The Meeting with the Minister of Education Prof. Adolf Mkenda allowed to discuss the increased support of Switzerland in the area of Vocational Skills Development. The way forward for the implementation of the Embassy’s flagship project Skills for Employment Tanzania (SET) was agreed upon. In view of the many pressing challenges, still, and the crucial importance of the education sector, the Embassy commended the Government’s ongoing efforts and reforms, including support to returning young mothers to school and to youth to receive relevant skills for self-employment and employment.
The meeting with the Minister of Health, Hon. Ummy Mwalimu, was inter alia the ocassion to exchange views and information on specific operational issues related to the Embassy’s contribution to the Health Basket Fund (HBF), to the malaria elimination efforts (TEMT project), the Universal Health Insurance (UHI) vision of the Government as well as on COVID-19 vaccination progress. The Swiss-supported Health Promotion and System Strengthening (HPSS) programme implemented together with the Ministry of Health and the President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government is currently being handed over to Government counterparts as it ends in 2023 after 13 years of implementation. The delegation underlined Switzerland's commitment nevertheless to pursue its efforts on health system strenthening and UHI in Tanzania, beyond said HPSS programme.
The Ministry of Community Development was recently separated from the Ministry of Health. Given the transversal nature of its mandate, the coordination within Government across ministries and also with Development Partners can be supported and improved.
Finally, the delegation discussed various issues of common interest with the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Dr. Pindi Chana, including the CoForEST (Conserving forests through sustainable forest-based enterprise support in Tanzania) project supported by the Embassy.
The Ambassador was accompanied by the Head of Cooperation and Deputy Head of Mission, Mr. Leo Näscher; Head of Health, Viviane Hasselmann; and respective Programme Officers - Jacqueline Matoro, Clara Minja and Rasheed Mbalamula.
