NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PLAN OF ACTION (NHRAP) NARRATIVE PROGRESS REPORT THIRD QUARTER (JANUARY-MARCH 2012) AND FOURTH QUARTER (APRIL JUNE 2012)

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1 NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PLAN OF ACTION (NHRAP) NARRATIVE PROGRESS REPORT THIRD QUARTER (JANUARY-MARCH 2012) AND FOURTH QUARTER (APRIL JUNE 2012) INTRODUCTION The process towards development of NHRA in Tanzania emanated from the National Human Rights Conference held in Dar e s salaam on 28 th - 29 th October 2008 whereby the need of having NHRAP was insisted. The conference called upon the Government of United Republic of Tanzania to undertake as called for in the Vienna Declaration, which recommends the State Party to undertake the development and implementation of a National Plan of Action for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights within a specified period. Following the October, 2008 recommendations, CHRAGG in collaboration with Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and Justice and Office of the Attorney General Chambers with support from UN Tanzania conducted a National Consultative meeting on 28 th -29 th October, 2009 in Dar es Salaam, whereby human rights stakeholders from multi-sector cadres met to discuss on how best the development of NHRAP could be done. In that meeting the NHRAP road-map was developed and a Temporary Coordination Committee was formed comprising members from MDAs, CHRAGG, and CSO both from Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar charged with the duty of coordinating the development of the NHRAP. The draft of the NHRAP has been prepared by the Consultant with the assistance of the Coordination Committee and technical support from One UN- Tanzania and PILPG. Several consultative meetings were held to solicit inputs and linking the plan with other existing national plans like MKUKUTA, MKUZA etc. 1

2 1.0 IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS 1.1 THIRD QUARTER (JANUARY MARCH, 2012) Funds for implementation of the third quarter activities were disbursed to CHRAGG on January, 2012 to cover costs incurred in the commemoration of International Human Rights Day and for continuing with the process towards development of NHRAP:- Activities done are as follows:- (i) Commemoration of International Human Rights Day on 10 th December, The climax was held in Dar es salaam at Mnazi Mmoja Grounds whereby the Guest of Honor was the then Minister for Constitution and Legal Affairs, Honorable Celina Kombani. The commemoration was used to familiarize the public with the ongoing process towards development of the NHRAP as well as availing an opportunity for gathering opinions. The theme was the use of social media in the promotion and protection of human rights. (ii) Engaging the Consultant to prepare the Zero draft of the NHRAP. The Consultant was engaged to work closely with the National Coordination Team with the technical support from One UN-Tanzania prepare the zero draft of the NHRAP. Mr James Jesse from University of Dar es salaam School of Laws was selected. (iii) The Technical Committee met in Morogoro to review the zero draft and incorporated inputs as deemed necessary to produce the First Draft. The same draft was also discussed by CHRAGG management Team and Commissioners who gave their inputs Output from the third quarter s activities (i) The zero draft and the first draft of the NHRAP was prepared (ii) Stakeholders from CSO, MDAs, Academia and members of the public were familiarized with the Plan and contributed their opinions towards improvement of the document. (iii) Knowledge of human rights was disseminated. 2

3 1.2 FOURTH QUARTER (APRIL JUNE, 2012) The implementation of some of the third quarter s activities was done in the fourth quarter. These activities were:- (i) The National Stakeholders meeting was held in Dar es salaam as the part of the commemoration of Human Rights Day to discuss the submitted UPR reports and the Government s commitments in order to link them with NHRAP. The meeting was also used to sensitize participants on the link between human rights and use of media as well as including media issues in the Plan. The Meeting involved CSOs, and MDAs from both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar. (ii) A National Stakeholders meeting took place in Dar es Salaam to solicit inputs for the First Draft. It involved stakeholders from MDAs, CSOs and the Academia from both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar. (iii) The Technical Committee met in ad-hoc to discuss the immediate way forward. It was resolved that a Team of five members led by the Executive Secretary of CHRAGG and the NHRAP Consultant meet with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs (MoCLA) to brief him about the current status of the NHRAP. Team met with Permanent Secretary on 16 May, 2012 and it was advised that there was a need for the Ministry s Management Staff to be familiarized or updated with the status of the Action Plan. (iv) The first meeting with Management Team of MoCLA to familiarize them with the draft NHRAP and solicit more inputs was held. The participants were also sensitized on the importance of the Government to own the Plan. (v) Seminar with the Parliamentary Committee of the Constitution, Legal Affairs and Governance. This seminar was held in Dodoma on 15 th July, 2012 for the purpose of familiarizing members of the Committee with the 1 st Draft of the NHRAP and solicits their inputs towards improvement of the document. 3

4 1.2.1 Output from the fourth quarter s activities (i) More inputs to improve the development of the NHRAP were solicited from Government, MPs and other stakeholders. (ii) The Management Team of the MoCLA was familiarized with the Plan. (iii) Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Constitution, Legal Affairs and Governance were familiarized with the Plan. (iv) A sense of ownership of the Plan was created to the Government, MPs and other stakeholders. (v) The NHRAP draft was more improved and it received more support from the high government profiles such as the MoCLA Minister, Attorney General, MPs and other stakeholders. 2.0 CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD 3.1 Challenges The following were the constraints encountered in the implementation of the activities:- (i) Funds are reimbursed beyond the planned time which causes some delays in the implementation of the planned activities. For instances notification letter from Treasury for disbursement of the funds for the fourth quarter was received on 13 th June, 2012, very few days before the closure of the Exchequer Accounts. (ii) Delay of the participants to attend some activities conducted in Dar es salaam. Some of the participants from Dar es salaam tend to report at their working places before attending the place where the activity is conducted. As a result the concentration to the activity is lost. It is therefore recommended to conduct some activities outside the Dar es salaam, like in Morogoro in order to avoid the delays. (iii) Tight schedule of the MPs to attend seminars. This hindered the availability of enough time for discussion on week days. However, considering its priorities, it was opted to conduct the seminar on Sunday as other days were all occupied. This being the fact, time was not enough for discussion and not all members attended on time. 4

5 3.2 Way forward The following matrix indicates the future plan towards completion the development of the NHRAP. TIMEFRAME ACTIVITY August Meeting with the Parliamentary Committee of the Constitution and Legal Affairs-Zanzibar - Meeting with the Permanent Secretaries of all Ministries form both Zanzibar and Tanzania Mainland to inform them about the anticipated National Human Rights Action Plan and solicit their inputs before finalizing the development of the NHRAP. At this juncture the ownership of the NHRAP shall also be created. - Meeting with MDAs to set priorities, see which activities are ongoing in their plans and new ones in order to link them with NHRAP altogether as well as preparing the indicative budget.. This is because once NHRAP is finalized; all MDAs will be responsible for its implementation depending on portfolios. Having briefed the Permanent Secretaries about the Action Plan, a August 2012 round table meeting will be held with the Cabinet Secretariat also to update them about the Action Plan and inform them about the expected date to submit the Action Plan to the Cabinet for necessary approvals. September After getting the Cabinet approval, the Action Plan will be handed over to the government for planning and implementation purpose. The NHRAP will be mainstreamed in MTEFs of all MDAs - Meeting with Parliamentary Committees of Constitution and Justice both for Zanzibar and Tanzania Mainland in order to 5

6 October- November 2012 familiarize them the Plan and lobbying for the endorsement. - The NHRAP will be taken to the Parliament and the House of Representatives in Zanzibar for endorsement since the Action will be a guiding tool for promotion and protection of human rights in the country. - Translation of the master document into simpler Kiswahili language and printing copies for launching and preliminary dissemination. Dec, 2012 Launching of the Action Plan will take place on 10 th December, 2012 during the Commemoration of the International Human Rights Day. The launching is expected to be a high-profile event involving the Ministry, CHRAGG and UN Tanzania. The aim is popularize it the Action Plan and make it a public document. Jan- March, 2013 Country-wide dissemination of the Action Plan will take place including in Zanzibar. The aim is to encourage ownership of the Action Plan from the national level to the Local government level, the CSOs and the academia. All these stakeholders will have a role to play in implementation the Action Plan. March - June, 2013 Mainstreaming the NHRAP in the MDAs MTEFs and in the activities of Civil Society Organizations for implementation purposes. July 2013 June 2017 Implementation of the NHRAP, monitoring and evaluation. 6