Matukio Kimataifa:IPU impressed by Parliament of Tanzania partnership with the United Agencies

A Panel discussant from Parliament of Tanzania Hon. Suzan Lyimo makes her points during the IPU committee on UN Affairs at the 132 Inte- Parliamentary Union in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday.

A Panel discussant from Parliament of Tanzania Hon. Suzan Lyimo (left) makes her points during the IPU committee on UN Affairs at the 132 Inte- Parliamentary Union in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday.

The Special Invited Guest during the discussion on “The Convention on the Rights of the Child 25 Years on: Are Children’s Lives Better? Organized by the IPU Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights during the 132 Assembly, Hon. Lediana Mafuru Mng’ong’o (MP) from Tanzania noting some comments from the delegates after presenting her paper on Right to Nutrition in Hanoi, Vietnam, yesterday.

Delegates of the 132 Assembly of the IPU in Hanoi VietNam. Photo By Owen Mwandumbya

By, Owen Mwandumbya,

Hanoi, VietNam

Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) have expressed their satisfaction on the committed done by the Parliament of Tanzania on taking the necessary action to cooperate with the United Nation Agencies for building a strong and committed Parliament through capacity building programs coordinated by the UN.

The comments was made by the Parliamentarians during the discussion on report of the field visit of the Advisory Group to the IPU Committee on United Nations Affairs to Tanzania conducted in 2008 to gather first-hand information about the progress made in the One United Nations reform and, more generally, to gain a better understanding of the complexities of UN field operations during the 132 IPU Assembly, in  Hanoi, Vetnam.

Sharing the Parliament of Tanzania experience on cooperation with the UN Agencies, the panel discussant during the IPU committee on UN Affairs, Hon. Suzan Lyimo (Mp) from Parliament of Tanzania said today, in response to the capacity development needs, the Tanzania National Assembly have signed a five years project called Legislatures Support Project with the UNDP aiming at helping to strengthen Members legislative, oversight and representative capacities and assisting the Secretariats of legislatures to deliver upgraded services to Members.

She said the project has managed to enhance the capacity of MPs and their   committees   to better   exercise their interrelated functions of law making, executive oversight including national budget approval and oversight, and representation of constituents/citizens

Impressed by the achievements of Tanzania Parliament, delegates of the IPU have called for more active partnership from other Parliament citing Tanzania’s achievements and invest more in  keeping with both the core mandate of all Parliaments to scrutinize the disbursement and use of public monies,   in a challenging Sustainable Development Goals and improve the Peoples lives.

In order to better respond to the growing partnership between the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations, a dedicated IPU Committee on United Nations Affairs was established in the and its first session in October 2007 adopted an IPU Policy Paper on the nature of the relationships between the UN and the World Parliaments and circulated in the United Nations General Assembly.

To date, field missions have been conducted to pilot countries implementing the "Delivering as One" reform of UN operations at the national level and Parliament commitments to cooperate with the UN Agencies. These missions have sought to evaluate progress in ensuring greater system-wide coherence, including in terms of greater involvement by parliament in the elaboration of national development plans and the monitoring of aid effectiveness.

Meanwhile, the Special Invited Guest during the discussion on “The Convention on the Rights of the Child 25 Years on: Are Children’s Lives Better? Organized by the IPU Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights during the 132 Assembly here in Hanoi, Vietnam, Hon. Lediana Mafuru Mng’ong’o  (MP) from Tanzania has called for parliaments in the world to deliver an interventions for nutritional deficiencies for the childrens beacuse poor nutrition during the first two years of their life can have multiple life-long consequences.

“We need political commitment and actions, not business as usual but business unusual to safeguard the Children’s and the Mother to fight Malnutrition”

She added that,  Parliamentarians has a duty to conduct public education and promote support groups on nutrition because as representatives of people Parliamentarians can become nutrition champions in advocating and promoting child nutrition including exclusive breast feeding for six months, food fortification and universal health care systems.

The delegates of the 132 has all agreed that Members of Parliaments can enact laws and put in place policies which aim at Increasing health budget to 15% as stipulated in Abuja Declarations, and have nutrition budget line.

The 132 Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union ends yesterday here in Hanoi, Vietnam with the adoption of different resolution on the Warfare on Cyber, New System of Water Governance and Sanitation, International laws related to National Sovereignty, and Access to Health as a basic right.