Tanzania: Sweden issues 10 billion / – for research on poverty reduction
The Swedish government has approved a grant of SEK 10 billion / – to support the research program Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) from 2021 to 2024.
REPOA will use the grant to conduct research on five themes that appear to be separate but are fundamentally linked to productive sectors and include development, gender and human development, governance, accountability and civic participation, environment and climate change, and technology and innovation.
Dr Donald Mmari, CEO of REPOA, said that the Swedish funding will help the department to implement its strategic plan for the next four years after the signing of the grant agreement in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.
“This agreement reflects the Swedish government’s commitment to Tanzania’s development and the embassy’s position that the economy and human well – being depend on solid policies, plans and well-coordinated efforts from all stakeholders in the nation,” he said.
Dr Mmari said that their research agenda is effectively linked to national development goals while responding to regional and international commitments such as the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to him, the funding will give the department the autonomy and resources it needs to carry out its strategic research, as well as related activities aimed at encouraging evidence-based policy development and targeted capacity building for researchers and research users.
REPOA was founded in 1994 in Tanzania with the mandate to help alleviate poverty in its many dimensions through research and capacity building.
Over time, REPOA’s mandate has been expanded in addition to alleviating poverty to include growth and socio-economic transformation to reduce poverty.
The Swedish ambassador to Tanzania Anders Sjöberg said for his part that the agreement was an important milestone in their ongoing cooperation with Tanzania, which began in the 1960s.
“Several bilateral strategies have been implemented over the years. The Swedish government has adopted a new strategy for Swedish development cooperation with Tanzania for the period 2020-2024,” he stated.
He said the new strategy covers four areas of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and gender equality, education, including economic development, the environment and climate change.
Sjöberg said that the Swedish embassy has assessed REPOA as a relevant partner, not only for the Swedish strategy but first and foremost for the national socio-economic priorities, the regional and global commitments included in East African Community Vision 2050, African development Agenda 2063 and 2030 Global Agenda on SDGs.
Sweden has been funding REPOA since 2010 and plans to continue funding its strategic plan from 2020 to 2024, he said, as it directly contributes to Tanzania’s growth through evidence-based research.
Some of the sectors that REPOA has contributed intensively and proactively through research and policy reviews include finance and planning, industry and commerce, investment and financial empowerment.
Others are agriculture, regional administration and local authorities, minerals, energy, education and health, employment and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In Zanzibar, they have worked with the Office of the Second Vice President, the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development and the Office of the Head of State Statistics.