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Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies
Poverty reduction initiatives
are predominantly government functions. All line ministries are at some level
addressing the issues of poverty with the Ministry of Finance and National
Planning and Ministry of Community Development and Social Services being the
lead ministries in this initiative.
|
Body / Government |
Responsibilities
|
|
The
Ministry of Community Development and Social Services |
is charged with the responsibility of alleviating the suffering of poor and disadvantaged groups, men, women, children, youth and the disabled through facilitation and provision of survival community development skills and direct social support. |
|
The
Ministry of Finance and National Planning |
through the Planning and Economic Management Department is the lead institution in the overall coordination of the policy and planning process while sector ministries, public sector and civil society organizations will implement the programmes. |
Decision Making: Legislation and Regulations
There is no specific legislation
that target the combating of poverty, although generally legislation is intended
to create an environment conducive for sustainable development.
Decision-Making: Strategies, Policies and Plans
Little
can be achieved to reduce poverty unless measures are taken to revive Zambia’s
economy. Accordingly, Zambia’s Poverty Reducation Strategy focuses on measures
to achieve strong sustained economic growth of between five to eight percent per
annum. In the short to medium term,
uncertainty in the critical mining industry will dampen Zambia’s growth
objectives and also threaten the viability of implementing Poverty Reduction
Strategies. However, this can be considered to be a temporal setback as the
country remains endowed with great mining potential.
On several
grounds, agriculture combines the virtue of growth and equity and it is in this
regard that enhanced agriculture productivity is being given the highest
priority under the current Poverty Reduction Strategies. Zambia plans to shift
emphasis towards producing goods for export because the limited domestic market
is a barrier to growth. The “Agriculture Commercialization Programme (ACP)”
has been designed as the main vehicle for implementing the agriculture component
of the PRSP. ACP is s successor programme to the Agriculture Sector Investment
Programme (ASIP).
For tourism,
the plan envisages two broad interventions – national and zonal, both of which
are expected to encourage investment in the sector. National intervention
include rehabilitation of roads in tourist area, rehabilitation of museums,
tourist markets, and human resource development. Zonal development refers to
intense development work in identified tourist areas to make them attractive to
tourist investment. Regarding,
industry the strategy focuses on choosing winners or industries that have the
best chances of export success after considering comparative advantages and
existing trade agreements. Other areas include improving transport and
communication infrastructure, rehabilitating and enhancing electrical energy
infrastructure and developing the national irrigation capacity and capabilities.
The
Ministry’s vision is to have every poor and vulnerable person empowered enough
to live productive and useful lives in a supportive cultural environment.
It endeavours to pursue policies that support poverty eradication and
sustainable human development through provision of social support services and
opportunities for socio-economic empowerment of these people.
The Ministry has structures that reach out to the village/community level
and is among the few institutions that are better positioned to articulate the
needs and aspirations of the poor and facilitate their participation in
sustainable human development.
Decision-Making: Major Groups involvement
Programmes and Projects
|
Programme |
Background |
Constraints
& Challenges |
|
The majority of the people live in rural areas in
extreme poverty that is characterized by sub-standard housing. In response
to this problem, Government in collaboration with the African Housing Fund
(AHF), Habitat for Humanity and other local and international
non-governmental organisations is trying to support the improvement of
shelter within the framework of The National Housing Policy.
|
This project is on going. Ø Funding at community level low. Ø Fund raising capacity within low income groups insufficient. Ø General funding constraint low to meet targets. |
||
Women’s Development Programme
|
While women’s contribution to national development has been acknowledged there are still many barriers preventing them from achieving their full potential. Some of the on-going initiatives to redress the imbalances and empower women include capacity building for sustainable livelihoods, provision of micro-credit and sensitization in gender and human rights. |
Ø Funding inadequate. Ø Inadequate effective facilitation skills and support facilities. Ø Poor Linkages. |
|
|
Food for Work |
In addressing the problem of hunger at the
community level, and under the food for work intervention, households in
peri-urban areas are enabled to meet their food requirements in exchange
of construction and rehabilitation of community infrastructure. The Food
for Work programme has incorporated capacity building of communities
through skills training and provision of micro-credit to ensure
sustainable livelihoods of participants even when the programme is phased
out. The Food for Work
programme has greatly contributed to clean surroundings in their site
areas which are predominantly peri-urban. |
Ø Performing well. Coverage however limited to urban sites due to funds. Ø The project Demand is in demand. Ø Due to success, there is an urge to integrate it with other projects. Ø Improving the sustainability of this project. |
|
|
Programme |
Background |
Constraints
& Challenges |
|
|
Targeted Food Security Pack |
This is another intervention put in place to address the hunger situation as well as sustainable livelihoods for the affected persons. Government through civil society organizations is targeting 600,000 small-scale vulnerable but viable farmers over a period of three years by providing small packs of inputs comprising various seeds that include cereals, tubers, legumes and fruit trees to enable them attain food security. The most critical technology to the success of this project is conservation farming. |
Ø In areas where there’s no drought the project has been successful. Ø Poor rains have had an adverse impact on this project. Ø Project suffering from poor organization within the agriculture sector. |
|
|
Non-formal
education and Skills Training |
The current levels of illiteracy are above 80%. The problem of illiteracy is more pronounced in the rural areas and among marginalised groups such as women, children and persons with disabilities. There is a correlation between illiteracy, poverty and disease. Literacy education is therefore a strategy to combat poverty and disease. Government intends to redefine the role of literacy in order to align it more closely to reproductive health, agriculture, community based environmental protection and management, HIV/AIDS awareness and sustainable livelihood skills. |
Ø Funding inadequate. Ø Interest is low. Ø Awareness campaign need in order to make project more relevant and to generate interest. |
|
|
Public Welfare Assistance Scheme (PWAS) |
This programme targets 2% of the population of the poorest of the poor. The objective is to provide basic needs to vulnerable persons so as to prevent destitution. The programme supports the aged, the disabled, orphans and vulnerable children. PWAS has three tiers of support namely social support, education and health care cost scheme. |
Ø Accessibility limited to districts. Ø Failing to meet targets due to funds. Ø Only being accessed by ‘smart poor’. Support needs to be broaden. Ø Most assistance going to orphans. |
|
|
The
Child Care Upgrading Programme (CCUP) |
The high number of orphans due to HIV/AIDS has given rise to the proliferation of children’s homes. Most of these are not meeting the basic standards required for the operation of such institutions. The CCUP responds to the need to ensure that basic standards of care provided to orphans and abandoned children in institutions are upheld and maintained. The project is supported by UNICEF |
Ø Cooperation from community poor Ø There is need to improve regulation and have an inspectorate. |
|
|
Micro
Credit For The Poor |
This intervention is aimed at productivity
and income generation. Some micro finance facilities include Micro-Bankers
Trust which gives priority to women; the National Trust for the Disabled
which provides loans to persons with disabilities, the People Living with
HIV/AIDS Project which gives credit to persons affected by HIV/AIDS and
the hammer mill project which has been loaning hammer mills to women
groups for not only income generation but as appropriate technology to
reduce their workload in food processing |
Ø Poor commitment on repayment. Ø Poor repayment due to lack of monitoring and inadequate debt management capacity building amongst participants. Ø Attitude problems - “handout syndrome” |
|
|
Programme |
Background |
Constraints
& Challenges |
|
|
Water
Sanitation |
The aim of this programme is to empower the
poor in rural and peri-urban communities to control and manage their water
supply facilities on a sustainable basis. This is done through
mobilization and training of communities in water and sanitation in line
with the water policy. The focus is to promote community involvement and
ownership of community utilities. |
Ø
|
|
|
Street Children |
There has been unprecedented growth in the
number of street children in the country mainly as an effect of HIV/AIDS
and household poverty. It was estimated that in 1996, Zambia’s cities
were home to 35,000 children of the street. The number has since
increased. As a way of
escaping the harsh realities of life most of these children abuse drugs
and also get involved in petty criminal activities.
Street children are seen in some quarters to be contributing to
environmental filth in the towns and cities where they have encamped. In
carrying out street children activities, Government works in partnership
with non-governmental organizations. |
Ø Strategies should include supporting families where these lids come from to get them back into the family and act the problem at source. |
|
Status
The implementation of Agenda 21 in as far as
combating poverty through the stated interventions is concerned is on-going.
The impact of these efforts has so far been minimal due to various
factors such as inaccessibility – either due to lack of information, physical
distance or nature of project design (in the case of the disabled),
un-affordability, (because of cost-saving measures) and poor funding of
programmes.
Government is reviewing some of its policies on cost-sharing to increase poor people’s access to basic facilities. The issue of poor funding is being addressed through HIPC resources and linking the poverty reduction strategy paper to the budget so that poverty reducing programmes are better funded.
Challenges
See under Programmes and Projects.
Capacity-building, Education, Training
and Awareness-raising
|
Capacity Building |
There is adequate human resource to carryout
poverty reduction programmes in the public sector, civil society and the
private sector. The government’s emphasis is on creating and maintaining
enabling environment for the private sector to continue taking the leading
role in running Zambia’s economy as well the civil society in service
delivery at grass root level. |
|
Education |
Staff are being trained at various colleges. |
|
Training |
General training includes Training and specialized poverty analysis and poverty reduction strategies. |
|
Awareness-raising |
Ø Lack of funding hampering awareness raising of programmes. Ø Weekly Radio Programmes. Ø Brochures and pamphlets produced but circulation poor. This area needs to be improved. |
Information
General
information on the various poverty reduction interventions is available from
sector ministries, publications from other stakeholders and the media.
There has not been enough information flow between line Ministries and
the communities. One of the factors
affecting accessibility to programmes and, therefore, impact has been lack of
publicity or awareness by the communities on services available to them.
There is
poverty mapping being done at the poverty Monitoring and Analysis Unit of the
Zambia Social investment fund in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning
Research and Technologies
A number of researches have been done in the area of
poverty such as Living Conditions Monitoring Survey I and II, Priority Survey II
and Poverty Participatory Assessment. In order to promote policy-related
research, some programmes such as Public Welfare Assistance Scheme (PWAS) ,
Health Care Cost Scheme (HCCS) as well as Literacy, Micro Bankers Trust (MBT),
the National Trust for the Disabled (NTD) and hammer mill projects have been
evaluated with assistance of the study fund (Zambia Social Investment Fund)
UNESCO and other Agencies.
In
the case of PWAS, one major finding was that it was not reaching out to the
poorest due to lack of publicity and those who knew and accessed the programme
were not necessarily the poorest. For
Literacy the evaluation results indicated that the programme provided only
literacy and numeracy which the participants could not easily translate into
gainful activities.
Financing
Financing of
most of these programmes is through Government subventions with support on some
specific programmes from Development Partners.
For instance, UNDP has provided financial support to the development of
the National Poverty Reduction Action Plan; the Food Programme has received
assistance from the World Food Programme and redesigning of The Public Welfare
Assistance Scheme (PWAS) is financed by the European Union and earlier by the
World Bank. Other programmes which
have received international financing include Micro-Bankers’ Trust (European
Union); Literacy Programme from UNESCO and Arab Gulf Fund; the Street Children
Programme (UNICEF); Child Care Upgrading Programme (UNICEF); People Living with
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); and finally, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities
(African Rehabilitation Institute (ARI) However, finances have never been enough
and with the implementation of the PRSP, it is planned that more priority
spending will be done and programmes that are of a poverty reduction nature will
take precedence.
Cooperation
There is generally a goodwill from both bilateral and multi-lateral organizations to fight poverty in Zambia. These include Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK, USAID, World Bank, AFDB and EU. See also under Financing.
* * *
Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies
|
Body / Government |
Responsibilities
|
|
Inter-agency Technical Committee on Population |
Address technical issues as well as coordinating the implementation and monitoring and evaluation of programmes in the area of population and development. Because of diversity nature of population and development interrelationships, membership in the committee is drawn from multi-sectoral institutions including government, civil society, traditional groupings, academia, and the private sector. The social and Population Unit in the Ministry of Finance and National Development serves as a secretariat of the committee. The Inter-agency technical Committee is further divided into six specialized committee namely:
|
Decision Making: Legislation and Regulations
CSO Act
Decision-Making: Strategies, Policies and Plans
At the center of all population programmes is the
National Population Policy which was revised in 1996 to take on board issues of
sustainable development in general and gender, HIV/AIDS, environment, youth
concerns, adolescent reproductive health in particular. The Population Policy
aims to influence the demographic dynamic such as fertility, mortality,
migration and their determinant in order to ensure that there are commensurate
with the pace of development.
Decision-Making: Major Groups involvement
See under Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies.
Programmes and Projects
A number of programmes and projects
have been implemented and financially supported by UNFPA and the National
Budgets. Notable among these projects in the area of sustainable development
are:
|
Programme |
Background |
Constraints & Challenges |
|
The Population policy implementation and integration of population factors into development planning process. |
The main objective of the project is to ensure integration of population factors in plans and programmes. An Assessment of the Extent of Integration revealed that the population factors integrated in virtually all policy and programme documents which included the Land Policy, Water Policy, National Environment Action Plan among others were basically descriptive such as population size, growth rate, composition and distribution. Little attempt has been made to establish ways in which the factors interrelate with population concerns or how policy and programme measures intend to influence or accommodate them. Despite the low levels of integration outlined above, the overall substantive mentioned in policy and programme documents offer greater opportunities for comprehensive integration. |
· In the past this programme was not formally recognized within the MOFED institutional structure. The programme has however being mainstreamed under the restructured MOFNP. · Building capacity at various ministries to enable them integrate population factors data in their policies and programmes. |
|
Communication support to population and development project |
. This project provided training in Advocacy and Information Education and Communication to what were called advocacy agents in the provinces. The agents were trained in thematic areas of environment, population and development interrelationships, gender and reproductive health. In addition, the agents were trained in developing Information Education and Communication and Advocacy strategies in order to address the key issues mentioned above in their communities. The agents were considered as opinion leaders in their communities and were charged with the responsibilities to develop strategies and disseminate information on the key thematic areas. |
· Funding erratic. · Human resource inadequate. |
Status
The project on integration has been institutionalized within government functions and it will continue to ensure integration of demographic factors in all planning process. Information dissemination on population and sustainable development interrelationships will continue to be articulated at the Interagency Technical Committee Meetings and Sub-Committee meetings.
Challenges
See under Programmes and Projects.
Capacity-building,
Education, Training and Awareness-raising
|
Capacity Building |
There is availability of human resource at national, provincial and district levels. However, there is need to enhance the capacities of sectoral, provincial and district level planners to be able to adequately and comprehensively integrate population including gender and environment factors in policies plans and programmes. Eventually Planner will be able to put measures and strategies in the policies, plans and programmes that would either accommodate or influence the identified demography dynamics. |
|
Education |
The education curricula for basic school level has also been revised to incorporate population related issues in subjects such as Social Studies and Geography while Environmental Science has been recognized as a examinable subject on its own |
|
Training |
Between 1995-97 two persons per years where being sent out to study Masters Degree courses in Population and Development / Demographic. |
|
Awareness-raising |
|
Information
Demography
database is maintained at central statistic office. The Office is currently
analyzing the 2000 Census of Population and Housing.
Research and Technologies
A number of surveys and research have been conducted
which included the Demographic health surveys, Priority Survey II and Living
Conditions Monitoring Survey. Though these survey may not a have been on
environment directly, they have brought out issues of food production, energy
consumption patterns, water utilization, disease prevalence in relation
population factors.
Financing
In the area of population and sustainable development
interrelationship and integration, United Nations Population Fund and the
Government provided most of the resources. However, there was also considerable
support from cooperating partners in the area of reproductive health,
Information education and Communication and other service delivery programmes.
Cooperation
The regional fora where these issues have been discussed are the Southern African Forum on Population and Development and the Southern African Ministers’ Conference on Population and Development. These are regional initiatives that are meant to bring out issues of demographic dynamics that affect the regional.
* * *
| Zambia | AllCountries | Home|
Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies
Prior to 1991, the health sector in Zambia was highly centralized. All issues of planning and decision making for the sector were handled by the Ministry of Health Headquarters and to a small extent by the provincial headquarters. Districts and the lower levels of the health care delivery system played minor roles prior to the decentralisation policy of 1992.
In order to
operationalise the decentralisation policy, Government enacted the National
Health Services Act in 1996, which led to the creation of Health Boards. This
policy resulted in a purchaser/provider split which involved a redefinition of
the Ministry of Health to a policy making body on health for Zambian’s and the
creation of a Central Board of Health, a technical unit responsible for the
delivery of health services and implementation of health reform policies and
strategies on behalf of the Ministry.
In addition,
as part of Government’s strategy to ensure that an ordinary Zambian Citizen
has a legitimate “voice” in the running of health service delivery in
Zambia, District Health Boards, Statutory Boards Neighbourhood Health Committees
and Village Health Committees were established to ensure that community needs
were well represented in the process of planning for health and making key
decisions on health matters.
Decentralisation
of health services is characterised both as delegation of the day to day
management responsibilities from the ministry of health to a semiautonomous
Central Board of Health and deconcentration to the District Health Boards. This
involved granting managerial and professional autonomy to these autonomous
institutions. Health Boards have a decision space to manage both human and
financial resources without interference from the center whose role is to
monitor and evaluate performance and give guidance.
Decentralisation
has provided the health boards with an exploit budgetary transfer called a
“grant” which covers a significant proportion of local expenditure.
Decentralisation has also allowed the health boards to make decisions for
allocation of resources, user fee levels and expenditures.
|
Body / Government |
Responsibilities
|
|
Ministry of Health |
A policy making body on health for Zambian’s. |
|
Central Board of Health |
A technical unit responsible for the delivery of health services and implementation of health reform policies and strategies on behalf of the Ministry |
|
District Health Boards |
To manage both human and
financial resources without interference from the center whose role is to
monitor and evaluate performance and give guidance. |
Decision Making: Legislation and Regulations
|
Legislation / regulation |
|
Acts concerning regulation of medicines and pharmaceuticals Products i. National Health Services Act ii. Public Health Act iii. Pharmacy and Poisons Act iv. Food and Drugs Act v. Ionizing Radiation Act vi. Therapuratic Substance Act vii. Dangerous Drugs Act viii. Tropical Diseases Research Act ix. Human Tissues Act x. Termination of Pregnancy Act xi. Medical Services Act |
|
Acts concerning public health and health promotion i. National Health Services Act ii. Public Health Act iii. Food and Drugs Act iv. Ionizing Radiation Act v. Local Government Act vi. Extermination of Mosquito Act vii. Pneumoconiosis Act viii. Mental Disorder Act ix. National Food and Nutrition Act. |
|
Acts Concerning financing of health sector i. National Health Services Act ii. The medical Aid Societies and Nursing Homes (Publication) Act |
|
Acts Concerning Provision of Health Services including Research i. National Health Services Act ii. Tropical Diseases Research Act iii. Human Tissues Act iv. Flying Doctors Act v. Mines and Minerals Act vi. Pneumoncoisis Act |
|
Areas Requiring Development of legislation i. National Blood transfusion services ii. Traditional Medicine iii. Forensic Science iv. Human Embryology and fertilization v. The national analytical laboratory services vi. HIV/AIDS |
Decision-Making: Strategies, Policies and Plans
In order to
ensure that Government takes a leading role in setting priorities and sector
goals, Zambia has been tracking Sector Wide Approaches (SWAPs) since 1993.
Within the SWAPs framework Developmental Co-operating Partners are discouraged
from supporting projects/programmes to supporting sector investment plans
through a funding mechanism popularly known as “common basket funding”.
A
prerequisite to SWAPs, which both Government and Co-operating Partners have
jointly agreed on, are:
(i) Commitment to the Health Vision (Policy) by all stakeholders
(ii) Articulation of a clear, practical medium term National Health Strategic Plan (First plan was developed in 1995-2000 and later 2001 – 2005).
(iii) Defining and updating the cost-effective basic health care package of interventions.
(iv) Pooled Funding Mechanisms (Common basket funding)
(v) Joint reviews of plans and progress through the biannual Consultative and quarterly Health Sector Committee meetings
(vi) Joint
Management Systems: Common procurement, disbursement reporting, accounting and
audit procedures.
(vii) Preparation and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (code of conduct) with Co-operating Partners. (16 Co-operating Partners have signed except Japan and UNAIDS)
(viii) Costed Annual Action Plans (MOH and CBOH)
(ix) Definitions of performance indicators and putting in place the Health Management Information System (HMIS)
(x) Financial feasibility of health reforms (worked out - National Health Accounts and Resource Envelope)
(xi) Developed
and implementation of the Financial Administrative Management Systems (FAMS).
Decision-Making: Major Groups involvement
Ministry of
Health, Cooperating Partner and Communities. Structures for community
participation in decision have been established through the Neighbourhood and
Health Centre committees as well as the District and Hospital Boards comprising
of about 15 members representing the communities of which at least half must be
women.
Programmes and Projects
To
ensure pooled funding mechanisms, Government signed a memorandum of
understanding in 1991 with developmental Co-operating Partners operating in the
sector. The MoU gives guidelines on proportions of funding to the sector from
GRZ and CPs, priority areas to benefit from pooled funding, disbursement and
reporting mechanisms. It also sets out parameters on how plans will be jointly
developed, monitored and evaluated.
With
respect to the above, the Ministry of Health and its Co-operating Partners have
agreed to jointly develop National Health Strategic Plans and to jointly fund
this plan. So far two plans have been developed (1995-2000 and 2001-5). Only
activities contained in the National Health Strategic Plans are financed with
GRZ and CP funds. The following programs have been given priority:
|
Programme |
Background |
Constraints & Challenges |
|
Basic Health Care Package |
Zambia has developed and costed an essential basic health care package which gives cost effective core interventions to be undertaken from community, first, second and third levels of care. Public Health Priorities include HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, Child Health, Reproductive Health, Environmental Health and health promotion activities |
· Funding available only meets 1st level of care. · HIV/AIDS tying up resources. |
|
Infrastructure
Development Programme |
in order to improve access quality health care, government has since 1992 been rehabilitation health facilities focusing more on rural health centres. Under the infrastructure development program government intends to rehabilitate and expand 520 health centres and hospitals. So far 100 facilities have either been rehabilitated or expanded. |
· Medical Resources Persons inadequate. Brain drain in sector high. · Lack of Medical Equipment and accessories. |
|
Central Support Systems Development |
Strength Procurement Systems, Financial Administration and Management Systems (FAMS), Health Management Information Systems, Drug Management Systems (DILSAT) leadership and Management development of hospital and district managers. Health Care financing focuses on revising resource allocation criteria based on an objective weighting system which will take poverty levels into consideration |
· Failure to retain qualified accounting staff. Staff turnover high. |
|
National Aids Council |
This Council is charged with the implementation of the HIV/AIDS/STD/TB Strategic Framework. The framework established a single, high-level institution, which will effectively coordinate the actions of all segments of government and society in the struggle against AIDS. It carefully analyses the lessons learned from past planning of AIDS programmes and lays future plans with this in mind. |
|
Status
Zambia
embarked on a radical reform process in 1991, which was aimed at creating a well
functioning, cost effective and equitable, district, based health care system
that could deliver an essential package of care as close to the Zambian family
as possible. While much progress has been made in improving the health care
delivery system especially at the district level, rhetoric does not yet match
reality for a number of factors such as:
The
Impact of HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS
is disproportionately contributing to the profound reversal of development gains
made in Zambia over the past 30 years. In
part, what makes this impact so severe is that it has derailed all development
and society in Zambia.
Financing
Gap
The
estimated per capita expenditure in the year 2000 of USD 10.5 is under the USD
11.5 of the overall basic package. Assuming
that the districts were to receive 70% of per capita expenditure ($7.35) the
difference of $3.65 would have to be funded by households through purchase of
drugs, user fees or by further prioritisation even within the basic package.
This has equity implications.
Planning
for health Services
There
are also a number of issues that are likely to affect planning, management and
provision of services. These
include variations between GRZ budgets and actual expenditures, variations
between donor commitments and actual disbursements.
Human
Resources
Human
resources are critical to the delivery of quality health services.
The lack of adequate professional health workers has contributed to poor
health car delivery.
Poor
Infrastructure
A major problem in the Health sector is the dilapidated status of most facilities, which may affect safety of users and patients.
Challenges
See under Programmes and Projects and Status.
Capacity-building, Education, Training
and Awareness-raising
|
Capacity Building,
Education, Training |
To
ensure better delivery of health services in the health boards, and to
ensure better accountability of resources within the health boards,
Government has been developing district capacities in the following areas: a.
Training district and hospital staff on strategic health planning,
leadership and management of resources b.
Integrated competence training of health workers in order to have
health workers with multiple skills in different disciplines of basic
health c.
Training of health workers on health management information systems
and financial administration and management to ensure better decision
making and financial probity in the sector d.
Public Health Priorities- HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, Child Health,
Reproductive Health, Environmental Health e.
Systems Development at the District and Hospital levels- Strength
Procurement Systems, Financial Administration and Management Systems (FAMS),
HMIS, Drug Management Systems (DILSAT), leadership and Management
development of hospital and district managers. f.
In collaboration with PAID-ESA - Kabwe and The Royal Netherlands
Government the Ministry has established the Higher Diploma Course in
District Health Management. Six
batches of District Health Managers/Directors have already graduated. g.
Strengthening technical skills and technical content of health
plans; this is currently based on guidelines developed and distributed by
Central Board of Health. The
Quality Assurance resource persons undertake capacity building work for
districts and hospitals. Epidemics preparedness is in place in all districts. |
|
Awareness-raising |
Various programmes are regularly aired through the Electronic media, National Days are held to promoted specific health issues, Annual Bulletin of Health Statistics, Posters and Pamphlets. |
Information
Since 1995,
The Government has been implementing Health Management Information Systems (HMIS)
at district level to ensure a monitoring and evaluation system, which supports
the thrust of decentralisation. The system includes to routine information
monitoring system (HMIS), sentinel surveillance system e.g monitoring HIV/AIDs
sero-prevalence, operations research, and special research such as the
Demographic and Health survey. The system also attempts to institutionalise a
culture of quality through quality assurance and hospital accreditation
All 72
districts have a functioning HMIS and report regularly on data collected. About
20% of the districts have a computerised HMIS.
Districts and hospitals use HMIS data to Asses and evaluate the levels on
their performance in delivering care. Data from the districts and the hospitals
is further processed and analysed at the national level to produce national wide
statistics on health to help policy makers make policies supported with
evidence.
Research and Technologies
Research is
regularly conducted mainly on the performance of health care sector and policy
research, these include;
Financing
The
sector is financed by Government (about 60%) of the total budget while the rest,
(40%) is met by development partners. Government finances the sector through
grants while the cooperating partners finance through bilateral contributions,
tied aid, loans etc.
Cooperation
Zambia signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 1999 with all Bilateral and Multilateral co-operating Partners to the sector. The MoU provides a platform for joint planning, disbursement of funds, consensus on priority areas of support, reporting mechanisms, joint monitoring and evaluation of a joint GRZ-Donor funded sector.
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| Zambia | AllCountries | Home |
Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies
The Ministry
of Education is responsible for environmental education in the formal education
system and cooperates with other Ministries such as the Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting Services on special educational programmes and public awareness
campaigns and the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources on
environmental policy and community environmental awareness activities. The
Environmental Council of Zambia is charged with the responsibility of
coordinating environmental education and public awareness campaigns under the
Environmental Support Programme.
Decision Making: Legislation and Regulations
No information available.
Decision-Making: Strategies, Policies and Plans
The School
curricula for the formal education system up to secondary school level have been
reviewed to include environmental education. However, it must be pointed out that the Ministry of
Education has no Environmental Education Policy other than what is provided by
the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources in the National
Environmental Action Plan.
Decision-Making: Major Groups involvement
No information available.
Programmes and Projects
Through the environmental support Programme and previous programmes such as the WWF Zambia Environmental Education Programme, Zambia has managed to review school education curriculum to include environmental education at Basic School level (grades 1 to 9).
Status
It is evident that Zambia has made progress in environmental education and awareness. At the policy level, parliament past rules and regulations in relation to the Environmental Impact Assessment, the first action of this kind by parliamentarians in the SADC region. However, this was achieved after awareness training workshops for parliamentarians. There is also evidence of changed attitudes in the industry where the Zambia Electricity Supply Company (ZESCO) has set up an Environmental and Social Affairs Unit, which has made an impact in the internal operations of the company and in the communities in which ZESCO operates. Zambia has also seen a number of successful district and community projects spearheaded by NGOs such as the Environmental Conservation Association of Zambia (ECAZ), WWF, District Water, Sanitation and Health Education Programme (DWASHE) and many more In which communities have actively participated unlike in the past.
Challenges
See under Capacity-building, Education, Training and Awareness-raising.
Capacity-building, Education, Training
and Awareness-raising
Capacity
building at national, provincial, district and local level in natural resources
management and environmental protection continues to be undertaken an integral
part of the various natural resources management programmes and projects being
undertaken in the country. Under
the ESP programme, substantial public awareness campaigns were launched in both
print and electronic media.
Since UNCED,
steady improvements have been made in increasing environmental awareness among
Zambians. This has been done through increased active participation of
Government Institutions, NGOs, the media and the private sector.
Environmental
Awareness in Zambia is strengthened by the increase in the number and quality of
environmental education and awareness campaigns and activities including
environmental articles in the print media, environmental programmes aired on
radio and television. The Inclusion
of environmental education in training courses for journalists is good evidence
of increased environmental awareness among the public in Zambia.
Despite this achievement in public awareness, there is a big challenge in terms of changing peoples attitudes by equipping them with knowledge of the environment and ensuring their participation in solving environmental problems. The following are the important issues, which must be addressed:
(i) Government Institutions to raise public awareness in their sector work
(ii) Improve information exchange and coordination among different environmental education actors through the development of an environmental education strategy.
(iii) Making environmental education strategic by targeting certain groups of the society for strategic reasons.
(iv)
Use of local languages in information dissemination to the communities
Sustainable development requires that the natural resources are managed in a prudent manner. In this regard, environmental awareness has a critical role to play. Therefore, continued support to environmental education to reach different stakeholders in the economy is imperative.
Information
No information available.
Research and Technologies
No information available.
Financing
No information available.
Cooperation
No information available.
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Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies
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Body / Government |
Responsibilities
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The
Ministry of Local Government and Housing |
The government institution responsible for co-ordinating local government administration and policy design and implementation. |
Decision Making: Legislation and Regulations
Local Government Act
Rating Act
Town and Country Planning Act
Liquor and Licensing Act
Landlords and Tenants Act
Valuation Surveyors Act
Market
Act
Decision-Making: Strategies, Policies and Plans
The
Government re-affirmed its commitment to the decentralisation process, under the
Public Services Reform Programme, by pledging to strengthen the management of
Local Authorities. The aim is to devise mechanisms to facilitate
de-concentration of certain functions to provinces and districts and devolution
of selected functions to local authorities, as their management capacities
improve.
The
government realises that decentralisation of services cannot be effective if
there is no community or user participation in the formulation, implementation
and evaluation of local-level projects. Therefore, in order to effectively
decentralise services as well as enhance the capacity of civil society to
participate in the formulation and implementation of programmes and projects,
the Government will address the following as a matter of urgency:
· The management and delivery of services to be handled in collaboration with decentralises agencies such as local governments, the local communities, the NGO’s, and the private sector.
· Provide for a high degree of decentralisation to allow for local decision making and ensure efficient and quality services delivery.
· Projects submitted to donors by both government and NGO’s to be based on locally identified needs.
· Government will facilitate the creation of a central database for information sharing and dissemination.
· Local government planning and management systems to be enhanced so that they are able to undertake medium term social and economic development planning.
· Civic education to be intensified in order to create greater awareness of civil society’s responsibilities.
HOUSING
The existing housing situation in Zambia is as follows:
· The housing stock stands at approximately 1.3 million dwelling units for a population of 10 million,
·
36% of the dwelling units are in urban areas
and 64% in rural areas, of the total housing stock, 31% meets the minimum
development and health standards and 69% is informal or non-compliant housing
In 1996 a comprehensive housing policy was formulated whose main goal is to provide adequate and affordable housing for all income groups in Zambia. Zambia was awarded the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) "Habitat Scroll of Honour" in 1996 for a participatory and innovative approach to the formulation of the housing policy. The objectives of the housing policy are:
(a) to allocate a minimum of 15% of the national budget to support a sustainable housing development programme;
(b) to make serviced land available for housing development
(c) to provide an enabling regulatory framework for housing development;
(d) to encourage production and use of building materials
(e)
to de-link housing from employment
Some of the
changes that have taken place in the housing sector because of the adoption of
the housing policy include:
· The sale of most government pool houses to sitting tenants
· The sale of all council houses to sitting tenants
· The sale of some parastatal houses to sitting tenants
· The construction of medium and low cost houses in Masala, Ndola
·
The construction of over 2,055 houses since
1996 for both the urban poor and rural area residents by the Africa Housing
Fund. The houses have been
constructed in Linda - Lusaka, Mazabuka - Southern Province, Mongu - Western
Province, Solwezi - North-Western and Kasama - Northern Province.
Decision-Making: Major Groups involvement
NGO’s and
communities
Programmes and Projects
The National
Urban Peri-Urban Settlement Programme signed in August 1995 commenced in
December 1995 as a government strategy towards meeting the National Housing
Policy goal which is the provision of adequate affordable housing for all income
groups in Zambia.
The programme was supported by UNDP, UNCHS (Habitat) and French Co-operation. The programme had three components:
Low Cost Housing
Community Participation Training and
Urban Environmental Planning and Management
LOW COST HOUSING
This project was involved in the training of communities through the Residents Development Committees (RDCs) in the production of low cost building materials using readily available local raw materials.
Two training
centres for communities were established at Bauleni Compound in Lusaka and
Nakoli in Kabwe. Two youth training
centers were also established at Kawama
in Mufulira and Ndeke in Mazabuka.
A total of 50
demonstration low cost housing units were constructed on self-help basis. Other
outputs of the project are:
(a) Production of the National Housing Programme for Zambia
(b) Trained 80 Artisans in the production and application of local building materials and management of small scale enterprises
(c) Adopted, developed and documented testing procedures and standards
(d) Produced simple production manuals for local building materials
(e) Participation of women was a 30% of the number trained and beneficiaries of the demonstration house schemes
(f)
Community participation in decision making planning, monitory and
management of housing construction.
In
collaboration with TEVETA (DTEVT) a competence Based Modular Training syllabus
in low cost building materials production and use were developed. The syllabus has not been tested for lack of funds.
The Government's vision is to improve the income base of low-income
households through artisan training.
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION TRAINING
Community
Participation Programme come as a response to demand by the Government for the
transfer of knowledge and practical approaches, operational experience,
participatory tools and training methodologies.
Capacity building is the
central focus of the programme. This
is achieved by strengthening the capacity of the actors involved in Shelter
Development, and helps to improve the living and working conditions of
low-income communities.
Objective
· To catalyse creative partnerships between central government, local government the public, the private sector, NGOs, CBOs and research and training institutions involved in human settlement development
· To create opportunities for resource mobilisation and sharing
· To exchange experiences in participatory shelter strategies
· To promote innovative approaches in shelter development
·
To strengthen projects, programmes and
organisations efficiently through collaboration efforts.
Status
(i) Urban Settlement
Zambia ranks
amongst the most urbanised countries in Africa with 40% of Zambians living Urban
areas. Zambia’s rate of urbanisation is 3.6% per annum. Urban migration is the
leading contributor. Pressure exerted in infrastructure and social services in
urban areas has most been felt in the housing sector more than any other sector.
Almost
all-major urban centres in the country rely
on outdated master plans which neither reflect what is obtaining on the ground
nor provide the vision and framework for future development.
The lack of updated plans has resulted in un-co-ordinated and unorderly
development and contributed to the establishment of unplanned settlements.
For this reason interalia the towns have become unsightly and less
attractive to investors.
To address
the above problems the town and Country Planning Act Cap 475 or 283 has been
amended. The amendment simplifies
the planning process and makes it more responsive to the needs of the people.
In place of master plans, there has been and
introduction of structure
plans which are strategic in character, cheap, less time consuming to prepare
and more responsive to robust development trends.
With the assistance of co-operating partners such as World Bank
structure/integrated development plans have been prepared for Mazabuka, Kafue,
Lusaka, Ndola and Luanshya. The
World Bank is also funding the preparation of the Livingstone Integrated
Development Plan under the Support to Economic Expansion and Diversification
(SEED) Tourism project. The
preparation of integrated development plan entails the participation of the
government, council, stakeholders and communities from the planning to the
implementation stages.
The
Department of Physical Planning and Housing in the MLGH provides professional
and technical support to ensure compliance to planning standards and regulations
by both Councils and prospective developers.
Both activities of planning and development control are necessary because
they provide guidance and promote orderly and sustainable development of human's
settlements.
(ii) Unplanned Urban Settlement
The failure
by the formal housing sector to meet the housing demands for the poorest of the
poor who may have found themselves living in urban areas for one reason or
another has resulted in the expansion and establishment of unplanned
settlements. As part of the process
of improving the quality of the living environment in the unplanned settlement
the Ministry has embarked on the process of upgrading these settlements.
The unplanned
settlements to be legalised are those meeting the criteria for legalisation.
The criteria to assist local authorities identify unplanned urban
settlements to be legalised have been circulated to all councils.
The legalisation under the Housing (Statutory and Improvement Areas) Act
Cap 194 is intended to restrain the expansion and proliferation of unplanned
urban settlement. It also provides
security of tenure to residents and paves way for individual plots to be
demarcated so that residents can obtain title deeds for their properties.
Further,
legalisation of these unplanned settlements paves way for the provision of basic
services and infrastructure by the council with participation of all
stakeholders. It also enables
residents to benefit from the upgrading programme.
(iii)
Rural Settlements
The Africa
Housing Fund in Zambia began its pilot operations in October 1996 through
Statutory Instrument no. 177. Operation
commenced, with a grant from NORAD, in five districts with an aim of building
2,500 houses, sink 40 water wells and provide small scale agriculture and
business credit. To date 250 houses have been constructed.
Challenges
See under Status.
Capacity-building, Education, Training
and Awareness-raising
|
Capacity Building |
The MLGH works through local authorities in providing services. Capacity in terms of both human and institutional seems to be lacking in most of the Local Authorities. It is therefore, incumbent upon the MLGH to facilitate the development of human and institutional capacity in Local Authorities, if service delivery is to be improved. |
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Education |
Incorporation of topic in educational curricula |
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Training |
Professional training programmes |
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Awareness-raising |
Public awareness |
Information
An
effective and efficient information management system is essential for
successful operation of the organisation. Currently, there is a lack of
co-ordination mechanisms in the MLGH. There is therefore, need to establish an
effective co-ordination mechanism within the ministry in order to have smooth
operations.
Research and Technologies
No information available.
Financing
Government resources.
Cooperation
No information available.
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