Publikationen

Background, Progress, Setbacks, Disappointments, and Threats

WHY ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY FAILS TO MEET STAKEHOLDERS’ EXPECTATIONS IN TANZANIA COMPARED TO SOME GROWING DEMOCRACIES IN AFRICA

Tanzania has experienced over three decades of multi-party democracy since its formal reinstatement in 1992. Despite this, the foundation and pillars of its democratic systems remain weak, with progress alarmingly slow. Stakeholders have repeatedly called for a comprehensive overhaul of the country's legal frameworks to better accommodate and promote democratic principles and institutions. Unfortunately, these persistent recommendations have yet to yield meaningful reforms. To address these challenges effectively with the support of KAS Tanzania, Dr. Fr. Charles Kitima and Mr. Uzima Justin have authored two insightful books. These works provide an in-depth analysis of the issues undermining Tanzania's democratic structures and offer practical recommendations for fostering a more robust and inclusive democratic framework.

Urban Resilience and Local Governance

The concept of urban resilience is used as a guiding approach in the publications below. Urban resilience can be defined as a holistic governance approach to tackle and plan for the upcoming multifaceted challenges which city governments are facing in regard to urbanisation in African cities. Resilience can be defined as the ability of a city and its institutional systems to survive, adapt and thrive despite short term shocks and long-term stressors that may destabilize the functioning of a city as well as its people (Resilient Cities Network, 2022). Here, it is especially relevant to plan in a sustainable and holistic approach and not in “silos” as is often the case. Visionary governance is needed, especially in African cities like Dar es Salaam. This series of thought pieces seeks to explore urban resilience in Tanzania’s main urban centres from various perspectives, focusing on ways that urban planning, its related aspects and political stakeholders influence urban resilience. It covers five important thematic areas, namely, politics and planning, informal settlements, food systems planning, urban greening, and community-led urban waste management. ICLEI-Africa is collaborating with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Tanzania to publish this series of thought pieces on urban resilience and local governance in Tanzania.

Reviving Tanzania’s Regional Leadership and Global Engagement

Priorities for an effective foreign policy reset

A refresh of Tanzania’s foreign policy strategy is long overdue. The official review commissioned by President Samia Suluhu Hassan presents an opportunity to define a bolder strategic vision.

Best Practice Publication

“Great Lakes Youth Network for Dialogue and Peace. Our Diversity - our opportunity”

This “best-practice publication” is part of the EU-funded project “Great Lakes Network for Dialogues and Peace - Our Diversity - Our Opportunity!”. The publication shall act like a platform on which voices from inside of the action are demonstrated. Voices from stakeholders involved in the action are shown in chapter 1. Best-practice cases from the action and recommendations for future actions outlined in chapter 2. Participating youth initiatives were asked to write down their own subjective success stories, a collection of these success stories can be found in chapter 3. Finally, a list of participating youth initiatives can be seen in chapter 4.

Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality

Voices from Tanzania

In recent years, the global discourse on gender equality and women's empowerment has seen unprecedented momentum. A significant manifestation of this shift in Tanzania is embodied by Samia Suluhu Hassan's remarkable journey. Following President Magufuli's unexpected passing, she assumed office as Tanzania's first female president on March 19, 2021 (Africa Renewal, 2021). This milestone not only marks a profound departure from the traditionally male-dominated realm of politics but also underscores the ongoing struggle for gender parity and women's rights. Samia Suluhu Hassan's presidency stands as a beacon of inspiration, illustrating the breaking of gender barriers and establishing a precedent for women's leadership at the highest levels of Tanzanian governance (Africa Renewal, 2021). This paper aims to scrutinize the specific policies and reforms spearheaded by President Samia to advance women's empowerment and gender equality in Tanzania, emphasizing both the accomplishments and challenges of her tenure as the country's inaugural female president. It further evaluates the hurdles encountered in executing these initiatives, while examining the transformative influence of her presidency on traditional gender norms and societal expectations in Tanzania.

EXPERTS ROUNDTABLE REPORT

ADVANCING CLIMATE ACTION FOR COP28 AND TANZANIA’S NDC COMMITMENTS

The expert’s roundtable discussion on COP28 and Tanzania’s NDCs was held on 1st June, 2023, at Protea Hotel Oysterbay in Tanzania. The objective of the discussion was to engage pre-COP28 stakeholders, academia, policy makers, and climate experts in a collective effort to raise awareness, foster accountability, and drive action on climate change. The discussion aimed to understanding international and national climate action processes, the outcome of COP27, evaluate the status of Tanzania’s NDCs and identify practical solutions for effective implementation and plans towards COP28. The major theme of the discussion was how to keep the 1.5°C goal alive and how to strengthen adaptation and mitigation actions, including loss and damage. The alarming projections of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions reaching catastrophic levels underscore the urgency to address the climate crisis now.

Tanzania's Economic Diplomacy: Balancing EU, China, and EAC Relations.

Voices from Tanzania

With one of the highest birth rates in the world, ranked 10th richest country in Africa by overall GDP in 20231 , one of the most stable and peaceful countries in its region, and with a recent change of status to a middle-income country, the Republic of Tanzania has seen a rapid growth (3rd fastest growing economy in Africa, behind Ivory coast and Rwanda)2. Studying the success and evolution of countries with global potential and impact provides insightful information about how a developing country manages its international relations. As a result, an expanded perspective on the dynamics of economic involvement and strategic decision-making in a complex and interconnected world can be gained through comprehending Tanzania's diplomatic strategy.

COP 28 AND TANZANIA’S NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS (NDC’s)

The United Nations’ Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), Conference of Parties (COP28) is scheduled to take place in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai from 30th November to 12th December, 2023. It’s major goal is to critically reassess the real implementation of 2015 Paris Climate Agreement as the COP 26 Glasgow Climate Pact and COP 27 Shamel Sheikh’s Implementation Plan. The main COP 28 Agenda will be: Loss and Damage, Climate Finance and Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP). Climate Science shows that the Current Emissions and Global Warming Projections are reaching catastrophic proportions and levels particularly in Greenhouse gasses emissions whereby last year 2022 the warning levels reached 1.15oC. Undoubtedly, these facts pose untold and unprecedented critical quantitative and qualitative humano – economic, existential, health, educational, social, nutritional, political, infrastructural dilemmas, challenge, risks and vulnerabilities both to people, planet and biodiversity to thousands of years to come. Hence, threatening common wellbeing, peace and security of humanity the planet locally and globally than ever before. It is an undeniable fact that Africa (including) Tanzania is the most affected continent. In response to this the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) in Tanzania collaboration with the Kilimanjaro Consortium for Development and Environment (KCDE) based in Kilimanjaro, deemed it relevant and critical to engage Pre-COP 28 Stakeholders, academia, policy makers and climate experts for round table discussions and consultations as effective spaces and opportunity for collective awareness, accountability and action.

UJAMAA: Past and Present

The concept of Ujamaa and its impact on postcolonial Tanzania

This article aims at promoting an understanding of the concept of Ujamaa in its key ideas and of its relevance as a policy that still has an impact on postcolonial Tanzania. Using Julius Nyerere’s essay „Ujamaa - the Basis for African Socialism“ (1962) as a starting point, this article seeks to explore Ujamaa’s multifaceted meanings and realities, addressing the Arusha Declaration (1967) and the beginnings of a villagization program. It furthermore aims at critically reflecting on the role and portrayal of Julius Nyerere concerning Ujamaa.

KAS and EU goes to the pitch

Sports for Development

This article provides a brief overview of the activities in the European Union project Together for peace in Zanzibar. Spanning from the sports for development approach to the encouragement of political dialogue, it connects the population politically, socially and physically in multi-dimensional inclusion efforts.