The United Nations Population Fund - UNFPA  in Tanzania Reproductive Health including Family Planning and Sexual Health UNFPA’s reproductive health programme in Tanzania aims to achieve the following: Improved quality of reproductive health services and care at all levels of the health system. Increased demand for reproductive health services and positive behavior change among women, men and adolescents. Enhanced capacity at national and district levels for planning, coordination, monitoring and evaluation as regards population and development programmes. Increased political commitment and support for population and related programmes Supportive environment for the advancement of the rights of girls and women. The main thrust of the UNFPA Country Programme is twofold: 1) to improve the quality of reproductive health services offered and 2) to increase demand for quality reproductive health services through behavior change. UNFPA works in 26 districts on the mainland and 10 on the island of Zanzibar. These districts received equipment for emergency obstetric care, TBA (Traditional Birth Attendant) kits, maternal and child health kits and family planning supplies, including a wide range of contraceptives. UNFPA also supports family life education efforts in schools throughout the country. Family life education programmes are now in every primary and secondary school in Tanzania and in teacher training colleges. Four major themes are taught: Population dynamics and its consequences; reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health; the family and family life; and gender equality, equity and the empowerment of women. Population and Development The Population Planning Unit at the Planning Commission is the overall coordinator of the country’s population programme. During 2000, UNFPA’s support was concentrated in two main areas: Enhancing the country’s institutional and technical capacity to integrate population variables into socio-economic planning; and Creating a sound institutional framework for population policy formulation for the purpose of translating policy goals, objectives and strategies into actual programmes. UNFPA is supporting the country’s next population and housing census, scheduled to take place in 2002. UNFPA coordinated the contributions from other donors, including SIDA and DFID. In keeping with the country’s drive for decentralized government, the Fund has assisted the government in training national and local level officials in the integration of population issues in the development planning process. Advocacy UNFPA’s advocacy programme was restructured in 2000 following a review. Progress has been slow, but steady. A Population Advocacy Unit was set up in the Ministry of Community Development, Women’s Affairs and Children. On-going advocacy work includes support for the award-winning radio soap opera – Twende na Wakati (Let’s go with the Times) – which was named by the Population Institute the "best radio programme for 2000". The soap opera covers a broad range of reproductive health and population related topics and has one of the highest audience ratings in the country. Other UNFPA-supported advocacy campaigns focus on the elimination of female genital mutilation (FGM), promoting girls’ education, and advancing the rights of women and girls. BACK HOME