CALENDAR:
Building Local Democracy (BLD) Thematic Meeting: 20th & 21st of July
Land Rights Thematic Meeting:
23rd & 24th of July 2009
Stakeholder Meeting to discuss merged Strategy Paper: 22nd of July 2009
MS-Zambia
is part of the Danish Association for International Cooperation
(MS) and an associate of ActionAid International
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) 978 359324
CONTACT DETAILS:
MS Zambia & ActionAid Zambia
5011 Los Angeles Boulevard
Longacres, Box 35788
Lusaka
MS Zambia reception
Office cell: 0977 77 02 92/ 42/ 09
Office land: 0211 25 26 05/ 51/50
or 0211 25 56 43/30
Fax: (0211) 25 55 93
ActionAid reception
Office land: (0211) 25 51 32
Fax: (0211) 25 55 93
|
|
MS
PARTNER NEWS
 The
NGO Bill: What’s happening?
The government intends to revive the much criticized NGO Bill during the
next sitting of parliament on July 14th 2009. Representatives of NGO’s
based in Lusaka met in April to agree on a joint advocacy strategy and
CSO position.
The NGO Bill is an instrument that enables the Government to regulate
and control NGO activities in the country, and was much criticized by
civil society, when it was originally discussed in 2007.
“So far we do not know the exact content of the revised NGO Bill,
and therefore it is not certain how we will react, should the Bill be
passed”, says Reverend Matyola from Zambia Council for Social Development
(ZCSD), “for now we will be proactive and aim to demonstrate to
the government that we, in the NGO sector, are ready to regulate ourselves”.
The aim of the meeting was not to come up with ideas to avoid an NGO Bill.
According to Reverend Matyola there is good sense in having an NGO Bill.
As he says, “The NGO sector is not perfect; it has to grow and still
needs some sort of regulation. However we do not agree with the government
on the type of regulation”. On the April 2009 meeting it was therefore
decided that a NGO code of conduct, which has been in the making since
2006, should be finalized as part of the strategy to demonstrate to Government
that the NGOs in Zambia are ready to regulate themselves.
Click
here to read the full article on our web site
54 % view public officials as corrupt in Zambia
 The
2009 Global Corruption Barometer recently launched by Transparency International
(TI) highlights the public’s everyday experiences with bribery and
corruption.
According to the 2009 Barometer which was
launched on June 3rd, 2009, the report revealed that in Zambia, 54 % of
the respondents viewed public officials and the civil service to be extremely
corrupt, followed by the judiciary at 39%, Political parties at 30%, business/private
sector stood at 15% while Parliament and the media come in at the tail
end at 13 and 6% respectively.
TI Zambia Chapter President, Mr.Lifuka explained to the Post Newspaper
on June 4th, 2009 that it was evident from the survey that government’s
efforts to tackle corruption were largely seen as ineffective by the general
public, since there was no noteworthy change to their perception in comparison
to the 2007 report.
Mr. Lifuka added that recent revelations in the Ministry of Health (MoH)
scam involving over K10 billion ZMK (approx. 2 million US$) in which senior
officials were implicated, were not helping the perceptions on corruption
and it was evident that corruption had become systemic and endemic in
the civil service in Zambia.
Click here to read TIZ
statement on the findings
Click
here to access TI's Global Corruption Barometer 2009
|
Lobby
efforts bear fruits
Traditional leaders in Chipata are now giving women land.
Earlier this year, Chipata District Farmer’s Association (CDFA)
began the implementation of a project whose goal is to empower women to
communally produce traditional highly nutritious crops for the support
of orphans and women living in HIV/AIDS affected households.
720 women were facilitated to plant cassava, beans, garlic and bondwe
as provided by the Association. CDFA knew that the women groups did not
have land but nonetheless gave them the inputs to plant on communal gardens
so they could use this initiative to lobby for land from traditional leaders,
who will have seen the impact of their initiative. CDFA soon realized
that an immediate output of the subsequent sensitization meetings was
that traditional leaders pledged to give women in their areas land! Talk
of innovative lobby tools! The traditional leaders in Chipata are now
in a big hurry to empower women with land so that they can produce sustainably
and better still, the women are in a hurry to use their new-found skills
to relentlessly lobby for land access. So far, 90 women in 3 women groups
of Southern, Eastern and Chitandika blocks have been given land by their
traditional leaders.
Click here to read the
full article on our web site
Communities fear displacement
 Great
uncertainty prevails among the rural villagers in Kawambwa District, as
government and traditional leaders have earmarked their land to establish
a farm block.
In Kawambwa District the government in consultation with the local traditional
leaders has earmarked vast land for establishing a farm block for sugar
cane outgrower schemes and plantation. According to the Ministry of Agriculture,
DACO’s office in Kawambwa, the land that the traditional chiefs
have released is in excess of 200,000 hectares.
This area covers a total 211 villages with a population of 45,424 people.
Kawambwa District Farmer’s Association (KDFA) fear that it will
lead to mass displacement of the community to pave way for sugar cane
plantation, since the number of plots (978) will not absorb the entire
population. KDFA is in the process of undertaking a survey to clarify
if the population is aware of the development and ready to move if required
to do so.
Click here to read the
full article on our web site
FOSUP questions FRA floor price on maize and rice
 In
a press release FOSUP questions the newly announced floor price on maize
and rice by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), and makes recommendations for
Government and small scale farmers.
On Saturday 16th May 2008 FRA announced the floor price of maize and rice
for the 2009 marketing season to be Kwacha 65,000 for 50kg maize and Kwacha
60,000 for 40kg of rice. However, Farmer Organisation Support Programme
(FOSUP) questions whether these prices are appropriate, when considering
the costs of growing these crops for small scale farmers. According to
FOSUP the floor prices announced by FRA will end up rendering many small
scale farmers bankrupt.
In response to FRA’s announcement the FOSUP, in consultation with
10 district farmer associations representing over 12,000 small scale farmers,
farmer support NGOs and other stakeholders have come up with a number
of observations and recommendations to be considered by Government and
small scale farmers.
See
the full press release with the FOSUP observations and recommendations
here
Interesting web pages on land rights and farming
 2
web pages are providing a good new resource for information on land rights
and farming research in an African context.
The newly re-launched http://infonet-biovision.org
is a web-based information tool offering trainers, extension workers and
farmers a quick access to up-to-date and locally relevant information
in order to optimise their livelihoods in a safe, effective, and ecologically
sound way. The information presented is specifically relevant for Africa
and its inhabitants, many examples and case studies are from Kenya, Zambia
or East African countries, but are valid for other tropical countries
as well.
GRAIN has launched a new website, http://farmlandgrab.org
that offers the most comprehensive information tool on the global land
grab for outsourced food production. This site is an improved version
of the site initiated by GRAIN last year which provides an open, up-to-date,
and easy to search library of over 800 articles, interviews, and reports
on farm land grabs around the world - published since the outbreak of
the food crisis in 2008.
So, where does the money go?
 The
Alliance for Zambia Informal Economy Associations (AZIEA) has launched
a report that highlights deficits in the Markets and Bus Stations Act.
Despite the enactment of the 2007 Markets and Bus Stations Act, many public
markets and bus stations in Zambia still do not have fully constituted
and operational Boards and Management structures. This has tended to raise
serious questions around transparency and accountability issues especially
with regard to management of financial resources, particularly the utilisation
of market levy collected. Consequently, it is difficult to determine how
much revenue is collected from markets and bus stations, let alone how
these funds are allocated and utilized for the common good of all stakeholders.
The report aims to increase the scope of knowledge on the deficits of
the Market and Bus Stations Act and how money collected from the Markets
is utilised.
Click
here to download AZIEA's Market Levy Tracking and Expenditure Monitoring
Survey and Market Act Workshop Report
MS
GLOBAL NEWS
MS in Denmark collects money for women in Zambia, Tanzania and Nepal
 On
Sunday the 3rd of May a large network of Danish volunteers went door to
door in Denmark to collect contributions for the MS national collection
“Give mom a plot”.
The purpose of this collection was to raise money to support the MS partner
organisations fighting for women’s rights and access to land in
Tanzania, Nepal and Zambia. The result for the national collection was
2.1 million Danish Crowns (approx. 2 billion ZMK), of which Zambia will
receive 40%.
“It is amazing to experience the support from the volunteers, who
again this year have managed to give the MS national collection a good
result. We thank them and the thousands of people around the country,
who supported the MS work to ensure poor women’s access to land”,
says Vibeke Vinther, head of communication in MS Denmark.
MS Sudan: Civil society
thrives in Ombasi
 A
new network supported by MS Sudan has inspired women and youth in Ombasi
in Southern Sudan to organize themselves. The goal is to create unity
and network for women in Ombasi.
The new women's group is part of Gire Farmers’ Development Association
(GFDA) which used to be an organisation for farmers. After the support
from MS Sudan, the organisation has now grown into an umbrella organisation
for smaller groups in the area on the assumption that united they will
be stronger. GFDA and the association's subgroups organise dialogue meetings
and other activities that are intended to improve the lives of the people
of Ombasi.
Click here to see the
full story on MS Sudan's web site
MS Tanzania: We have to do it, because no one else
does
 Morogoro
Paralegal Centre (MPLC) uses a network of volunteers and paralegal district
offices to empower women and children living in rural areas of Morogoro
region in Tanzania.
Women and children in rural areas in Tanzania are often oppressed by traditional
laws and customs. To help them live decent lives, MPLC provides them with
the information and support needed in order to realise their rights in
the areas of property inheritance, domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Click here to see the
full story on MS Tanzania's web site
MS Uganda: Caravan takes voter education to Masindi
 “Nothing
is as immeasurable as the level of awareness,” says Eng. Badru Kiggundu,
Electoral Commission Chairman, while officially launching the Democracy
Caravan in Kampala.
Over the next six month the “Democracy Caravan” will travel
to villages and towns across Uganda. The caravan is a unique initiative
trying to bring voter education to the people. This daunting task is to
be achieved by using Forum Theatre, where audiences are presented with
a crisis situation selected from real life. The audience debates
amongst themselves to find amicable ways to resolve the impasse. The Caravan
aims to encourage transparency and equality and positively influence behavioural
change in the long term. It hopes to convince leaders and grassroots that
undemocratic behaviour is against the national interest, and to encourage
citizens to lawfully engage in democratic politics, while compelling leaders
to deliver development goals.
Click here to see the full
story on MS Uganda's web site
MS-ZAMBIA NEWS
ActionAid and MS merger news
 Action
Aid has now moved into MS premises
As per June 29th, ActionAid Zambia has moved into the premises of MS Zambia,
taking over the building previously used as our main guesthouse. We are
looking forward to working more closely together with our new colleagues.
In general, the merger process is still on track and the Change Management
Committe (CMC) expects that the deadlines mentioned in the last
newsletter will be met, although the nationalisation and
subsequent affiliation process might be delayed till the end of the year.
It has been agreed that the MS Policy Advisory Council will be operational
until March 2010, when the first general assembly of our joint organisations
should take place.
The regional meeting with representatives from Mozambique and Zimbabwe
was held successfully here in Zambia on 13th of May. In future, regional
meetings will also include MS Tanzanias representatives.
ActionAid
moving into the MS premises
New MS Zambia brochures out now
 2
new thematic brochures on Land Rights and Democracy are now available.
The brochures describe who MS Zambia is and how we are working on the
two themes of Building Local Democracy and Land Rights. They explain how
these themes impact poverty reduction and how our partners are working
to implement the goals.
The brochures are available in print from the MS Zambia offices and soft
copies in pdf can be downloaded by clicking the link below. They will
be distributed to MS partners at the upcoming thematic meetings.
Click
here to see or download pdf files of the brochures
There's a rat living in my drawer
 Eight
young volunteers from Denmark recently finished a 3 month stay in Zambia.
Living with local families and working in Zambia turned out to be a very
good – if sometimes challenging – experience.
Having rats residing in your clothes drawer is not really a typical experience
for Danish youngsters between 19-21 years. Neither is it normal that a
bat wakes you up by turning circles inside of your mosquito net or that
you can't offer advice to people older than yourself without causing offence.
But according to the volunteers, they came to Zambia to get to know Zambian
culture and they are not regretting a minute of it – even if they
did get some very strange surprises along the way. ”The strangest
thing has probably been to experience the religious beliefs,” says
Catrine. A sentiment which is echoed by several of the others, who found
their argumentative skills tested when they professed a belief in Darwin's
evolutionary theories - most commonly held in Denmark - rather than the
Bible version of the creation of mankind. The eight young people lived
and worked in Luapula Province.
Click
here to read the full articles about their Zambian experiences
Land Rights mission to Nepal
  While
Civil Society is essential to promote land security for the poorest, it
is vital that central government implements a pro-poor agriculture policy
to compliment these efforts.
From the 14th – 24th of April 2009, staff from MS-DK and MS country
offices spearheading land rights programmes in Tanzania and Zambia visited
Nepal with a double mission.
The first mission was to peer review the progress of the MS-Nepal land
rights programme. The MS review team found that interventions of MS Nepal
had contributed to land security. The review also learnt that while the
allocation of land certificates to landless communities had increased
their psychological sense of economic security, it was not an automatic
solution for their poverty reduction. This was so because most programme
beneficiaries in these communities still lacked agriculture inputs to
make their new land productive; address food and household security needs.
This expressed the importance of complimentary pro-poor agriculture policy
to the success of land reforms.
The second mission was to attend an international conference on land rights
that gathered 180 participants from around the world to discuss the pressing
land rights struggles facing poor communities in Asia, Africa and Latin
America. Conference highlights included the need to promote land and resource
rights for the poor indigenous communities, the effects of climate change
on livelihoods of rural communities and the need to recognize the role
and rights of women as farmers in their own right. To ensure that land
rights for the poor will be addressed, the role of the state was viewed
by participants as central, however, the work of CSOs was critically complimentary
in ensuring grassroots communities inputs to state engineered reforms
and in monitoring the effects of these reforms.
Click here to read the
full article on our web site
Visitor from MS Denmark
 Helene
Ellemann-Jensen from the Knowledge Management & Learning Organisation
team in MS ActionAid Denmark visited MS Zambia from 4th to 8th of May
2009.
The main purpose of the visit was to supervise
and provide support to the implementation of MS’ programme manual
“Guidelines for Thematic Programming”. Her overall impression
was that MS Zambia is generally following the programming guidelines.
Partnership Agreements and Project Documents are in place, new learning-oriented
monitoring procedures are being introduced, and MS Zambia has a participatory
and inclusive approach to partnership. However, there is still room for
improvement with regard to some of the project documentation, especially
the LFA matrices. Helene very much enjoyed working with her Zambian colleagues
and hopes to meet them again soon.
PEOPLE
Leaving MS Zambia:
 Christian
Coff, Development Worker working as fundraising advisor has terminated
his contract and left Ms Zambia per 11th June 2009
Malidadi Langa, Development Worker working as Land Rights Advisor
with Petauke District Land Alliance and previously working with Kafue
District Council, has left MS Zambia at the termination of his contract
end June.
 Ditte
Egelund Jensen, Danish university student of psychology, who
has helped out the information officer since February 2009, is returning
to Denmark.
|
