongoing as from January 2005 – who ensures that this is really the case?

By Hans J. Hausmann, Cooperative Adviser, Naramatisho

Next month: Activity monitoring approaches in Naramatisho, Bagamoyo 

 

Partners moving in on MS

There are right now a number of potential partners moving in on MS. And MS is moving in on them… Here’s a list:

KINNAPA Development Programme in Kibaya-Kiteto working with gender issues and children’s and land rights.

Envirocare in Dar es Salaam with a focus on environmental and human rights and gender issues.

Vijana Vision Tanzania in Kisarawe is concentrating on good governance and HIV/AIDS.

Morogoro Paralegals from rural Morogoro is bringing the rights issues to people in the rural area.

Tanzania Youth Coalition (TYC) in Dar es Salaam works with policy advocacy and youth related issues.

Mapambano Centre for Child Rights Trust in Mkuranga is focussing on children’s rights and good governance.

Tanzania Mineworkers Development Organisation in Mererani deals with the rights of the miners, land rights and HIV/AIDS issues.

TAYEN has moved

It has been a happy start of 2005 for Tanzania Youth Exchange Network. We have moved our office from Kigamboni to the more central Tip-Top in Manzeze, Dar es Salaam . We have also said welcome to a young secretary Maua Octavie and a new youth co-ordinator Isaac Mushitsi.
Karibuni sana TAYEN on the 4th floor in the Tip Top building!

Wedding

Programme Officer Joan Lohay will be married on 5^th February in Dar es Salaam to Mr. Revocatus Simbakalia. The Country Office wishes her and her coming husband all the best for their marriage and for the future.

Contact for the Newsletter: michael_bech@net.dialog.dk - Mobile 0744 - 87 40 80