TANZANIA'S SELF-HELP FUNDING REQUEST FOR FY2005

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000070 SIPDIS FOR AF/EPS, MARGARET DECQUIR AND AFR/DP/PAB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID TZ SUBJECT: TANZANIA'S SELF-HELP FUNDING REQUEST FOR FY2005 ¶1. Tanzania's FY04 allocation of $65,100.00 enabled post to fund seven self-help projects throughout Tanzania. We are confident that we will complete disbursements to all seven projects by September 2005. ¶2. Projects to be funded in FY05 will focus on a variety of community based initiatives, ranging from small income generation activities to assisting schools with classroom construction, small scale agriculture projects, small industry projects (weaving, carpentry) and the construction of pipelines and wells for safe drinking water. We have found that these initiatives are a cost effective way to promote community-level development, and generate good will for the United States. Invariably, our Self Help projects receive significant publicity, enhancing the public image of the United States at relatively low cost. ¶3. While we recognize that our FY05 Self Help allocation is unlikely to greatly exceed our current allocation of $65,100, Embassy Dar es Salaam has clearly demonstrated the capacity to manage a much larger Self Help program. In FY 2003, EACTI funding swelled our annual allocation to $213,000, which funded a total of 28 projects throughout Tanzania. Virtually all of these projects were completed on schedule, and have been successfully launched. During the second half of January, personnel from Embassy Dar es Salaam will have the opportunity to travel to far-flung places in Tanzania to commission some of these projects, including: a series of water wells in rural Shinyanga, latrines for a girls school located in remote Ukerewe Island; a dormitory renovation for a secondary school in Mtwara, a new library for a secondary school in Newala in the far southeast, a newly built and equipped clinic for a tea growers cooperative near Mbeya, and a dormitory for a girls secondary school in Songea. ¶4. The self-help projects both in FY03 and FY04 have received wide media coverage and as a result post has received over 150 proposals for FY05. With every trip to commission self help projects, we receive more and more proposals - we have a total of $115,220,000 worth of proposals for Self Help funding this year. The need for this kind of community development assistance is always increasing, our capacity to administer this funding is high: we are confident that Embassy Dar can effectively use as much Self Help funding as can be made available. ¶5. In FY 05, Post would like to request $200,000, in order to reach out to more under-served communities and to support our overall strategic objectives in Tanzania in anti- terrorism. Post would like to focus funding projects in Zanzibar as currently many people in the Isle have an unfavorable opinion of the United States. We intend to place particular emphasis on identifying viable projects throughout the Zanzibar Isles and in other predominantly Muslim communities on the mainland. The value of the self- help program in the public eye in Tanzania far exceeds our comparatively modest investment in this program. We have a vital interest in keeping a strong and extensive Self Help program at Embassy Dar es Salaam. OWEN