The event was graced by guest of honour Hon Mudrick Soraga; Minister of State, President’s Office; Labour, Economic Affairs and Investment who thanked the ILO and the government of Norway for supporting the programme which is in its second phase.
Mr, Soraga congratulated the 90 graduates and urged them to utilise the skills and qualifications they have gained through the six-month programme to improve their lives and be a positive example for other young people in their communities.
The graduates also received special equipment and tool kits to begin their new lives as professionals in their fields of; air conditioning and refrigeration, carpentry as well as tailoring.
The programme is designed to give the apprentices the skills to become formally employed or self-employed in order to help curb Zanzibar’s rising youth unemployment rate, which is currently 33 per cent according to the Integrated Labour Force Survey 2020/21.
Mr Soraga assured the young graduates that the government of Zanzibar is committed to helping the youth to access better self/employment opportunities:
“We have heard your suggestions and requests for more financial support. Young people can now apply for various government financial support and loans to start their own businesses. I urge you to make good use of this service.”
NEET programme graduate and youth representative, Mlinde Machano, reflected on the many challenges facing Zanzibar’s youth and the opportunities for a better future that he and his peers now have:
“As we have demonstrated during the plays and stories we have shared today, many of us young people fall into drug abuse and end up living in poverty because we have no education of skills. This programme has given many of us the chance to improve our lives…we would like to sincerely thank our government, the ILO and the government of Norway for the NEET programme.”
ILO Programme and Operations Officer, Mr Adame Traore on behalf of ILO Country Director, Mr, Wellington Chibebe thanked the government of Zanzibar for the successful conclusion of the programme’s second phase and shared ILO’s commitment to ensure the sustainability of the programmes’ impact.
“The ILO strongly encourages the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, through the President’s Office, Labour, Economic Affairs and Investment, Social Partners and other stakeholders to continue implementing skills development programmes beyond the end of the ILO project. ILO technical support remains available if there is a wish to replicate and/or expand the NEET programme.”
Hamza’s success story
Hamza Kassim, sits at the back of a bustling workroom at the KVZ Volunteers Brigade Zanzibar, he is cutting up black leather pieces and sewing them with the dexterity and speed of an expert leather worker.
Hamza is a 20-year-old short-term apprentice who began his training as a tailor less than six months ago. Hamza is also physically impaired and was born with a severe congenital hand deformity which made his early childhood particularly difficult.
Learning however was never a problem for Hamza: “I taught myself to do things that others could do very easily by practicing and practicing until I got it right. I was not the best but I liked school…I was good at History and Kiswahili, and was lucky to have good classmates and teachers when I was younger. Going back home was more difficult as the children on the streets would point at me and make cruel remarks about my hands.”
Hamza is the seventh of ten children; therefore, his parents had to prioritise the education of his younger siblings when he failed his secondary school final exams. Hamza recalls this difficult time saying; “I was so depressed! I stayed up most nights just thinking about the money I needed to start a business. My father is a farmer and my mother sells snacks at a school… we do not have money to start a business.”
It was during this time that Hamza received a phone call from a youth representative at the Prime Minister’s Office for Labour, Employment, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (PMO-LYED), who told him about a short-term apprenticeship programme run by the ministry with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Hamza was ecstatic about the opportunity. “I am not the only one with a disability in my family, there are three of us…I didn’t know that my older brother had registered us at the ministry as physically disabled and that is how the youth representative was able to call me directly and urge me to apply.”
Hamza was one of 90 young people accepted into the second phase of the programme in April 2022.
The programme aims to train youth between 15 and 25 years who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). The apprentices spend four months in theoretical and practical training at the JKU Vocational Training Centre in Zanzibar and two months in some of Zanzibar’s leading public and private industries. Hamza is spending his industry attachment at the KVZ – Volunteers Brigade Zanzibar, where he is learning leather production as part of his tailoring training.
“I had never used a sewing machine before and I had to work harder than everyone else to learn. I now can sew a variety of women’s and men’s clothing and make leather items like shoes and bags,” Hamza proudly reports.
After graduating, Hamza received a nationally recognised certificate of competency as a tailor and a sewing machine kit to help him begin his work. He also stands a chance to benefit from government loans aimed to help young entrepreneurs.
Hamza is eager to begin his life as a professional tailor: “I am looking forward to starting my own business… I want to be able to earn an income and help support my parents. It is difficult for young people like myself, especially those with disabilities to earn a steady income, but registering in any youth or disability groups and support schemes is a great help. I don’t think I would have this opportunity if my brother had not registered me at the ministry.”
The short-term apprenticeship programme is implemented by the government of Zanzibar with technical support from the ILO Skills programme, which is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).
Apprenticeship programmes
Apprenticeships are probably the oldest public-private partnership in history and have been around for centuries. Formal apprenticeship is a form of vocational education/training which combines on the job training and institution based learning for specifically defined competencies and work processes.
Apprenticeships form part of the solution to help get young people into the labour market by equipping them with technical and core skills needed to take on new jobs.
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Inside Tanzania’s Life-Saving Birthcare Model
Tanzania is winning the battle against maternal and newborn deaths, as the latest numbers reveal a significant decline.
“Tanzania is committed to reducing maternal and newborn mortality and ensuring safe deliveries as part of the national development plan. The Safer Births Bundle of Care is one of the key strategies supporting this effort,” said Dr. Benjamin Kamala, the Senior Research Scientist at Haydom Lutheran Hospital and Principal Investigator for the program, leading its implementation across five regions in Tanzania.
A groundbreaking study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that the innovative health program in Tanzania – centered on regular, on-the-job training for healthcare workers – reduced maternal deaths by 75% and early newborn deaths by 40%. The three-year study, conducted across 30 high-burden healthcare facilities in Tanzania, tracked approximately 300,000 mother-baby pairs under the Safer Births Bundle of Care (SBBC) programme. The programme focuses on improving care for mothers and babies during the day of birth, the critical time when a woman goes into labor and delivers her baby.
Maternal health is a key focus of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Target 3.1, which aims to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
Tanzania’s program combines continuous, simulation-based training for frontline healthcare workers alongside innovative clinical tools to improve labour monitoring (fetal heart rate monitoring) and newborn resuscitation.It also uses data to drive ongoing improvements, ensuring that healthcare workers have the skills, confidence, and competence to manage birth-related complications for both mothers and newborns.
“We work closely with healthcare workers, equipping them with the necessary tools to improve the quality of care, ensuring they can effectively manage both mothers and babies during and after childbirth,” Dr. Kamala said, which helps them build on over a decade of innovative research and collaboration to improve care during childbirth.
“To give you a sense of the scale of the burden of maternal and newborn mortality in Tanzania when the Safer Births Bundles of Care program was in early development in 2015/16, there were around 556 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and 25 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births,” he said.
The published study demonstrates the “transformative impact” of the Safer Births Bundle of Care program conducted across 30 hospitals in five high-burden regions of Tanzania, where there were about 300,000 mother-baby pairs.
Maternal deaths at the start of the program were recorded at 240 per 100,000 live births, with postpartum hemorrhage and hypertensive disorders being the leading causes of death, he said. Over the 24-month study period, this number dropped to approximately 60 per 100,000 live births, representing a 75% reduction. The number of newborn deaths – which are primarily due to breathing difficulties and complications related to prematurity – declined by 40% – from 7 deaths per 1,000 live births to 4 deaths per 1,000 live births.
“These results are remarkable,” Dr. Kamala said.
According to Dr. Kamala, the 75% reduction in maternal deaths was not expected, and a key lesson was the important role of the in-situ team simulations – including for postpartum bleeding – with reflective debriefings that trained facilitators led.
“This seems to be a major part of the success of the program,” he said. “We are delighted by these results and hope that other countries adopt and scale the Safer Births Bundle of Care program… Beyond the numbers, the Safer Births Bundle of Care program has fostered a dramatic culture shift in our healthcare system,” he said. “Healthcare workers are now more confident and better equipped to handle birth-related complications for both mothers and babies.”
Maternal death drop
Dr. Kamala attributed the 60-70% reduction in newborn deaths in Geita and Manyara to several factors.
“Firstly, Manyara was the first site for implementation, giving the region more time to adapt and experience the impact of the program. Most importantly, both regions had a high burden of stillbirths and neonatal deaths, making them ideal targets for focused intervention. As a result, newborn deaths decreased by 60-70%, showcasing a clear positive impact on newborn survival,” he said.
Dr. Kamala said another possible explanation is the differences in the culture of practices, where some health facilities reported inaccurate data due to the fear of blame and shame. However, with the project’s implementation, reporting became more accurate after mplementation. Some regions, such as Tabora, reported an increase in the number of referrals to the study hospitals from other care centers after the program was implemented. These were more likely to be late admissions, which increase the likelihood of poor health outcomes, he said.
After the implementation of the program, there was a 40% decrease in newborn deaths within the first 24 hours after birth, according to the study.
Dr. Kamala said Tanzania’s remarkable progress in reducing maternal mortality by 80% is driven by strategic investments and innovative programs focused on improving maternal and child survival rates.
“Over 2,000 new healthcare facilities have been developed, free health services are being provided to expectant mothers and children under the age of five, and emergency obstetric care – including better transport to hospitals in rural areas are helping to ensure timely, life-saving interventions.
“Most importantly, the Ministry of Health works in collaboration with healthcare workers, hospitals, and development partners to strengthen the skills of frontline healthcare workers, which has been a key factor in driving this progress.
“Political leadership, alongside strategic partnerships and financing, has been crucial in driving progress in maternal and newborn health,” he said.
The program was made possible by the support of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children, and Adolescents, Norad, UNICEF, and Laerdal Global Health, as well as the Ministry of Health and Haydom Lutheran Hospital. Their partnership and investment enabled the scaling of the Safer Births Bundle of Care to 30 hospitals and supported the research. “The government has now scaled the program to over 150 sites, and there are plans for further expansion to three regions this year and then nationally,” he said.
Dr. Kamala outlined key policy recommendations for other governments can adopt to prioritize maternal health.
“Firstly, it focuses on cost-effective and relatively simple interventions that are essential to preventing maternal and newborn deaths. For example, stronger primary healthcare that is delivered in the community and a well-trained healthcare workforce are also critical. Additionally, working in close collaboration with national, regional, and local health authorities is key.”
He said Tanzania’s approach, where the Safer Births Bundle of Care program was successfully scaled and sustained by aligning the initiative with national guidelines for obstetrical and newborn care. In addition, the creation of mentorship programs and regular supervision has helped to sustain the results.
Looking ahead
Tanzania now plans to expand to three new regions in 2025, followed by a nationwide rollout.
The success of the program has attracted interest from other countries, with Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, and Namibia expressing interest in adapting the program to their healthcare system. In Nigeria, the program has already been launched in two states, Gombe and Borno, marking a significant step in its scaling.
Source: allafrica.com
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