.Mukelabai

By CHARLES SIMENGWA –

IN Zambia, as in other developing countries, the case of poverty takes up an inordinate amount of time and resources because of the numerous hurdles in addressing it.
Poverty tags at the hearts of many Zambians, and getting rid of it requires a holistic approach since the causes are many and varied.
Unclear financing mechanisms for poverty reduction efforts, the quality of leaders, high levels of inequality, poor policy choices, corruption and abuse of resources, illiteracy and HIV/AIDS are some of the factors which have perpetuated poverty in developing countries.
In Zambia, poverty and high income inequality remain some of the greatest challenges to development.
For this reason, civil society organisations (CSOs) in the country have shifted their lines of action and have now pooled their efforts in order to provide better monitoring and coordination of civil society efforts to monitor the implementation of poverty reduction interventions at the national level.
The CSOs are seeking to ensure that clear targeting is done and that resources are allocated more clearly in areas where they are needed the most, and where they could be more effectively and efficiently used.
This has resulted in the formation of the Civil Society-Poverty Observatory Group (CS-POG), a movement of over 30 CSOs working across all the 10 provinces of Zambia.
The aim is to exact greater accountability for poverty reduction efforts in Zambia, and to provide cutting edge policy advice to the Government on poverty alleviation and sustainable development goals, as espoused in Zambia’s National Development framework.
The general composition of the group revolves around organisations interested in poverty reduction through inclusive growth and equitable distribution of the country’s proceeds of economic development. Others are academia, research institutions, and the private sector.
CS-POG members include the Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council, CUTS International Zambia, PANOS Southern Africa, and the Southern Africa Development Co-operation Cross Border Traders Association.
Others are Zambia Alliance of Women, North-Western Development Association, Youth Development Organisation, Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) Mongu, Caritas Mansa, and Kasama Christian Care Centre.
The CS-POG is supported by Oxfam in Zambia to mobilise and build capacity of the civil society and citizens to hold Government and the private sector accountable in the use of natural resources, and ensure the benefits reach ordinary Zambians, particularly women.
The Civil Society Organisation Scaling Up Nutrition (CSO-SUN), Council of Churches of Zambia, Zambia Federation for the Disabled, Foundation for Democratic Process, and Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD) are also crucial members of the grouping
“The CS-POG provides a platform for the strengthening and coordination of civil society efforts in heightening public policy engagement with Government on the poverty alleviation and sustainable development agenda.
“Guided by strong principles and values of partnership, transparency, mutual accountability, participation, mutual respect, trust, and good governance, the CS-POG believes that a Zambia free of poverty and inequality is possible,” says CS-POG chairperson, Isabel Mukelabai.
Ms Mukelabai is the executive director for the Centre for Trade Policy and Development.
Ms Mukelabai believes that all Zambians could live a dignified life if the right policy choices were made by those charged with the responsibility for governance.
“This can also happen if the general citizens exact a greater level of accountability with their leaders on the poverty alleviation agenda in Zambia.
“Guided by a set of agreed values, ways of working and principles, the Group is a consultative forum for monitoring the objectives, targets and actions set by the Government for reducing poverty as espoused in key plans, policies and other relevant documents for national development,” she says.
Although principally driven by civil society, the Group aims to create space for benefitting from contributions of various stakeholders, particularly academia, the private sector and specialised research and policy analysis institutions.
Such collaborations will help in advancing the objectives or main mandate of the Group.
Given this belief, the CS-POG in Zambia is a civil society mechanism for undertaking poverty observatory with the aim of ensuring a higher level of accountability on poverty alleviation targets could be achieved.
This will be through a critical analysis of current poverty reduction programmes being undertaken, and provision of policy options to the Government to reduce the current high levels of poverty and inequality in Zambia.
The main mandate of the CS-POG will be to monitor and evaluate the performance of Zambia’s implementation of national development plans in terms of the extent to which they translate in reduction in poverty, and redistribution of benefits of growth for majority of citizens currently living in poverty.
The Group will analyse issues of poverty and poverty reduction strategies, as well as provide Government and other stakeholders with appropriate recommendations for improvement.
It will develop innovative strategies for influencing Zambia’s growth agenda and make it more inclusive for it to have a positive impact in terms of poverty reduction.
“The mandate will also involve providing a platform for a co-ordinated poverty programmes approach through co-ordinated innovative strategies for influencing Zambia’s growth agenda, making it more inclusive and having a positive impact in terms of poverty reduction,” Ms Mukelabai says.
The Group will produce an independent poverty assessment report as a parallel to feed into various policy dialogues, besides harmonising national information systems for poverty monitoring.
There is a steering committee that has defined and developed a framework of the Programme of Action for the CS-POG.
The committee will approve the annual and quarterly work plans, convene meetings and seminars for Group members and others on relevant issues, and approve the agenda for meetings and workshops.
The committee is also tasked to set up relevant technical working groups that will provide strategic direction to planned or emerging issues in the selected areas of work, as well as providing guidance to the secretariat on topics or areas which would require research.
It will approve the terms of reference of proposed studies and researches to be undertake by the CS-POG, alongside approving advocacy plans and monitoring implementation.
According to Ms Mukelabai, the intended outcome of the CS-POG is sustainable and inclusive development and reducing poverty and inequality, which will result in improved welfare for the majority of Zambians.
With such a common vision, there is no doubt that the efforts of the Group in reducing poverty and, more importantly, promoting accountability will bear more fruit for the Zambian people.