FRAMING CIVIC SOCIETY PARTICIPATION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IN ZAMBIA
GFA has been implementing one of the action areas of the GIZ program Civil Society Participation Program (CSPP) at the local level in Zambia since September 2018. CSPP has been supporting civil society organizations (CSOs) in the North-Western, Copperbelt and Southern provinces, acting as a mediator between the public and local authorities. The program has been promoting local government - public information exchange, constructive dialogue and the improvement of services by integrating citizens’ needs-oriented inputs into local development planning and execution.
This encompassed a variety of activities such as more than 800 municipal and 300 stakeholder meetings, and over 600 radio broadcasts on development planning and social issues that led to over 30 adoptions of process and output recommendations made by the public. Citizens and local authorities participated in 12 events, 16 workshops and 28 trainings on planning cycles and their legal framework. Moreover, 10 procurement measures related to COVID-19 were completed. A brochure that describes all measures and lists all parties concerned is meant to assist NGOs in contacting donors to continue their work beyond CSPP´s support.
