CALENDAR:
27th to 31st of October:
MS Global theme meeting on land rights in Tanzania
28th of November:
MS Zambia 40th anniversary
MS-Zambia
is part of the Danish Association for International Cooperation
(MS).
Our vision is a world in peace where co-operation between people
promotes global equity and ensures improved conditions for poor
and marginalized people.
The main themes of MS-Zambia’s programme strategy are Building
Local Democracy and Land Rights.
MS-Zambia aims at defending and enhancing popular participation
under the assumption that strengthening democracy at local level
will help fight poverty.
CONTRIBUTIONS/COMMENTS:
For contributions to the newsletter, further information,
or to unsubscribe, please contact Lena Vind-Andersen at
lena.vind-andersen@ms.zm
cell: +260 (0) 976 645193
CONTACT DETAILS:
MS Zambia
5011 Los Angeles Boulevard
Longacres, Box 35788
Lusaka
Office cell: 0977 77 02 92/42/09
Office land: 0211 25 26 05/51/50
or 0211 25 56 43/30
Lusaka fax: (0211) 25 55 93
Guest House: (0211) 25 51 32
|
| MS
PARTNER NEWS
The struggle for land
 If
you are living on the Chief's land, you might get evicted, but living
on the state's land costs money. To the poorest people in Zambia, land
access can be a question of life and death.
It's
hot, dusty and dry at the workshop in Chipata district in Zambia's Eastern
province. But even after six hours continuous meeting, the 85 participants
are still concentrated and actively participating. The popular speakers
are praised with applause and shouts – and dancing and singing for
the woman who advocated for women's rights.
And there's plenty of reasons to keep awake. The most important point
on the agenda is poor people's access to titled land, ”one of the
most sensitive subjects we can discuss here in Zambia”, as one of
the participants puts it. Nevertheless, the subject is discussed extensively.
To the participants in the workshop it is new information that the constitution
is being rewritten. And that you could even think of challenging the traditional
ways of administering land. And the thought of “selling” the
new ideas to the Chiefs isn't embraced enthusiastically by all. Others
are more optimistic.
Click here to read the
full article on our website
Fertilizer
support is a subsidy disaster
 The
fertilizer support programme is rocked with corruption and has become
highly political, extremely expensive and bureaucratic and is taking resources
away from the very farmers it intended to serve.
Thus
writes Michael Muleba, Executive Director of the Farmer
Organisation Support Programme (FOSUP) in an article, which details the
failures of the government's fertilizer support programme. He lists the
bad timing of the release of funds, the poor yields caused by the “one-size-fits-all”
policy on which types of seeds and fertilizers are distributed as well
as the exorbitant administrative costs and a rampant corruption at all
levels as the major failures of the programme. A redesign of the programme
is necessary, in order to face these challenges.
Click here to read the
full article on our website
|
ADC
Forum established in Itezhi-tezhi
 A
forum for Area Development Committees (ADC's) has been formed in Itezhi-tezhi.
The forum will help coordinate the ADC activities and provide a platform
for conflict resolution.
Following in the footsteps of Kafue District Council, the coordinating
forum was created on August 27th 2008, after a consultative meeting between
the ward councillors and the ADC chairpersons. The main objective for
the forum will be to provide a link between the Council and the ADC's
and to undertake lobby and advocacy work on behalf of all the 13 ADC's
in Itezhi-tezhi. The forum will be housed in the District Planning Unit
of the council and will be meeting quarterly. This year, the meeting expenses
are included in the council budget under the Danida supported Democracy
and Good Governance programme, but as of next year, the forum will have
to source for funding themselves. To ease this process, the forum has
submitted an application for registration with the registrar of societies
and all ADC's and forum members have received training in proposal writing,
lobby and advocacy. The council also plans to help the forum through the
Ward Development Fund, by paying back 10% of the revenue it collects from
each ward.
Will Petauke's ADC's survive?
 Petauke
District Council is concerned for the future survival of the Area Development
Committees (ADC's), when Danida and MS support ends this year.
In
Petauke, ADC's have mainly come into existence due to the facilitation
of MS and funding by Danida over the past 5 years. And the council is
very happy with them. “The ADC's have proven to be essential for
the council in getting to know the wishes of the communities,” says
Dulani Phiri, District Planning Officer (DPO) of Petauke
District Council. Lately a school was built in Mtema and several other
projects related to infrastructure and health services have been completed
using Constituency Development Funds; projects which were brought to the
attention of the council through the ADC's. They have also proven to be
key in gathering information for a social and economic database, which
the council is presently compiling. The council passed a resolution last
year, making it obligatory for all other sub district structures, to submit
their proposals through the ADC's. “Now, we are not accepting any
projects which do not have the blessing of the ADC's”, explains
Mr. Phiri. While this move has helped the ADC's gain local recognition,
their funding is still a problem area. With the council lacking money
to buy even simple things such as stationary for the ADC's, the DPO is
concerned what will become of them, when Danida funding ends: “It
would be a great shame to see all of Danidas money and efforts go to waste,
just because the Decentralisation implementation has been stalled. I think
a phase out plan could have involved helping us with connections to other
partners, who might be willing to take over,” says Mr. Phiri.
A historic vote in Nyimba
 Nyimba
District Farmers' Association (NDFA) have made a historic vote by choosing
the first ever female chairperson for a Farmers' Association in Eastern
Province.
Lexina
Raisi Tembo has been elected as the first female chairperson
of a Farmers' Association at the elections held at the annual general
meeting in Nyimba on 30th of September. Mrs. Tembo has been the commodity
chair person for livestock on the NDFA board since 2007 and has previously
been involved in NGO work in the Copperbelt, where she was the founder
of the organisation Woman against poverty and AIDS and vice chairperson
for the Women's Federation for World Peace. And she has several visions
for how NDFA can move forward: “We need to talk more about gender.
As it is, most woman are being oppressed, for instance by not being allowed
to mix with other women to gain knowledge, and by being denied the money
that comes out of their labour – even though they work much harder
than men. Women need to be more respected, and we are going to stand our
ground!” she says. She also hopes to work for a diversification
of the crops and markets available to farmers and hopes to increase the
number of members from 800 to 2000.
Spreading
the word on land rights
Area Development Committees (ADC's) in Itezhi-tezhi are now equipped to
inform their communities on land rights.
On 30th of September and 1st of October, Itezhi- tezhi Council invited
39 ADC members, 13 Councillors and 2 Chief representatives to attend a
workshop on Land Policy and Land allocation procedures. With funding from
Danida and facilitation provided by Zambia Land Alliance, the participants
learned how to conduct out-reach sensitization programmes for members
of their communities. “ADC's are a perfect tool to disseminate information.
Through them we are going to reach to every part of the district. I wish
all councils in the country could establish Area Development Committees.
Decentralization is key to the fight against poverty in Zambia,”
says Gaphine Walubita, Deputy District Planning Officer at Itezhi-tezhi
Council.
Farmers
Forum a success
  Land
issues were the key focus of the recently held Farmers Forum. Participants
called for serious efforts to reform the land administration system.
“On
the whole, the Forum was a great success because small scale farmers and
other land stakeholders were able to share experiences and discuss land
issues in Zambia. It’s important for all stakeholders to realize
that access to land is not a privilege; but a right,”said FOSUP
Executive Director Mike Muleba after the forum. The 70
participants felt that the current land administration setup in the country
was too cumbersome and time consuming. Therefore they urged the decentralization
of land administration to the districts and provinces so as to make administration
and management accessible to the majority of Zambians. They also agreed that
the government should legalize the Chief’s authority when it comes
to land alienation and that critically displaced persons should be fairly
compensated for the land they were displaced from. The forum was arranged
by the Farmers Organization Support Programme (FOSUP) and Zambia Land
Alliance (ZLA), in conjunction with Concern WorldWide and MS Zambia.
Click here to read
the full press statement
IN
PICTURES
While attending the international conference on Aid Effectiveness in Accra,
Ghana, MS Zambia's programme officer Nachilala Nkombo
(middle) had a chance to meet Mary Robinson, former president
of Ireland and UN High commissioner for Human Rights, who is now Chancellor
of the University of Dublin. Read more about the conference by clicking
these links: www.accrahlf.net and www.betteraid.org
    
Participants in the Civil Society Day march in Lusaka on October 10th
2008, which was arranged by MS Partner Civil Society for Poverty Reduction
(CSPR).
MS
GLOBAL NEWS
MS
DENMARK: MS says yes to ActionAid International
 MS
wrote history when a majority of the members present at the General Assembly
voted in favour of MS joining ActionAid International.
MS - Danish Association for International Cooperation - held its Annual
General Meeting for the membership the 13-14 September. After a debate
covering all issues a majority of the members present at the General Assembly
voted in favour of MS joining ActionAid International.
"Today", MS's chairwoman Trine Pertou Mach declared, "MS
was writing history. MS will continue to support the poorest in their
work to overcome poverty through democratic influence on the political
processes. MS will continue to keep focusing on the human encounter in
our efforts in support of the poorest. But from now on, our work will
be immensely scaled up. We are becoming part of an international movement,
and this will bring a tremendous boost to our efforts locally, regionally
and not least internationally", declared MS’s chairwoman, Trine
Pertou Mach.
Action Aid held their Annual General Assembly two weeks later and were
also in favour of the merger. What will follow now is an affiliation process
that will take 18 months, before all activities are coordinated. Officials
from both organisations, among them MS Zambia Country Director Finn Petersen,
will meet in Nairobi in October, to discuss the details of the process.
Click
here to read full article on the MS website
MS KENYA: On the Road
for Peace
 25
young Kenyans from 15 different communities are traveling the country
to promote peace
The so called Peace Caravan consisting of an overland truck was flagged
off Saturday 6th of September in Ongata Rungai South of Nairobi. Since
then the 25 passagers have been traveling the road through Central Province,
Laikipia, Isiolo, Marsabit and up to Moyale on the Ethiopian border.
During every stop over, youth on the caravan have been bringing together
people from different rivaling communities. Focus has been on creating
dialogue between local youth, but others age sets have been involved too.
In Marsabit for instance, elders from different groups were invited for
a social evening. The elders chatted about peace and conflict till late
in the evening after which the chose to sleep under the same roof. This
is a quite remarkable achievement in a town otherwise worn to shreds by
ethnic tension, says Morten Heise, who is traveling on the caravan.
Click here to read full
article on MS Kenya's website
MS-ZAMBIA NEWS
Help for finding donors
 Need
money for your projects? MS Zambia has launched a thematic database on available
funding and donors and a web page listing current calls for project proposals.
MS Partners can now consult a new database for inspiration to finding
additional funds for their projects. The database is structured according
to themes related to Building Local Democracy and Land rights and covers
areas such as agriculture, democracy, capacity building, gender and youth
among others. The database can be accessed by clicking on the link below.
The web page also contains a list of upcoming calls for project proposals,
which will be updated on a regular basis, so be sure to check it often.
Currently there is a call from Danida, looking for initiatives for women
in Africa.
Click here to see webpage
with current calls for projects, where you will also find a link to the
database
40 years in Zambia
MS Zambia will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in Zambia on the 28th
of November 2008.
The first volunteers from Denmark arrived in Zambia in 1968. At that time,
and all the way up to 2002, our work mainly focused on providing training
and encouraging income generating activities among Zambia's poorest. The
Danish volunteers contributed their knowledge within areas as diverse
as tailoring, carpeting, construction, teaching and medicine. Later the
focus was shifted to the thematic areas of Natural Resource Management,
Agriculture and Democracy and our present Country Programme Strategy focuses
on Land Rights and Building Local Democracy. We would like to thank all
of our numerous partners through the years, both past and present, for
their invaluable help and cooperation with MS Zambia.
Plans for the celebrations are underway and will be communicated as we
approach the date.
Long Term Partnership Assessment
The
programme team of MS Zambia is presently undertaking partnership assessments
in order to select those partners who will be eligible to continue with
funding from MS under the new themes of Building Local Democracy and Land
Rights.
Most
of MS' partners are reaching the end of their short term partnership agreements
for 2008. The past year has been used to evaluate which partners will
fit best into the implementation of the 2008-2012 Country Programme Strategy.
The process began with the sharing of the criteria for long term partnerships,
introduced during monitoring visits by the MS programme team in July 2008.
Based on those criteria, the programme team will be conducting review
workshops for all the partners in Luapula, Eastern and Lusaka province,
between the first week of October and first week of November 2008. The
outcome of the review will be communicated to partners no later than December,
after which long term partnership agreements will be negotiated with those
assessed positively. We wish all partners good luck during this important
process.
Humphrey Elekani, Senior Programme Officer
Building
Local Democracy Review
 Consider
how to promote more community participation and work more with the media,
are some of the recommendations from the BLD review team.
MS Zambia has just been visited by a review team, whose purpose was to
establish to which extent MS Zambia has managed to implement the Building
Local Democracy (BLD) theme so far. In their assessment, the theme is well suited
to the Zambian context, where the urgent need for poverty reduction and
the lack of citizen involvement call for “putting in the preliminary
building blocks of democracy”, as reviewer Ismail Davids put it.
The team was particularly impressed with the work done at grass root level
among farmers and with the Area Development Committees and also noted
that the theme of Land Rights is well integrated in the Democracy theme.
They commended the increased focus on fundraising as an initiative which
adds value to MS' work.
The team pointed to some challenges which MS Zambia should address in
the future: Firstly that working to empower civil society to demand more
from the government might backlash if the government does not also have
the capacity to fulfil the demands – so in Zambia in particular,
where capacities at local government level are weak, a strategy to work
with both government and civil society should be considered.
Secondly the team found it essential to put even more efforts into mobilising
more community participation and suggested developing community leadership
programmes as well as making more use of the local media, in particular
local radios.
Thirdly the team recommended developing more marketing materials on our
themes as well as materials which were user friendly and easily accessible
to ordinary citizens on the issues we are working on. The team members
were independent assessor Ismail Davids from South Africa, Andrew Mhina
from MS Tanzania and Karen Jørgensen from MS Denmark.
Out
of offfice
Country
Director Finn Petersen will be attending meetings in Kenya from
October 20th -28th
DW Carol Sørensen will be on leave and attending
the MS Land Rights meeting in Tanzania from 21st of October to 3rd of
November.
DW Christian Coff will be on leave from October 27th
to 31st .
DW Søren Winther Johansen will be on leave from
23rd of October to 3rd of November
Information officer Lena Vind-Andersen will be attending
a course in Denmark from 28th of October to 8th of November.
|
