Abstract:
Although substantial progress has been made in adopting National Ageing Policy (NAP) of
2003 in Tanzania, lack of enforceable laws to ensure successfully implementation of the
policy on elderly social protection remain a major challenge. This paper examined the NAP of
2003 on the elderly social protection in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. The issues covered the
policy environment of the NAP on provision of basic needs to the elderly, institutional
arrangements in relation to the elderly’s social protection and factors affecting the
implementation of NAP. A cross-sectional design was used and data were collected through
FGDs and key informant interviews. Data were analysed by using content analysis. The study
found that while Tanzania has taken some elderly’s social protection initiatives including the
adoption of the NAP, the measures have not been adequately implemented in achieving
effective and sustainable welfare of the elderly due to absence of legislation that backup the
implementation of the NAP. The study concludes that; in the absence of elderly’s legal
framework and effective institutional arrangements, successful interventions to support the
elderly will not be achieved. Therefore, it is recommended that the Government through the
Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children need to review
the NAP and come up with effective legal and regulatory framework measures that will guide
and control the elderly social protection services delivery. Such measures include the
enactment of the elderly law(s), establishment of effective institutional arrangements with
coherent systems, enforcement and coordination engagements in order to guide social
protection design and implementation processes that promote effective elderly’s social
protection in Tanzania.
