UN highlights MPs’ role in Vision 2050

ARUSHA: THE United Nations (UN) has urged Tanzania’s Parliament to strengthen oversight and accountability to ensure that the Tanzania Development Vision 2050 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are implemented effectively and on schedule.

UN Resident Coordinator in Tanzania Susan Ngongi made the call during the 153rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Arusha, which concluded yesterday, saying legislators had a crucial role in translating national and global development commitments into tangible results.

Ms Ngongi said MPs should scrutinise government performance, enact appropriate legislation, approve budgets and regularly question responsible authorities on progress toward agreed targets.

“They can do a lot. They need to ensure that when indicators and targets are set, they follow up and subsequently ask all the key actors what they have done to achieve them. Therefore, the oversight role is extremely important,” she said.

She welcomed the emphasis placed on monitoring and evaluation by Tanzania’s parliamentary leadership, saying the UN was ready to support efforts to assess programmes and identify areas requiring improvement.

Ms Ngongi said authorities needed to identify what worked and address shortcomings early to ensure public resources delivered the intended results.

“We need to be clear about what is working and what is not working. If something is not working, we need to change it quickly so that there is greater accountability for the results we aim to achieve,” she said.

She described national parliaments as essential to development because they represent citizens, oversee government activities and approve public expenditure.

She added that legislators had a responsibility to ensure that people’s needs and concerns were reflected in national policies and development priorities.

Ms Ngongi said the IPU provided an important platform for parliamentarians from governing and opposition parties across countries to discuss shared challenges and advance cooperation.

She noted that people everywhere wanted similar things, including quality education, accessible healthcare and better economic opportunities for their children.

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On the relationship between the UN and the IPU, she said their cooperation helped translate international agreements into national development plans and practical action.

However, she warned that implementation remained a major global challenge, with only about 36 per cent of SDG targets currently on track to be achieved.

Regarding Tanzania’s Vision 2050, Ms Ngongi said the UN and development partners were ready to support the country’s ambitions, but stressed that the priority should now be implementing existing policies.

“At this point, we need to focus more on implementation. We all have enough strategies and policies. What is needed now is to ensure implementation reaches the grassroots level,” she said.

She said progress should be visible in communities through improvements in healthcare, agriculture, employment and youth empowerment.

Ms Ngongi also commended Tanzania’s longstanding peace and stability, describing them as important foundations for tourism and economic development.

She said sustaining peace would help the country strengthen tourism and enable more citizens to benefit from its natural attractions.