Suomen ja Tansanian välinen sopimus tuesta Afrikan kestävän kehityksen johtajuusinstituutille (Uongozi Institute) allekirjoitettiin Tansanian valtiovarainministeriössä 23. toukokuuta. “Tuki kestävän kehityksen instituutille sopii hyvin Tansanian siirtymävaiheeseen”, ministeri Hautala mainitsi.[:]
The Uongozi Institute was born out of the Helsinki Process on Globalization and Democracy, a joint initiative between the governments of Finland and Tanzania to find solutions to global governance problems.
The institute was created in 2010 in order to establish a leadership institute of excellence to equip African leaders with the skills necessary to set their countries on the path towards sus-tainable development.
The partnership between the governments of Finland and Tanzania in the establishment of the Institute speaks to the long and close relationships between our countries. It also demonstrates the strong will of both our Governments to promote sustainable development at the level of human capacities.
The Government of Finland has funded the establishment of the Institute with 7 MEUR be-tween 2010 and June 2013. Finland remains committed to support Uongozi, and has decided to contribute a total of 12 MEUR, or 3 MEUR annually, to the funding of Institute in the years 2013-2016. Of this sum, 75 % is allocated to the annual core budget and the remaining 25% to TA and earmarked contributions.
The Uongozi-institute is an important partner for Finland in fulfilling the objectives of both the Finnish development policy and the Finnish country strategy in Tanzania. The Institute also brings new elements into our cooperation, creating new partnerships between Tanzanian and international institutions, building a concrete bridge towards transition in our development co-operation.
We are glad to note that the prospects of the Institute to become a notable think tank in both national and regional policy-making are looking very good. The Institute has already gained considerable prestige through its interesting forums and round table meetings, of which one will take place during this afternoon.
Finally, we are very pleased that Uongozi has been able to support Finland’s longstanding efforts to improve forest governance in Tanzania. Towards this end, the institute has im-plemented the first ever Decision-Makers’ Forest Academy in Africa.
More events will be organized in coming years and this approach will be used also to progress the Green Growth agenda in general in Tanzania. The Forest Academy is conducted in conjunction with the Ministry of Natural Resources and it is funded by the Finnish contribution to the National Forest Programme.
Tanzania is changing rapidly. Uongozi can play a very important role in sensitization and outreach on issues related to sustainable use of natural resources, including forestry and natural gas. We are glad to see that Institute has already taken an active role in this debate and we encourage this path to be continued and explored further in the future.
