Tanzania seeks NGOs’ support in implementing its Development Vision 2050

DODOMA: NON-GOVERNMENTAL Organisations (NGOs) have been urged to strengthen strategic partnerships with the government to play a more impactful role in implementing Tanzania’s National Development Vision 2050, with emphasis placed on delivering measurable improvements in people’s lives.

Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Dr Dorothy Gwajima, made the call while opening a strategic consultative meeting between the ministry, the National Council of NGOs (NaCoNGO) and representatives of NGOs in Dodoma.

She said the government is shifting its engagement with NGOs from project-based collaboration to a long-term national strategic partnership aimed at achieving sustainable development and building a prosperous Tanzania by 2050.

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“We want to move our relationship from project-based cooperation to a national strategic partnership focused on building the Tanzania we envision by 2050,” Dr Gwajima said.

The minister noted that NGOs have a critical role in building the country’s human capital through interventions in education, healthcare, nutrition, women and youth empowerment, protection of vulnerable groups and the use of digital technology to improve service delivery.

She also called on the organisations to ensure their programmes align with national priorities and produce measurable results, including increasing household incomes, reducing poverty, strengthening social cohesion and enhancing resilience to climate change.

Dr Gwajima stressed that the success of the National Development Vision 2050 should be reflected in tangible improvements in the welfare and livelihoods of Tanzanians.

Speaking at the meeting, NaCoNGO Chairperson Jasper Makalla said the NGO sector remains a key government partner in delivering social services and advancing the country’s development agenda.

“As we continue improving the operating environment for NGOs, we also strengthen their contribution to national development,” he said.

He added that the consultative meeting forms part of an ongoing strategic dialogue between the ministry and NaCoNGO aimed at enhancing collaboration, transparency and efficiency in the sector to support the implementation of the National Development Vision 2050.