The United Republic of Tanzania is a nation in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country’s eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.
Tanzania is located in Eastern Africa between longitude 290 and 410 East, Latitude 10 and 120 South. It is a vast country with the area of 945,000 km2. The country is a unitary republic composed of 30 regions. The Capital City is Dodoma and the major commercial city is Dar es Salaam.
Tanzania has the largest population in East Africa and the lowest population density; almost a third of the population is urban. (CIA Country Profile, 2019). Tanzania’s youthful population – about two-thirds of the population is under 25 – is growing rapidly because of the high total fertility rate of 4.8 children per woman.
In Tanzania, WASH is a cross-cutting sector. The Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) are responsible for implementing and managing WASH projects. For example, the government is implementing the rural-based National Sanitation Campaign (NSC), which is implemented by the Ministry of Health Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC ) and The Department for International Development (DFID) nicknamed ‘Usichukulie poa, nyumba ni choo’, which translates into English as, ‘Do not take it lightly, a house is not complete without a toilet.’
Also, MoHCDGEC is the chair of the National Sanitation and Hygiene Steering Committee and is responsible for setting sanitation and hygiene policies for implementing agencies such as Local Government Authorities. MoHCDGEC is responsible for implementing the National Sanitation Campaign which aims to increase WASH in health facilities. MoEST is responsible for implementing school WASH, which aims to improve access to latrines and running water in schools.
A few years back, the government had plans to build the latrines along the major highways. In the interview, NSC coordinator Anyitike Mwakitalima said the ministry’s plan will mature within Phase II of the campaign (NSC 2016-2020) and will involve the highways to upcountry regions. “Public latrines will be constructed along highways connecting Dar es Salaam to Tunduma (two latrines), DarMtwara (one latrine), Morogoro-Mwanza (two latrines), Kagera-Kahama (two latrines) and Mbeya-Katavi (one latrine),” he said. He said apart from aiming to control Open Defecation (OD) in the phase, under the first phase of the campaign, the ministry enabled to construct latrines in 2,113 government schools – especially primary schools in both rural and urban centres across the country.
In Nyumba Ni Choo Campaign, Local Government Authority plays a major role in the implementation of the Nyumba Ni choo Campaign. For example, the national campaign was launched by the Vice President, up to now, the Nyumba ni Choo campaign has been activated in 11 regions whereby it is always the Regional Commissioner who is launching and closing the campaign. District commissioner and other district leadership are involved in a day to day activation in their areas.
