ESRF to compile Tanzania human development report project

A Dar es Salaam based Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) is currently working on the basic research activities so as to come up with a detailed and comprehensive report titled ‘Tanzania Human Development Report (THDR)’. It has been learnt. ESRF’s Director of Programs Dr. Tausi Kida said recently in an exclusive interview in Dar es Salaam that, the THDR would focus more on the basic strategies and ways to be followed in order to reduce poverty stricken situation among Tanzanians in respect to MKUKUTA and MKUZA initiative drive,  She said that, this is a new development initiative of its kind to be introduced in the country under the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) whose aim is to quicken the government’s plans with a view to reach the targets for the 2025 development vision. Unlike the annual global Human Development Report (HDR) compiled by the UNDP which addresses poverty situation alone, the THDR will tackle problems in all aspects of human development and economic transformation for the people in the country, she said. The report to be out for the first time by end of 2014 will be issued after two years is currently being worked upon by 40 working group team members composed of professional economists from government and private sectors mostly in economics and statistics departments from both Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. The project will be implemented within the framework of national research and academic institutions and ESRF will have to collaborate with other institutions including REPOA and COSTECH and also outsource experts from within and internationally in undertaking research, data analysis and preparing the technical reports. These would be ensured for measurement of progress on human development.  Apart from collecting relevant documentations in their research activities, the team would also be required to compile a policy that would guide people in the implementation of what would be highlighted in the report. She further noted that, on its completion THDR is expected to reveal in broader perspective major hurdles that constrains Tanzania’s human development approach in areas of economic and social development. “We are currently in the process of collecting relevant data and other outputs to help compile the report which will be beneficial to the development of our nation to meet the 2025 development vision” she said adding that, in the past the nation was concentrating only in MKUKUTA without putting down the mechanisms and strategies on how to go about it. But she added that, ESRF project will be keen enough to deal with the matter in broader perspectives addressing the issue of poverty and in addition will highlight the issue of human development an aspect which she said was not in the MKUKUTA as a whole. However, she said that, as long as the country has adopted long and short term development plans as an insistence on the aspects of development strategies in order to drive the country towards 2025 development vision. ESRF as an economic research foundation has looked at the matter and focused its views ahead from where the country is and where it is going so that all development initiatives taking place in the country must reach every citizen in far flung areas. Elaborating in this project, ESRF’s Executive Director Dr. Hoseana .B. Lunogelo also noted that, and in order to raise up people’s standards of living, his organization has planned to ensure an effective implementation of the project which would be moved from one region to another. However she said that currently Tanzania stands in a position of 132 out of 167 countries faced with abject poverty