The path to success

Monday 5 March 2012

Pinda: MADAKTARI WANASIKITISHA

Waziri Mkuu,Mizengo Pinda

SIKU moja baada ya madaktari kutishia kuanza mgomo mwingine, Waziri Mkuu, Mizengo Pinda amesema amesikitishwa na tishio hilo akisema kwa sasa Serikali ipo katika mchakato wa utekelezaji wa makubaliano mbalimbali na wanataaluma hao.

Pinda alitoa kauli hiyo jana aliokuwa akizungumzana katika mahojiano maalumu na Gazeti dada la Mwananchi, The Citizen na kusema hatua hiyo mpya ya madaktari inamsikitisha kwa kuwa Serikali ndiyo kwanza inaendelea na vikao kwa ajili ya kuangalia namna ya kutekeleza madai yao hayo.

“Siwezi kuzungumza chochote sasa wakati Serikali inaendelea kushughulikia mgogoro huo. Niseme tu kwa kweli wananisikitisha (madaktari). Ninasikitika kuona kwamba wakati bado tuko kwenye mazungumzo, wenzetu wanafanya vikao vingine,” alisema Pinda.

Akilihutubia taifa Februari 29 mwaka huu, Rais Jakaya Kikwete alieleza kufurahishwa na hatua ambayo suala hilo limefikia akisema:“Nashukuru mgomo huo umekwisha lakini makovu yake yatabaki maisha katika kumbukumbu za historia ya taaluma ya tiba hapa nchini.”

“Leo (Februari 29), Mheshimiwa Waziri Mkuu amenipa taarifa kuwa kamati aliyounda kushughulikia madai ya madaktari imekamilisha kazi yake na kuwasilisha taarifa yake kwake. Kuanzia kesho (Machi, Mosi), Serikali itaifanyia kazi taarifa hiyo na kuamua ipasavyo kulingana na uwezo uliopo. Ninawaomba ndugu zetu madaktari kuwa na moyo wa subira.”
Rais Kikwete alisema Serikali inatambua, inajali na kuthamini kazi za madaktari na watumishi wengine wa sekta ya afya katika kulinda na kudumisha afya za Watanzania hivyo itajitahidi kuona kuwa inafanya kila liwezekanalo kuhakikisha kuwa mgomo haujirudii tena.

Hata hivyo, wakati Pinda akieleza kusikitishwa na hatua hiyo mpya ya madaktari, Naibu Waziri wa Afya na Ustawi wa Jamii, Dk Lucy Nkya alisema hawezi kujiuzulu kama madaktari hao wanavyotaka kwa kuwa suala hilo liko nje ya uwezo wake.“Hivi sasa siwezi kuzungumza chochote kwa kuwa suala hilo liko juu yangu na siwezi kujiuzulu,” alisema Dk Nkya.

Tishio la madaktari
Juzi, madaktari hao waliipa Serikali siku tatu kuanzia jana hadi Jumatano wiki hii kuhakikisha inawatimua kazi Waziri wa Afya na Ustawi wa Jamii, Dk Hadji Mponda na Naibu wake, Dk Nkya vinginevyo watatangaza mgomo mwingine waliouita wa kihistoria.

Pia, madaktari hao kupitia kwa wawakilishi wao waliopo katika kamati iliyoundwa na Pinda kujadili madai yao, wamekubaliana kutoendelea na majadiliano hadi hapo mawaziri hao watakapoondolewa kwenye nyadhifa zao.

Hatua hiyo imekuja zikiwa zimepita siku chache baada ya kikao kilichoitishwa na Serikali kujadili suala hilo kuvunjika huku kila upande ukituhumu mwingine kuhusika.

Akizungumza mara baada ya kumalizika kwa mkutano wa madaktari hao ulifanyika Dar es Salaam juzi, Rais wa Chama cha Madaktari Tanzania (MAT), Dk Namala Mkopi alisema kama mawaziri hao wataendelea na nyadhifa zao hadi Jumatano, madaktari hawatakuwa tayari kuendelea na kazi.

“Madaktari wameona isingekuwa jambo jema kuendelea kujadiliana na kufikia uamuzi na Serikali huku Waziri na Naibu wake wakiendelea kushikilia nyadhifa zao, watu hao wanawajibika kwa kila kilichotokea? Nani asiyejua kuwa vifo vilitokea wakati wa mgomo?” alisema Dk Mkopi na kuongeza:

“Wananchi na makundi mbalimbali wanawataka wajiuzulu hata madaktari hawatajisikia vizuri kufanya kazi huku wakiendelea kuongozwa na mawaziri hao.”

Dk Mkopi alifafanua kuwa kamati iliyoteuliwa na Waziri Mkuu kushughulikia suala hilo, imeonyesha utayari wa kuwasikiliza na kufikia makubaliano, lakini kuendelea kuwepo mawaziri hao ambao ni sehemu ya watuhumiwa, ni kikwazo katika utekelezaji.

Akizungumzia suala hilo, Mkurugenzi Mtendaji wa Tamwa, Ananilea Nkya alisema kitendo cha mawaziri hao wawili kushindwa kujiuzulu ni majaribu.

“Tangu watu walivyoanza kufa kutokana na mgomo wa madaktari uliotokea na wao kuendelea kung'ang'ania madaraka inashangaza nafikiri ni wakati sasa wajiuzulu,” alisema Nkya.

BFTZ SHARING IS CARING

PLEASE SAVE THESE CHILDREN



11,The age of the oldest child of Ms Saada Masoud King’ombe, who is the mother of four boys and two girls

Dar es Salaam. Every second, someone, somewhere, is praying to God and is hopeful that the Creator is listening and will answer the prayers.That, apparently, is what influenced Dar es Salaam resident Ms Saada Masoud King’ombe to pick ‘Godlisten’ as the name of one of her children.‘Godlisten’ sounds as rational as, say, “Godbless”, and so does ‘Try’, the name of another of Saada’s children.

The mother’s seemingly strange choice of names for her offspring nonetheless arouses curiosity. The curiosity may be resolved – at least partially – by Saada’s strange, unconventional lifestyle which defines her seven-member family.

The family has two ‘homes’. The mother, four boys and two girls aged between two months and 11 years, spend much of their daytime in the shade of a baobab tree along Ocean Road in Dar es Salaam.

The backyard of a garage in a location whose pronounced landmarks are Gymkhana Club and a five-star hotel, is the nighttime ‘home’ for the family.

Many sympathizers, amongst whom are those who regularly donate cash, food and other basic provisions to the haggard-looking seven-some, are upset by lack of intervention by authorities associated with such situations.

They are particularly disturbed by the negative physical, mental and psychological impacts of the lifestyle on the children, over whom the mother is as protective as a lioness is to her cubs.

A pump attendant at a petrol station not far from the family’s after-sunset home, Saada often left her children to engage in nightlife adventures.


“She returns before day break, assembles the kids and shepherds them to the baobab tree base,” explained the pump attendant who wished not to be named.

It is a life cycle that the eldest child, Diana Masoud, is desperate to be liberated from. She told The Citizen on Saturday that she would also be very happy to meet her father.

“I wish I knew my dad……I don’t know anything at all about him but my mother says he ran away when she was pregnant with me,” narrated the distraught Masoud.

Four of the children are already past school enrollment age. Diana and eight-year- old Michael, can however read and write through the efforts of their mother, a former primary school teacher. Michael speaks some smattering French and English.

Other siblings, Junior, 6, Godlisten, 4, are also slowly picking up on reading and writing skills under the mother’s tutorial.

The last two, Goodluck, 1, and Try, who is aged only two months, take turns to breastfeed from their mother who says she is keen on their upbringing. The family cooks and eats together in the shade of the tree.

Close scrutiny reveals that the grown up girl and boy are gradually blending into the groups of young drug addicts and petty criminals who prowl the beach front for potential victims to pounce upon.

Saada told this reporter that two other children were taken away by their fathers. “Every child has his or her own father, one of whom lives right here in the city.”

She said she has had relationships with men of different nationalities who fathered the kids but all of whom vanished without trace.Her story stretches many years back when she was a married woman and a teacher in a public school. She lost her job and would-be terminal benefits over desertion charges.

She further claims that, her in-laws kicked her out of her matrimonial home in Sinza, a suburb of Dar es Salaam, over claims that she was responsible for the death of her husband in 1994.

Last week, the commissioner for Social Welfare, Mr Dunford Makala, said he had unsuccessfully tried several times to take away the children but the mother categorically refused to release them.


On the legal front, he said: “The law is very clear on this; we are just following the right procedures to see how we can take these children to safe custody, as they are leading a dangerous life.”

He said the same law also allows parents to live with their children and access them even while under care by other bodies.

The Law of the Child Act, 2009 identifies a child in need of rescue and how that could be achieved.
It declares in section 4(2); “The best interest of a child shall be the primary consideration in all actions concerning a child whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts or administrative bodies.”

And section 7(2) a-c spells out that a court could deprive parents or guardians the right to remain with their children if they exposed them to harm, abuse and again if it was not in their best interest.

Section 16 numerously spells out circumstances for care and protection of a child, that includes when a child has a parent who does not exercise proper guardianship, lacks a home or fixed place of abode and the parents’ habit is unfit to care for them.The same section applies where a parent(s) is a destitute, exposes children to moral or physical danger and engages in soliciting for alms.

The government, through the social welfare department and the police, are largely expected to lead in the enforcement of the law. Other child welfares organisations and agencies may also lend their input.The Citizen on Saturday has established that security personnel are pursuing a theory that Saada could be involved in some suspicious activities.

“She may be using the family as a smokescreen for other things….because her case is beyond that of a mere beggar,” explained a security source without elaborating.It was established that every time Saada was repatriated to her rural home in Kigoma, she quickly returned to the city.

Human rights agencies have reportedly also raised concerns with the department over their failure to act with complete resolve to save the six children.

BFTZ SHARING IS CARING

Wednesday 29 February 2012

Uganda: We Either ‘Kill’ Culture or Preserve Life




ELEVEN-year-old Cheyech Lima of Doo village in Nakapipirit District died on July 9, 2010, in the bush due to over bleeding-a common FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) complication. According to the “surgeon”, one Cheptchai, he was not only cutting for the first time, but hurriedly for fear of the law. “My grand father used to be a ‘surgeon’. So elders asked me to start because we needed to cut as many girls as possible,” Cheptchai says.
While Milka Rioo, an age-mate who survived the complications to see another sunrise reveals, “I woke up one morning ready to go to school but father told me that I should stop thinking of going to school and focus on being cut and getting married. So I had to obey my father.”
Karamoja, the black spot
This is the “crude” face of FGM in Karamoja, a much impoverished region with illiteracy rates as high as 92 per cent but with a raw and strong culture that has almost 90 per cent of their girls mutilated. Even legal restraints have not helped much.
Like social scientists say, changing long-standing cultural practices–even when such practices are harmful–is difficult. The Karimojong Resistance to the anti-FGM law, which criminalises the cultural practice, attests to this.
‘Now or never,” this is the slogan for a pressure group in Pokot, Karamoja, urging all FGM-(Female Genital Mutilation) age going girls to rush for the knife now or risk never being cut because of the FGM law. According to Ambrose Pyatich Merian, the REACH (Reproductive Educative and Community Health) Coordinator Karamoja region, this call almost doubled the FGM rates in the region in 2010.
Many girls are indeed cut
In a 2010 annual progress report on FGM in Karamoja, Merian notes, “Indeed, many girls were cut”. “In Nassaal sub location alone, over 200 girls were cut…Most of them were between the ages of eight and 16 years,” he says adding, “Many were still nursing their wounds and had not been released by their mentors to interact with any outsider since they have not finish undergoing all stages and rituals.”
The sub report titled, Confronting realities of FGM: Over 200 girls cut in only one sub location’ is contained in an annual report on FGM activities in Uganda by the Inter-African Committee Uganda (IAC-U). IAC is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which seeks to change social values and raise consciousness towards eliminating FGM and other traditional practices which affect the health of women and children in Africa.
Merian says while most of the girls did not know their ages, they ranged between 8-16 years. Consequently, it’s evident that their fate is often sealed by their parents because in Uganda, the age of consent is 18 years.
For many, Merian observes, they did not know why they were cut. “But they knew.
It’s painful,” he says. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines FGM/C as any procedure involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
The practice, mostly carried out on girls before they are 15 years of age, although occasionally, adult and married women are also subjected to the procedure, has immense health effects on the victims. It has been found to have no benefits for women whatsoever.
Traditionally practiced as a rite of passage to adulthood and to marriage, In Uganda, FGM is practiced in Sebei region-Eastern Uganda, and in the Karamoja region-Moroto, Nakapiripiriti, and Amudat districts- Among the Tepeth, Kadama’s, Pokot and the So tribal communities. Whereas among the Sabiny, it is performed bi-annually (in even years) during the months of November and December, it’s annual in Karamoja.
The law doesn’t bite
Geofrey Sande, the programme officer IAC-U says because of the anti-FGM law, the locals have resorted to mutilating the girls at night, in bushes, or in caves. “They also hire local militia to guard the ritual grounds, bring in mutilators from the Kenyan side or sneak the girls across,” Sande says.
Merian says most programmes have concentrated in Sebei region because Karamoja is remote and inaccessible. “We need rescue. FGM is more serious in Karamoja but we are forgotten souls,” he says.
However, should we preserve life or culture, which one should die? Well, this is question as the World Day against Female Genital Mutilation on February 6,was celebrated.

BFTZ SHARING IS CARING

Kenya: UN Scales Up Refugee Training to Improve Assistance in Camps

The United Nations refugee agency today announced new strategies to ensure uninterrupted assistance and services in its largest complex in Kenya, including training and mentoring of refugees as well as involving them in the day-to-day running of the Dadaab camps.
“Refugees have always had a role in making camps work. However, at Dadaab that role is being expanded,” said Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), during a press briefing in Geneva. “Hospitals, for example, have remained open throughout this difficult period, staffed by refugees, nationals, and a limited number of international staff,” he said.
Part of the new strategy includes Hospitals, for example, have remained open throughout this difficult period, staffed by refugees, nationals, and a limited number of international staff.reaching out to different groups within the refugee population such as elders, the business community and youth so they can contribute in distinct ways. Mr. Mahecic stressed that refugee leaders and refugees working for partner agencies are being trained to identify individuals who require urgent attention so they can get life-saving assistance immediately.
“In situations when international or national staff cannot get to camps the health posts are managed by refugee staff who have been trained over the years to provide basic medical services and refer more serious cases to the camp hospitals,” Mr. Mahecic said. “Refugee staff are also getting refresher courses on management of sensitive cases of sexual or gender-based violence,” he added.
According to UNHCR, since the beginning of this year, over 150 vulnerable people and families have been identified by the agency and its partners, and brought to the agency’s offices in Dadaab where they have received medical and psychological help.
Refugees are also helping to improve the camps’ conditions by building new latrines on sandy and rocky ground, and by collecting and transporting solid waste by donkey carts to allocated waste disposal sites.
In addition, UNHCR is also engaging with young refugees to enhance their skills and work experience. “More than 30 camp schools remain open and are run by refugee teachers. Despite insecurity, the Kenyan National Exams took place in the camps at the end of last year and the results were an improvement in the average score in comparison to last year. The exams were made possible because the community patrolled the schools and guarded the gates,” Mr. Mahecic said.
He stressed that UNHCR will continue to identify specific groups for outreach such as business and religious leaders, and would also strengthen awareness through radio and other means such as free mobile texting.
The Dadaab refugee complex shelters more than 460,000 refugees. A third of this refugee population arrived in 2011 alone, fleeing the conflict, drought, famine and human rights abuses in Somalia. The camps in Dadaab opened two decades ago and were originally designed to host some 90,000 refugees.
Source: UN News Services

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Monday 27 February 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS SUZANE NGANGA

TODAY ITS SUZY'S BDAY




 
Mrs. Suzane Nganga
BFTZ Senior Program Officer TZ
 
 
 
FROM US BFTZ THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO SAY ON UR SPECIAL  DAY SUZY 
 
We are wishing you another year
Of laughter, joy and fun,
Surprises, love and happiness,
And when your birthday’s done,


We hope you feel deep in your heart,
As your birthdays come and go,
How very much you mean to us,
More than you can know.



 
We wish you much pleasure and joy;
We hope all of your wishes come true.
May each hour and minute be filled with delight,
And your birthday be perfect for you!
 
 
So happy birthday to you Suzy,
From us BFTZ we r wishing you happines
And may your good times multiply,
Good Health
Success
&
Prosperity
 
...WE LOVE U & WE APPRICIATE YOU...
 
BFTZ SHARING IS CARING 
 

Tanzania: Bulk of Redd Payments to Benefit Communities

GOVERNMENT has agreed to let 80 per cent of payments done under Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) to go to communities which protect forests.
An official from Africa Wildlife Foundation, Godlisten Matilya, told a Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation Programme meeting held in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that after a lot of lobbying by environmental activists, the government has agreed that communities have the responsibility to protect forests hence should pocket the bulk of payments to be made under REDD.
“It’s communities that guard these forests because the government has inadequate forest officers to patrol these forests hence it’s logical that REDD payments should benefit them,” said Mr Matilya. According to Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Tanzania has over 33.5 million hectares of forests of which 13.5 million are state owned while 18 million belong to communities and the rest are owned by private companies, institutions and individuals.
Experts estimate that when a REDD regime becomes effective next year after the expiry of Kyoto Protocol, the country may earn up to 300 million US dollars from carbon credits bought by polluting industrialized countries. “These payments will greatly encourage communities to conserve forests as they have done for several years,” Matilya pointed out.
Dr Riziki Shemdoe from Ardhi University and Jummanne Abdallah from Sokoine University of Agriculture said expectations from REDD benefits are high among communities but there is weak structures at grass root level to manage funds. Dr Shemdoe and Dr Abdallah who are members of research groups undertaking studies in Kigoma, Lindi, Mbeya, Singida and Zanzibar and Mgori forest reserve, said non-governmental organizations have done a lot in sensitizing communities on REDD initiative hence awareness is very high.
“In some places trial REDD payments have been made by these NGOs which have motivated communities to guard their forests against destruction,” Dr Shemdoe noted. He said over 68 per cent of 600 households interviewed during the study said they knew something about REDD.
Dr Abdallah said at Mgori forest reserve communities have adopted modern beekeeping as a source of income which has encouraged conservation and checked against deforestation. “Six per cent of income of communities neighbouring the forest reserve come from honey,” Dr Abdallah said.
Sokoine University of Agriculture CCIAM Coordinator, Professor Salim Maliondo said the programme which involves research, training of masters and doctorate students has been funded by Norwegian government, United States government and United Nations REDD programme. He said the five-year programme which started in 2009 is coordinated by SUA but also involves University of Dar es Salaam and Ardhi University.



Source: Tanzania Daily News
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Sunday 26 February 2012

Africa: Why Global Economy Needs Investment in Women

"WASWAHILI HUSEMA UKIMUELIMISHA MWANAMKE UMEELIMISHA DUNIA NZIMA"





The following oped by U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer and Kim Azzarelli, president of the Women in the World Foundation, was published by Newsweek on January 30. There are no republication restrictions for use by U.S. embassies.
Businesses are starting to understand what development experts have long known: investing in women pays dividends. Women are more likely than men to put their income back into their communities, driving illiteracy and mortality rates down and GDP up.
Now a corporate revolution is at hand, one that is moving beyond philanthropy, making women partners in business at all levels. This was an important theme at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, which hosted a plenary session entitled “Women as the Way Forward” on the potential impact of women on the global economy. On Feb. 1, some of the most powerful companies in the United States (Accenture, Coca-Cola, Ernst and Young, Goldman Sachs, and others) are signing on to a worldwide campaign to bring women into the economic mainstream. The Third Billion Campaign is being launched by La Pietra Coalition — an alliance including corporations, governments, and nonprofits — to enable 1 billion women to become members of the global economy by 2025. The campaign’s title comes from the notion that over the next decade, the impact of women will be at least as significant as that of China’s and India’s respective 1-billion-plus populations.
Bringing women into businesses creates what Michael Porter and Mark Kramer of Harvard Business School call “shared value” — it helps companies while helping communities too. Consumer-product businesses have quickly understood the benefits — for instance, bypassing retail and hiring women to build person-to-person distribution channels for everything from cosmetics to beverages. More recently, companies have found it especially effective when the purchaser needs to be educated on the product being sold, be it a mobile sonogram machine, an energy lantern, or a cookstove. Women can also be the best innovators of the products they use and sell, sometimes transforming their communities with something as small as the knowledge of the optimal use of a household’s single electric light.
The rewards are clear. Avon, for example, gives more than 6 million women in more than 100 countries the opportunity to start their own businesses; these entrepreneurs serve as Avon’s main sales force, resulting in more than $10 billion in revenue. Similarly Unilever has invested in 45,000 underprivileged Indian entrepreneurs, mostly women, in more than 100,000 villages through microfinance and training — a strategy that accounts for 5 percent of the company’s total revenue in India. Recently, Walmart has pledged to source more than $20 billion from women-owned companies in the United States alone, and Coca-Cola announced a program, 5 By 20, to support 5 million women entrepreneurs globally by 2020. The benefits of women in upper management have also been shown: a recent Catalyst survey found a strong correlation between gender diversity in the leadership ranks of a business and that business’s economic performance.
“There is no doubt,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, “that the increasing numbers of women in the economy … has helped fuel significant growth everywhere. And economies that are making the shift more effectively and rapidly are dramatically outperforming those that have not.”
(Melanne Verveer is U.S ambassador for global women’s issues. Kim Azzarelli is president of the Women in the World Foundation and the 2012 recipient of the NY State Bar Association Ruth G. Schapiro Award.)
Source: United States Department of State

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