TANZANIA'S PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR FY 2006 ESF:

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000738

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT AF/RSA FOR L THOMPSON, M HARPOLE, AF/E FOR BYODER
AND C PELT
ALSO G/TIP FOR R YOUSEY
PASS TO USAID AF/W OFFICE
NAIROBI FOR REDSO OFFICE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AFIN AMGT EAID ECON PGOV PHUM TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA'S PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR FY 2006 ESF:
RADIO PROGRAMMING TO AUGMENT SCHOOL RETENTION RATES

REF: STATE 059002

SUMMARY
--------------

1. Project Summary: Utilizing wind-up radios, develop
creative programming to enrich school curricula in order to
attract children to stay in school. Such programs would
potentially increase the school retention rate of girls,
reduce the number of children recruited for child labor or
trafficked (one of our key MPP goals) and, in the long term,
lead to better economic opportunities for poorer young women
and men. End summary.

Background
--------------

2. The Department of Labor (DOL) funded a two-year radio
program project (FY 04-05)--known as "Mama Elimu"--as part of
the Time Bound initiative that used wind-up radios to reach a
wide population with Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) in
areas of Tanzania where electricity is not available. Over
1,500 radios were distributed to primary and middle schools
along with teacher handbooks describing the program
curricula. The DOL program used an integrated approach
through songs, games and stories within the Tanzanian context
to address cross cutting issues -- HIV/AIDs, gender,
environment, etc. The programs were broadcast five times
weekly throughout the school year; the content was relevant,
well-presented, and the programs were extremely popular.
Initial evaluations indicated the programs positively
impacted student attendance, self-esteem, awareness of rights
and a desire for quality education.


3. The DOL funding for the program ended in 2005 and program
management was turned over to the Ministry of Education;
however, the Ministry does not have a budget to develop new
content, so will essentially be recycling already developed
radio material.

Embassy Proposal
--------------

4. Following this model, the Embassy proposes a project to
distribute wind-up radios to schools and community centers in
a central region of Tanzania, to develop content for radio
programming, and to broadcast the programs daily. The
programming would include an HIV-AIDs awareness component,
anti-trafficking and child labor recruitment, and
environmental messages within a Tanzanian context. Duration
of the project would be two years; however, once created, the
radio programs could be re-broadcast for years to come.


5. The Embassy has consulted with Tanzania,s USAID mission
which plans to fund a similar radio program with different
content, targeting young girls and women on the isles of
Zanzibar. If funded, the Embassy project would be managed by
USAID, but directed toward an at-risk population in the
Morogoro (central) region which is a transportation corridor
crossroads where recruitment for child labor is frequent and
the HIV infection rate high.

MPP, USG Interests, Indicators
--------------

6. This project would directly advance three Embassy MPP
goals: 1) Global Health, 2) Economic Growth and Development,
and 3) Democratic Systems and Practices. The project is in
the U.S. national interests by contributing to a decrease in
the HIV/AIDS infection rate and strengthening the economy of
Tanzania, thus solidifying regional stability and widening a
potential market for U.S. goods and services. Success of the
project could be measured by student retention rates, HIV
infection rates and/or average age that a young woman has her
first child in the region benefiting from the project.

Notional Budget
--------------

7. The project budget would include purchase of wind-up
radios, transportation costs to distribute the radios,
program content development costs, printing of teacher
handbooks, and radio broadcasting fees.

Breakdown: -- Purchase and distribute up to 2,000 wind-up
radios ("Freeplay" radios)
(USD 60.00 each)
-- Radio program development costs
-- Preparation/printing of teacher handbooks
-- Broadcasting fees

-- Administrative costs

Total funding request is USD 250,000 to carry out this
project for 24 months.


8. The Embassy points of contact (POC) for follow-up on the
above proposal are Mary Johnson (johnsonmb@state.gov) or
Maureen Latour (latourmb@state.gov),Political Section.
RETZER