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A National Call to
Action for Pro Poor National Development!!!
As a network of
over one hundred and thirty organisations contributing to pro-poor
development in Zambia, the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction works to
actively and effectively contribute to poverty eradication and pro-poor
development in Zambia through advocacy for responsive policy formulation and
implementation; promotion of civic engagement in development processes;
production of poverty-related evidence and data; and provision of a platform
for information and knowledge sharing at local, district and national
levels.
From the various
processes undertaken by the Network to generate evidence including its
research, policy analysis work and that of its partners, we present the
following key messages on how different stakeholders can exacerbate the
eradication of poverty in Zambia.
- Government:
Decentralization – A Must Not an Option
Decentralization
would allow grass root communities to input to the design and implementation
of development interventions affecting their lives. A fully decentralized
system of government is the medium that can assure that bottom up planning
and budgeting is achieved and that there is effective delivery of social
services to the benefit of the majority of people in an equitable manner.
Decentralization therefore is a must and not an option for broad based
growth and pro-poor development.
The process of
decentralization needs to be accompanied by adequate resources and
institutional strengthening of local structures, including the building of
competencies through capacity building for implementation, monitoring and
evaluation at all levels. Further, to ensure broad participation and
ownership, the responsible institutions must provide information and regular
feedback to all stakeholders on the process of decentralization
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Members
of Parliament and Councilors: Peoples Representation.
Members of
Parliament and councilors are the people’s mandated and elected
representatives and as such must be involved in decisions and policy
processes that determine the development prospects of the Country. MPs and
Councilors must be fully involved the National Development Planning
processes and must be active in decisions around key spending priorities to
be financed in each National Budgets and should be the drivers of the local
development agenda that reflects the needs and aspirations of their
electorates. The elected officials should also be involved in negotiations
and agreements regarding the setting of aid conditionalities
In all these
processes elected officials should actively represent the people and update
their electorate on their contributions and outcomes of their work.
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Donors
and the International Financial Institutions (IFI): Enhance Local
Accountability
Civil society
argues that economic policy conditions associated with aid have a poor
record of success and can in some cases be seen to be contrary to the
priorities of impoverished people. International partners should be
committed to promoting local accountability by promoting citizens
involvement in setting of aid conditionalities and supporting Governments
accountability to its people and local institutions.
Further, donors
should scale up aid as committed at the Monterrey Financing for Development
Conference and G8 action plan. This aid should not be volatile, must be
predictable, harmonized and aligned the participatory prepared and popularly
adopted National Development Plan of the day.
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Civil
Society Organizations : Facilitate Space for the Poor to Engage
Civil Society
groups must not only speak on behalf of the poor but must work with
communities and the general public to ensure that the disadvantaged people
are able to directly demand quality accessible public services from their
local authorities and representatives. By so doing, civil society has a key
role in facilitating space for the poor to speak on their own behalf.
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