THE United Nations has praised Tanzania for its democratic maturity as top leaders hand-over power peacefully at the end of 10 years as stipulated in the country’s constitution.
The commendation was made in Dar es Salaam by the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Tanzania, Mr Alvaro Rodriguez. He said what is taking place in Tanzania is a process of maturity in politics, where members from political parties move from one party to another.

He, however, noted that the worry in many people’s mind is the potential of violence. The UN senior official made the remarks during a visit to Tanzania Standard Newspapers aimed specifically to engage the state-run media house to help promote and educate the public on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to end poverty and hunger by 2030.
“Tanzania is set in the right direction, but what worries me most and everyone else is the potential of violence.
There will be tension on Election Day and maybe when the results are announced,” he explained. “We want to see tourists continuing flowing into the country and more direct investment taking place.
That’s why we are working with the police force to ensure they are able to manage and contain any violence in time in case it erupts.” Meanwhile, the UN Resident Coordinator noted that what is topical for UN is the SDGs and UN Development Assistant Plan (UNDAP) II.
The 17 SDGs were agreed by world leaders during the UN Sustainable Development Summit on September 25 this year, to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030. Mr Rodriguez said the new set of global goals will now guide the development activities of the UN in the country for the next 15 years from January 1, 2016.
He said for the next year or two much of the UN’s work will focus on advocating, educating and informing the public about the SDGs and what it means for Tanzania as a country. “Tanzania has always been a leading country in terms of the UN agreements, convention and programmes.
It was the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the time of former President Benjamin Mkapa, now the SDGs during this time of President Jakaya Kikwete and the new incoming president,” he explained.
“The SDGs is a very broad agenda but a very extra ordinary one because if it is achieved, and I believe it can be achieved in Tanzania, you can end poverty, improve health, education services and tackle climate change which goes beyond 2030,” he explained.
He said the quality of life (for men, women and children) will improve dramatically in the next 15 years. But for this to happen the SDGs need to be nationalized and incorporated into the government five-year national development plan that begins on 1st of July next year. He added that the government’s national development plan will coincide with the UN Development Plan for Tanzania (UNDAP)II.
“There we focus on the national priorities but by deriving guidance from the SDGs. So we will have a mix between SDGs to what Tanzania wants to prioritize and we end up with 12 areas of work which is the focus of UNDAP II. The UNDAP II 12 areas of work are in four groups focusing on inclusive growth, national health, resilience and democratic governance, human rights and gender equality.
He emphasized the importance of engaging the media, both electronic and print and the social media in educating and informing the public on the SDGs so that they can understand and make demands from the government.
Speaking on behalf of TSN Managing Editor, Mr Gabriel Nderumaki, the company’s Printing Manager, Mr John Mcharo, promised to work with the UN Resident Coordinator in educating and informing the public on SDGs.