Retaining help to Tanzania is a bad idea

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LGBT + Tanzanians will lose the game and become scapegoats if donors cut off aid

Anthony Oluoch is Program Manager for the ILGA Pan African Organization for the Rights of LGBT + People. Representatives from 10 organizations in Tanzania also contributed, but can not be appointed for security reasons.

The appeal by Paul Makonda, regional commissioner for Tanzania's economic capital, Dar es Salaam, for a crackdown on LGBT + people in the country has created a climate of fear and prejudice in which homophobia rampant.

Activists in the country report a sense of fear. Afraid to attack their body. Fear that homosexual and transgender organizations are no longer able to function and provide essential services.

People are leaving the country. Others plan to emigrate while others can not for logistical reasons.

This fear is obviously not unfounded. Makonda's comments have had a ripple effect that has seen hatred spread to the rest of society.

Denmark, Tanzania's second largest donor, said it would retain $ 10 million worth of aid. The Danish government supports many projects in Tanzania and Zanzibar, including the country's Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP IV) through the Health Basket Fund.

This provides donors' pooled funds for the health sector and is considered the most effective way to support the government's efforts to improve overall health in Tanzania and improve the access of the poor to health care services. primary quality.

Canada would also consider similar sanctions. Ottawa's current support contributes to the country's health and education sector, as well as to the health and rights of women and children.

Canada supports efforts to strengthen the health system as a whole, as well as expand access to qualified health personnel, increase the number of babies born in health facilities, contribute to prevent malaria and tuberculosis and to reduce the impact of HIV / AIDS on children and their families.

In the field of education, Canada is helping to improve the quality of education and increase equitable access to secondary and vocational education.

The Western public is now pressuring its governments to suspend their aid to Tanzania because of the way the government treats LGBT + people. Hundreds of activists on the ground have worked hard to try to change the mentalities of the inhabitants of their country. A state of mind that has been placed there by Western influence, Western laws, and Western religion.

In 2012, the former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, spoke passionately to the Human Rights Council. While stressing the need to end violence and discrimination, he also took the time to detail how these changes may occur.

"We reject conditionality of aid," he said clearly. In a global community plagued by power imbalances, it is important. There should be no manipulation of the global aid system to try to bring about change, because this change is quickly followed by a resentment towards the compelling nation and the cause for which you were forced to recognize .

In the end, retaining aid to Tanzania is not a good idea. This aid also serves to improve the lives of LGBT + people. When they are selected, gay and transgender people suffer. We suffer not only because we do not get services, but because we are scapegoats, exposing us more to the risk of violence against us.

Governments have discretion over what to support or not. If sending a message to the international community is at the expense of the part of society that they are trying to protect, it is not necessary to send this message .

A government that claims to protect the rights of a certain group of people must do everything in its power not to put the life of this group of people at risk.

They should therefore support activists on the ground.

We work hard to raise awareness, but also to provide services to the community. Governments should not only consult their own LGBT + organizations, which, while well-intentioned, are not in the best position to understand the nuances of the situation on the ground.

Instead, they must listen to regional networks that understand these complications. Governments should also engage directly with politicians behind the scenes to reduce hysteria and change these discriminatory policies.

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