'Seven of ten Tanzanians jobless, six live in slums'

BY THE GUARDIAN REPORTER

25th November 2013

Margaret Nantongo Zziwa, East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Speaker

Seven of ten Tanzanians are jobless and six live in informal settlements and the gap between the rich and poor is expanding in Kenya and Tanzania with exception to Uganda where it has stabilized.

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Speaker Margaret Nantongo Zziwa has thus urged the region to seek solutions to existing inequalities as pre-cursor to progress and achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Speaking at the launch of the Society for International Development (SID) State of East Africa Report 2013 over the weekend, Zziwa said the EAC needs ‘strong social economic fiber.’
The EALA Speaker called on stakeholders to join in the task of securing an economic future for East Africa.

She hailed Kenya’s UWEZO fund saying it will incubate enterprise and creation of jobs and “…should be replicated in the region,” she urged.

Themed: One People, One Destiny: the future of inequality in East Africa, the report, says improvement of quality of life for East Africans is best attainable through sustainable growth and development which in turn is achievable through promoting of balanced and harmonious development.

It suggests equal distribution of benefits and commitment to people-centred and market-driven competition as envisaged in Article 7 of the EAC Treaty.
On malnutrition, it states that 42% of the region’s 24 million children under five were stunted in 2010.

On a positive note, the report states that the region achieved the global target of 100% gross enrolment in the primary school level. It also paints a fairly good picture of the East African Community’s economy, stating that it recorded an impressive growth rate trend of 6% in 2011 and a GDP of $83 billion.

However, it notes that corruption continues to blight the landscape of East Africa’s important institutions including those responsible for security and justice.

SID is an international network of individuals and organisations founded in 1957 to promote social justice and foster democratic participation in the development process.

Through locally-driven programmes and activities, SID strengthens collective empowerment, facilitates dialogue and knowledge sharing on people-centred development strategies, apart from promoting policy change towards inclusiveness, equity and sustainability.

SID has over 30 chapters and 3,000 members in more than 50 countries and has headquarters in Rome, Italy.  

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN