Tanzania, Sweden sign a grant of Sh44.3 billion
What you need to know:
- The objective of the EU’s support to PSSN II is to promote women’s economic empowerment through supporting poor households’ access to and control of their own income-earning opportunities and socio-economic services.
Dar es Salaam. The governments of Tanzania and Sweden have on Thursday, June 16, signed a grant agreement under which Tanzania will access the grant amounting to Sh44.3 billion to finance Productive Social Safety Net phase II (PSSN II).
The pact which was signed by Mr Emmanuel Tutuba, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Finance and Planning on behalf of Tanzania, and Head of Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Sweden in Tanzania, Ms Sandra Diesel, on behalf of her government, is meant to empower poor households.
Speaking at the occasion of signing of the grant agreement for the project under the Tanzania Social Action Fund (Tasaf), Mr Tutuba said the funds were contributed by the European Union (EU) and supervised by the Swedish Embassy.
“I would like to commend EU for this support to PSSN II which will contribute to reducing the financing gap under the programme,” noted Mr Tutuba,
He poured praise on the EU for learning that PSSN is contributing significantly to reduce abject poverty to the poorest population in Tanzania.
The objective of the EU’s support to PSSN II is to promote women’s economic empowerment through supporting poor households’ access to and control of their own income-earning opportunities and socio-economic services.
“It is apparent that, if you want to successfully implement social protection measures and improve livelihoods, investing in women is very strategic,” said the PS.
“I hope the EU and other partners will increase more financing in future to further reduce the financing gap in order to attain the programme objectives.”
Delegation of the EU to Tanzania counsellor head of cooperation Cedric Merel said the grant will be managed indirectly by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
The funds are made available thanks to the new EU Gender Transformative Action in Tanzania, ‘Breaking Glass ceiling,’ financed under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) Global Europe.
“This Gender Action Plan reflects the commitment by the EU Delegation in Tanzania not only to mainstream gender in all of our programmes, but also to have a stand-alone programme dedicated to promote gender equality and women’s rights,” said Mr Merel.
The action, he expounded, addresses several of the underlying factors preventing women and girls from exercising their rights and contributing fully to the economic growth of the country.
“These funds for Tasaf are aimed at promoting women economic empowerment through supporting poor households access to, and control of their own income-earning opportunities, and socio-economic services,” he said.
