Tanzania reassured on war on poverty

from IPP Media

By Guardian Reporter

The US Government`s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has reaffirmed that it will continue supporting efforts by Tanzania to tame the scourge of poverty.

Tanzania is among 16 countries the corporation has picked to benefit from the 5.5tn/- it will be disbursing.

MCC chief executive officer John Danilovich said in a statement issued in Dar es Salaam yesterday its assistance was directed at initiatives meant to improve the quality of life for the world�s poorest people.

He explained that the MCC assistance enabled farmers to be issued with land titles, thus officially qualifying for bank and other loans with which to expand their operations and improve infrastructure and their access to critical social services for the benefit of people living in remote areas.

``MCC projects create opportunities and stimulate growth, thus empowering the poor during the transition from poverty to prosperity,`` he said.

Ambassador Danilovich explained that his corporation encourages long-term policy reforms that support economic growth �because our partner countries understand that sustainable economic growth is the best way to reduce poverty�.

�I am pleased that MCC continues to work with Tanzania to contribute to the long-term prosperity of the country�s people,� he noted.

He added that the MCC eligibility signals include a country�s willingness to make political, economic and social choices to govern well, combat corruption, invest in health and education and promote economic freedom.

According to Danilovich, the MCC insists that projects be based on home-grown proposals and be designed from the bottom-up in consultation with many segments of the society.

�The projects must be tied to initiatives to remove local constraints to economic growth and poverty reduction, thus being best equipped to achieve their goals,� he pointed out.

The corporation earmarked Tanzania for assistance last year after being satisfied that the country was doing well on the good governance and transparency scores.

Other countries to benefit from the MCC, set up in 2004 to help nations improve accountability, policy performance and transparency, are from the Central America, Eurasia and the Pacific regions.