Ms Zambia Newsletter August 2009

How to gain local influence

If you want to influence development in your local area, you need to be where the decisions are being made. And that is exactly where MS Partner CSPR in Luapula are now.

by Anders Lundt Hansen, Organisational Capacity Building Advisor to Civil Society for Poverty Reduction, Luapula Provincial Programme Management Team

01. September 2009

The branch of Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) in Luapula Province has secured a seat at the Provincial Development Coordination Committee (PDCC), and is now regularly represented in this forum. The PDCC is a government entity, chaired by the Provincial Permanent Secretary of the province, and comprised of all the heads of government departments in the province, as well the District Commissioners. A number of NGO’s participate in the meetings, and are allowed to present their reports to the PDCC.

Mr. Joseph Mandandi, who is the Treasurer of CSPR Luapula has been elected as representative, and explains the importance of this seat:

“Looking at CSPR’s objective of poverty reduction it is necessary for us to submit our concerns to the relevant authorities. And we also need to observe what the government is doing on poverty reduction, especially concerning the women and the youth.”

The issues that Mr. Mandandi brings to the PDCC, originates from the member organisations of CSPR in Luapula:

 

“We obtain reports from our members, compile them, and present them at the PDCC-meetings, so the government officials are able to consider our concerns. So far we have made recommendations on the increased mining activities in Luapula Province, because this is an opportunity for the communities to make an income. But there are also disadvantages in terms of displacement of people, environmental degradation and deforestation."

The PDCC-meetings take place four times a year. CSPR’s brief on the mining activities was presented at the meeting on 26th June, and it was well received:
“Reception has been very good. The planning unit consider our input, and even the Permanent Secretary agreed that something must be done on decentralisation. At present neither the Ministry of Mines, the Ministry of Commerce or the Environmental Council of Zambia has an office in the province. That makes it difficult to protect the communities.”

The next meeting in the PDCC is on 25th September, and CSPR Luapula has already started gathering reports from the members. Mr. Mandandi expects that several issues will come up: “The infrastructure is bad, and we need grading of roads leading to agricultural centres. Also, in the resettlement schemes, people need water supply and health services. These are issues we can raise at the PDCC.”