Tanzania gets 290 million dollars grants from UN agencies

Four United Nations agencies have given Tanzania grants worth 350 billion shillings (290 million U.S. dollars) as implementation of the 2007-2010 UN Development Assistance Framework for this country.

The agreement for the grants were signed on Friday in Dar es Salaam between Gray Mgonja, permanent secretary of the Tanzanian finance ministry and representatives of the United Nations Development Program, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Children's Fund and World Food Program, according to local press reports on Saturday.

Mgonja said that the grants would help the Tanzanian government meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by supporting the country's development and poverty reduction efforts.

The official said that more focus would be placed on the implementation of such development strategies as the National Vision 2025, Zanzibar Vision 2020 and National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty.

"In the past we were mostly concentrating on the amount of money pumped in a certain project. This time around we want to be results oriented, focusing on the implementation," he said.

Patrick Buckley, representative and country director of the World Food Program, said after the signing ceremony that Tanzania is a respected member of the UN, and his institution would continue to support Tanzania's efforts to attain sustainable development.

Source: Xinhua