DOCUMENTATION OF CHANGE
During January the DW programme in Tanzania was reviewed by a team of consultants from Denmark, which involved visits to partner organisations and focus group discussions with CO staff and DWs.

MS has been posting development workers in Tanzania since September 23, 1963, where this very first group in the photo had just stepped out of the plane in Dar es Salaam. Back then they did not just dress differently than today, they were also not dubbed development workers, but volunteers; There were no partnership approach; In many cases the Danes worked as gap fillers, and the mode of accommodation and transportation were described as ‘basic’.

The use of personnel is significant for MS’ way of working and in particular MS Tanzania has provided work for a big number of Danish development workers since 1963. Maybe back then these Danes also asked each other similar questions to the ones the review team passed on: ‘How do development workers contribute to change?’ A question which sometimes seems to generate a long list of other questions as this review also did.

In fact, a reminder on how vital it is that we document the changes we bring on and share the experience we make. Back in 1963 MS Tanzania surely did not have the same options as we do today…

Happy reading!

Pernille Baerendtsen
Information Officer

CALENDAR

MS Tanzania Annual Meeting, TCDC is held on February 18 - 20, 2008

Partner and DW meetings are held on February 18.

The overall theme of the Annual Meeting is ‘Instruments for Citizens’ engagement in
democracy building – role of CSOs and other non-state actors’.

If you have not received agenda and programme, please contact: mstan@mstan.or.tz

DW-Days and Topic Team Meetings:
Week 10 - March 3-7, 2008
Week 23 - June 2-6, 2008
Week 39 - September 22-26, 2008
Week 49 - December 1-5, 2008

Topic Team 2 has a two days meeting in Kibaha.
February 7-8, 2008

CONTACT

MS Tanzania
463 Charambe Street, Upanga
P.O.Box 2519, Dar es Salaam
Tanzania.

Tel: +255-22-2117945/8
Fax: +255-22-2115913

mstan@mstan.or.tz
www.ms.dk/tanzania

MS TANZANIA

MS Tanzania is part of the Danish Association for International Co-operation (MS).

Our vision is a world in peace where co-operation between people promotes global equity and ensures improved conditions for poor and marginalized people.

MS Tanzania has been present in Tanzania since 1963, and since 1993 we have partnered with local civil society organisations (CSOs).

The main theme of MS Tanzania’s programme strategy is Building Local Democracy with two sub-themes on Land Rights and Youth.

MS Tanzania aims at defending and enhancing popular participation under the assumption that strengthening democracy at local level will help fight poverty.

CONTRIBUTIONS/
COMMENTS

For contributions to the newsletter or further information, please contact Pernille Baerendtsen at info@mstan.or.tz

You can subscribe to the newsletter here: www.ms.dk/tanzania.
If you receive this newsletter by mistake or if you no longer want to receive it, you can unsubscribe here, too.

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

MS TANZANIA’S NEW DISTRICT FOCUS
In the new country programme strategy (CPS) for MS Tanzania seven districts have been selected as priority districts: Mbeya Rural, Njombe, Kisarawa, Kibaha, Kiteto, Simanjiro and Kilindi. What does that imply in relation to current partnership agreements and for selection of future partner organisations?

Partners classified as strategic partners will not be affected to the extend these partner organisations are within the CPS focus areas of Building Local Democracy, Land Rights and Youth for Development. Strategic partners are defined as partners capable of contributing to meeting the objectives of the CPS, partners that have the professional capacities to add value to the programme and to the partner portfolio in general.

For current partner organisations working within the focus areas in one or more of the seven districts, partnerships will be continued provided general conditions for partnerships are met.

Over the coming two months MS Tanzania will conduct a civil society organisation (CSO) institutional mapping of the seven districts in order to identify potential new partners and in order to develop a CSO support strategy to meet the targets set out in the CPS. It is the ambition of the CPS to contribute to enhanced functioning of Local Government institutions in the seven districts. The partnership approach will not be compromised – hence a few new partners will have to be identified in some of the districts before implementation of the CPS can commence.

As already communicated MS Tanzania will focus on membership based CSOs where democracy can be applied ‘first hand’ and where constituencies can be clearly identified. Membership based organisations are – to the extend they are responding to the needs of members – supposed to be less prone to become self-serving and are more clearly defined vis-à-vis private sector for-profit entities (with many NGOs crossing that line in un-fair competition with the private sector!).

These changes will be implemented during 2008 with all current partnerships being honoured.

At the up-coming Annual Meeting of MS Tanzania on February 18 – 20, 2008 the CPS and its implication for partnerships and programmes will be further explained to and discussed with partner organisations - after which implementation of the new CPS will start.

Flemming Winther Olsen
Country Director

FINANCIAL ISSUES
As you might be aware - the funds from DANIDA were delayed causing a wait regarding our activities. MS Tanzania has finally received the first allocation of funds for 2008 - so now we can start doing business!

MS Tanzania CO will be audited by Ernest & Young from February 25 to March 10, 2008. MS Tanzania is requesting the staff of its partner organisations responsible for accounts to be in office and be prepared to co-operate on this task in case you happen to be visited by auditors.

HABARI ZA TANZANIA
The one and only issue for 2007 did not arrive from printing until the middle of January. However, in the last newsletter we provided you with links to most of the articles, but if you want an overall impression of the new design you can either require Habari za Tanzania by mail or download it as a PDF here:

English version

Kiswahili version

The issue is dealing with the new Country Programme Strategy (CPS) for MS Tanzania, and gives insight in how we are going to get started on our new strategy. 

TOPIC TEAM UP-DATE

Topic Team 02 has a two days meeting in Kibaha on February 7-8, 2008. Among other issues the team will finalise a work plan for 2008; Plan preparation for the upcoming review of Building Local Democracy Theme; Review membership of the team as more members will be leaving the team in 1st half of 2008; And finalise discussion on modalities of collaboration with the Kibaha District Council.

We have received from Policy Forum a resource book for trainers on Public Expenditure Tracking in Tanzania in both English and Kiswahili. The book can be accessed at the TT2 PET section in the Resource Centre.

Topic Team 03
A small group met on January 16 for activity plan on communication workshop and partner mapping for the remaining partners. The work will start in March. Regarding gender, the draft strategy will be circulated on February 1 after compilation of comments.

THE CHANGE OF ENVIRONMENT
- from Copenhagen Business School to MS Tanzania
Maria Wiese, intern with Topic Team 2, will end her work at MS Tanzania by February 2008. Adding practical experience from a development country to your education can give essential experience which could not have been gained at the school desk. MS Tanzania’s Danish intern for the last six months shares her experience.

Read more here:
http://www.ms.dk/sw91092.asp

THE MTV-PROGRAMME
February 1 we are receiving five volunteers who were supposed to go to Kenya. But due to the political situation i Kenya, the Global Contact in Denmark decided to send the volunteers to Tanzania. Three volunteers have participated in the Global Platform in Zanzibar and two are coming straight from Denmark.

1. Anders Solund Pedersen - Child in the Sun
2. Signe Juel Rasmussen - Child in the Sun
3. Anne Kirstine Hansen - St. Anne School
4. Mette Brock - St. Anne School
5. Lisa Mai Werneburg - Vision Academy

February 8 there will be a mid-term evaluation of the volunteers arrived in January.

On March 1, 2008 MS Tanzania will receive 12 volunteers. Eight of the volunteers have participated in the Global Platform in Zanzibar for one month just before the arrival, and four are coming straight from Denmark. The volunteers will be working in schools and youth organisations for the three months period March-June 2008.The volunteers will participate in a one week orientation course where they will be introduced to Tanzanian culture, behavior, dress code, security and gender relations, working and living with the hosting families.

The following are the volunteers and their respective placements:

1. Marie Wiberg and Christina Vega – Friends of Don Bosco - DSM
2. Pernile Hoj and Kamila Jensen: Edeyane School - DSM
3. David Peter and Christian Bernth: Dogodogo center - DSM
4. Sanne Marie and Nine Troelsen: Coastal Vision School - KIBAHA
5. Nina Askou Hansen and Elisabeth Tanni: MYODA - KIBAHA

ACTION AID INTERNATIONAL AND MS TANZANIA
MS Denmark and Action Aid International have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the feasibility of a merger between the two organisations. The feasibility study entails a review in each of the countries in which both MS and Action Aid International are represented. These countries are: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nepal, Afghanistan and Guatemala/Central America. A final proposal for or against a merger will be presented at MS Denmark’s General Assembly in September 2008.

In Tanzania a review team from each organisation has been established to carry out exchange visits to learn more about each others projects, partners and organisations. The findings will be presented at a workshop ultimo March 2008. Afterwards a country report will be finalised.

The members of the review team presenting MS Tanzania are Muro Jackson from the MS partner TAPHGO, Programme Officer Florida Henjewele and DW Marianne Buhrkal Soerensen.

You are encouraged to follow the process and give your comments here on the blog http://www.msblogs.dk/actionaid

PEOPLE

Shana Noela Jakobsen
Development worker Rune Jakobsen and his wife Aimbora have added on to the MS Tanzania family with the newest and youngest member, Shana Noela Jakobsen, who was born December 24th. Almost 4 kg and 55 cm.

A healthy beauty that looks like she is going to be tall like the father – Rune Mrefu.

Francisca Mwikila, receptionist/secretary trainee, is ending her training period on March 2, 2008.

A new trainee, Florence Mathew, is taking over for another six months period.

Katja Rasmussen is a new intern arriving from Denmark on February 6, 2008. She will stay for six months and work with communication.

CONTACTS ON STAFF
Contact (e-mail and mobile) information on all MS CO Staff and DWs (with very few exceptions) are now up-dated and available here: http://www.ms.dk/sw2155.asp. For the ones of you with access to the MS Intranet, do here find more detailed information – i.e. check out what we actually look like in MS Tanzania!

CONTACT

MS Tanzania
463 Charambe Street, Upanga
P.O.Box 2519, Dar es Salaam
Tanzania.

Tel: +255-22-2117945/8
Fax: +255-22-2115913

mstan@mstan.or.tz

www.ms.dk/tanzania