Leaving no one behind; Centering Disability Inclusion in our work

“It is well recognized that young people in Tanzania are determined, resourceful and engaged in their communities. They are innovators, changemakers, entrepreneurs and leaders. Youth are taking action to address development challenges, to benefit all generations. May we continue to work together, with all generations, especially with youth (PWDs) in Building a Strong Economy, Prosperity, and Sustainable Development”. Said Mark Bryan Schreiner, UNFPA Representative in the United Republic of Tanzania.

Leaving no one behind; Centering Disability Inclusion in our work

Dar Es Salaam – 18 August 2023, The Vocational and Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities Yombo, supported by the Safeguard Young People (SYP) programme with the total cost of forty thousand US Dollars ($40000) have been handed over to the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability of Tanzania, through the support of UNFPA funded by the Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania.

UNFPA Tanzania has implemented phase one of the Safeguard Young People Program (SYP) which was a three-year program aiming to improve the health and wellbeing of adolescents and young people aged 10-24 years.

The SYP program compliments UNFPA existing work on improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) status of young people, implemented in the 5 selected regions in Tanzania Mainland namely; Kigoma, Shinyanga, Simiyu, Dodoma, Dar es Salaam; and Zanzibar (Unguja and Pemba).

Through the SYP programme, UNFPA supported the government (PMO-LYED) to refurbish a health facility that is within the Yombo Vocational Training and Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disability for the purpose of strengthening SRH service provision to youth at the centre.

“Your presence here today shows the importance of this Vocational and Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities here at Yombo. We hope the work completed by the contractors and supervisors will be put to good use in improving equitable access to health and vocational education. And given the high proportion of youth in Tanzania’s population, Switzerland’s current bilateral cooperation strategy has a strong focus on youth and actively raising their quality of life. The Safeguard Young People Programme, therefore, comes as a complementary intervention to our existing programs targeting young people in health, governance, and livelihood spheres.” Said Holger Tausch, head of International Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania.

UNFPA supported the development of disability information management system (PDMIS) which aim to provide routine disability data. The PDMIS has been supported by federation for Person with Disabilities (SHIVYWATA) through identification of persons with disability at local levels (villages and Ward) and has been actively in supporting the designing of the system.

“The government will continue to cooperate with UNFPA to ensure that all youth goals are achieved, especially for persons with disabilities, the government's goal is to improve the quality of service provided by this college to meet all the important needs of people with disabilities” Prof. Jamal Adam Katundu, Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister's Office - Labour, Youth, Employment & Persons with Disability.

Further efforts towards an enabling environment for youth include support for capacity development in programmes to reach marginalized adolescents and implement community-based life-skills education programmes that promote human rights and gender equality. These programmes support integration of participation, leadership and entrepreneurship to youth groups and youth-led organizations to build capacity to enhance their social-economic development.

Oftentimes, in development programmes, some marginalised groups are left behind, be it ethnic minorities, migrants, people living with disabilities, youth, the elderly, or others. Switzerland strongly believes in “Leaving no one behind” as the central pledge of the 2030 Agenda, and we acknowledge that this fundamental principle is indispensable in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals". Said Holger Tausch, head of International Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania.

“I congratulate the Prime minister’s office Labor Employment Youth and Disabled and management of the Yombo Vocational and Rehabilitation Centre for their consideration to 
strengthening SRHR services through the refurbished facility. UNFPA is committed to supporting young people and including the people with disabilities which is well articulated 
in our Strategic Plan, UN Strategy on youth, and Action plan of International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). this includes the creation of an enabling 
environment for delivery and access to SRHR services”. Mark Bryan Schreiner, UNFPA Representative in the United Republic of Tanzania.

The mission of UNFPA includes the words, to deliver a world where every young person's potential is fulfilled. In partnership with the Government of Tanzania, this requires and recognizes the importance of investing in youth friendly services and programming. Our joint investments, together with development partners have rendered significant results:

In 2022, UNFPA and partners through the peer educator programme reached over 125,000 youth with information on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
Over the past seven years (2016 to 2022), through the establishment of an additional 103 health facilities, UNFPA and partners supported enhanced access to emergency obstetric and newborn care and youth-friendly services.
Within the past year, over 720 out-of-school adolescents and young girls were reached with entrepreneurship, leadership, and life skills education to build their capacity, commitment, and confidence, when presented with the opportunity to lead and participate in decision making.

In 2013, Switzerland supported UNFPA’s East and Southern Africa Regional Office to launch a programme called Safeguard Young People. The programme initially covered Zambia, Swaziland, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Lesotho. Seeing the positive impact and potentials of this regional programme for the youth in the region, in 2021, Switzerland together with UNFPA decided to expand this successful model to other East African countries.

This led for the Swiss Embassies in Tanzania, as well as in Rwanda and Mozambique to join the programme. Given the high proportion of youth in Tanzania’s population, Switzerland’s current bilateral cooperation strategy has a strong focus on youth and actively raising their quality of life. The Safeguard Young People Programme, therefore, comes as a complementary intervention to the existing programs targeting young people in health, governance, and livelihood spheres.

The handover ceremonies were held on 18 August 2023 in Yombo, Dar Es Salaam. The ceremonies, attended by the Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister's Office - Labour, Youth, Employment & Persons with Disability, Prof. Jamal Adam Katundu as a chief guest; with the participation of UNFPA Representative in the United Republic of Tanzania, the Head of International Cooperation Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania, local authorities and young people from the Centre.