VSO supports 1GOAL in Tanzania

VSO volunteer Rachael Stokes, working as Policy Analysis and Advocacy Advisor with TENMET, reports on the 1GOAL campaign in Tanzania.

1GOAL Tanzania was launched during the Global Week of Action 2010 (19-25 April 2010) at a rally held in Dar es Salaam. It was organised by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) Tanzania coalition, which is chaired by Tanzania Education Network/Mtandao wa Elimu Tanzania (TENMET).

The march and rally to mark the end of Global Week of Action and to launch the 1Goal Tanzania campaign took place on Saturday 24 April in Central Dar and was attended by up to 500 campaign supporters. Kieran Breen, Country Director and Douglas Taylor, Senior Education Programme Manager and Janet Nganyagwa and Veronica Nyagali from VSO Tanzinia participated in the 1GOAL event. The Guest of Honour was the Commissioner for Education.

The event launched a ‘call for evidence’ on education financing issues. Individuals were invited to provide verbal evidence at the rally itself. Presentations were given by teachers, parents and school children along with performances by the Lumumba drama group. As part of teh 1GOAL campaign, TEN/MET also organised a national debate on education financing at Karimjee hall on 20 April.

School children came from the following schools: Lumumba Primary School, Muhimbiti Primary School, Gerezani Primary School, Temboni high School, Friends of Don Bosco centre for disadvantaged children, Uhuru Mchangaripiko (School for Inclusive Education) and Yombo Secondary School. NGO’s represented included World Vision, VSO, Taluuma Women’s Group, Oxfam, HakiElimu, ActionAid, Aide et Action, COSUPED, TRC, BEDF, CDTFN, and of course TEN/MET. The Guest of Honour was the Commissioner for Education and Ellen Binagi, Chair of TEN/MET and Education Programme Manager at OXFAM, officially launched the campaign.

Rachael reports, “through our work on 1GOAL, we have also recently joined a national coalition initiated by UNICEF Tanzania called the Children’s Agenda”. She says, “The coalition will be lobbying political leaders from all parties on children’s issues in the run up to the elections in October this year. In terms of education issues, it is specifically calling for commitments on education financing”.