The state, law and urban poverty in Tanzania

This paper is about the state, law and urban poverty in Tanzania. The paper examines how the state in Tanzania has been trying to solve the problem of urban poverty. The main argument is that the state\u27s conception of urban poverty is not realistic. The urban poor are seen as responsible for their poverty. This is confirmed by the kind of coercive policies, legislation and other measures which have been instituted by the state in order to solve the problem. The paper argues that due to lack of a critical analysis of the causes of poverty, the state has been implementing policies which have exacerbated the problem, because they have treated the symptoms rather than the essential relations. The paper concludes by arguing that law, like other policies, has to assist the process of social and economic development Rather than criminalizing the poor, in developing socialist countries like Tanzania law has to assist them

Aids, orphans, and development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A review of the dilemma of public health and development

HIV/AIDS is having devastating consequences on families, young children, and other vulnerable social groups. In this paper, I review the impact of HIV/AIDS on families and development in sub-Saharan Africa. I begin by showing the magnitude of the problem and the factors that have led to rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in this sub-continent. I discuss gender inequality, poverty, social inequality, and globalization, and show how these facilitate the rapid spread of the epidemic. I show how AIDS is creating a mass of orphans on the one hand, and how it is impacting development and creating new public health contradictions on the other. By orphans I mean all those children who have lost either a mother or father or both parents due to AIDS. I argue that AIDS is destroying families and communities and is also manufacturing a great number of orphaned children who are powerless and vulnerable. In order to solve this problem, I suggest the adoption of appropriate, pragmatic, and realistic short-and long-term strategies of dealing with the problem. I conclude by suggesting that the long-term strategy aimed at reducing the number of orphaned children will involve the adoption of appropriate strategies that seek to control HIV/AIDS once and for all

Development, change, and poverty in the informal sector during the era of structural adjustments in Tanzania

This article focuses on periods of economic crisis and structural adjustments in Tanzania, when the informal sector changed both quantitatively and qualitatively. It highlights that the traditional view that the informal sector accommodated the unemployed, the poor, the unskilled, as well as utilizing family labour and local resources, was questionable in most of the sub-Saharan countries which were experiencing a severe economic crisis and have adopted structural adjustment policies (SAPs). The author suggests that policy programs aimed at promoting the informal sector should acknowledge the fact that the crisis, as well as SAPs, have forced not only the poor, but also middle and upper income persons and rich entrepreneurs, to participate in this sector. Policies should reexamine the dominant forms of social relations in this sector in order to determine who actually needs assistance and how best to help them. Promoting this sector blindly might enhance the processes of social and economic inequality, exploitation, oppression, and marginalization which are currently rampant in the informal sector

Conflicts and politics in urban planning in Tanzania

This paper tries to discuss two important issues. First, it examines the conflict between ideology and actual urban planning in Tanzania. It is argued that via the Arusha-Declaration,Tanzania showed the intention of building an egalitarian society based on the principles of Ujamaa (socialism), hence one expected that an attempt to transform some colonial structures in order to suit the socialist aspiring nation could be in the agenda in Tanzania. This has never been the case at the level of urban planning. The paper argues that the gap between theory and practice exists because Tanzania\u27s socialist theory itself is weak, and does not emanate from a concrete class analysis of the society itself. Secondly, the paper examines the fragmentation of urban planning in Tanzania. Some legal provisions are contradicting as to who should be responsible for what in urban planning. This contradiction has created problems and conflicts between various organs responsible in urban planning. In all cases it is the majority urban poor who are suffering. The paper suggests that the urban planning in socialist aspiring countries must be unified, coordinated and part and parcel of the overall national development plan. Such move must be implemented in Tanzania

Economic reforms and health conditions of the urban poor in Tanzania

This paper examines the impact of economic reforms, namely Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs), on the health conditions of the Tanzanian urban poor. My conclusion is that these policies have had detrimental effects on the living conditions of the urban poor. Thus, SAPs are contributing to the deterioration of health conditions among these people rather than improving them. SAPs are affecting these people in a variety of ways. First, by affecting negatively the development of the urban environment, SAPs are destroying the environmental conditions on which the poor depend for their existence and survival. Secondly, by impacting the provision of urban health services, SAPs are affecting facilities which serve the health needs of the urban population. Thirdly, by fueling inflation, SAPs have raised the general cost of living which has exacerbated poverty rather than eradicated it

Social context of disclosing HIV test results in Tanzania

This study sought to understand how individuals reveal their HIV test results to others and the ways in which social relations affect the disclosure process. The data were collected through open-ended interviews administered in Swahili to informants who had just been tested for HIV and to those who were living with HIV in Dar es Salaam and Iringa regions. Analysis shows that social relations influence the decisions individuals make about disclosure. Most people preferred to reveal their HIV status to close family members. Most also mentioned the fear of being rejected and discriminated against as major reasons for not disclosing their test results to others

Communicating about AIDS-changes in understanding and coping with help of language in urban Kagera, Tanzania

Faced with the problems of HIV/AIDS, people have to find ways to communicate around them. The aim of this paper is to mirror changes over time in the Kagera people\u27s social cognition regarding HIV/AIDS, using their own language as a tracer of this process. Focus group discussions and personal and group interviews conducted during 1992 to 1995 in urban Bukoba, Kagera, constitute the basis for an analysis of metaphorical expressions in use since 1985. Pronounced uncertainty is later transformed into a deeper understanding of the pandemic and an increased disposition to cope with the situation. Knowledge about the socio-linguistic expressions mapped out in this article can be of help when developing guidelines on how to communicate about interventions