Development Co-operation

Development Co-operation
Health
Education
Private Sector Development
Good Governance
The Small Embassy Projects (SEP) - Programme
Environment
Gender
Joint Assistance Strategy for Zambia (JASZ) 2007-2010
Development co-operation in Zambia
Links to other development and development co-operation sites

Development Co-operation

The Netherlands has a history of more than 40 years of development co-operation with Zambia. Development co-operation is still the most important component of the Netherlands programme in Zambia.

Over the last years, the focus has shifted from a project approach towards the so called sector-wide approach. Under the sector-wide approach support is provided to government sectoral policies in a coherent and co-ordinated manner, together with other cooperating partners (CP’s). While doing so, due attention is being paid to “cross cutting issues” such as HIV/AIDS, gender, good governance and environment.

Since autumn 2002, both the Government of Zambia (GRZ) and CP’s have been engaged in the so called “harmonisation process” which aims at enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of development cooperation through increased cooperation and alignment amongst the actors involved. CP’s make serious efforts to work in line with Zambian processes and procedures. They increasingly represent each other and work through joint processes and programmes. Through the so called Joint Assistance Strategy, GRZ and CP’s try to rationalise the number of CP’s active in different sectors. This process should lead to an adequate presence of CP’s in all sectors key to Zambia’s development.

The focal sectors and themes for the Netherlands are education, health, private sector development, gender, hiv/aids, good governance and environment/water/sanitation. The underlying objective is poverty alleviation.

In 2006, the planned total amount to be allocated to Zambia through bilateral programmes is Euro 38.3 million, including €5 million general budget support. Additional support is provided through fellowships, subsidised Dutch NGO programmes and multilateral organisations.

Health

Within the framework of the National Health Strategic Plan (2001-2005), which will in 2006 be continued through a next phase, the Netherlands support is mainly geared towards strengthening of cost-effective basic health care. Although showing some improvement (84% under 1 year immunised, tuberculosis – cure rate over 70%, malaria incidence reduced since from 2003 to 2004 from 425/1000 to 383/1000) health indicators in Zambia remain quite dramatic

Support in the health sector consists of support to:

District and hospital health services, by providing pool-funding together with other donors and GRZ to the ‘expanded basket’;
Community Health Innovation Fund, for innovative activities at community level;
Provincial Health Office services;
Essential drugs to all health centres and Community Health Workers in co-operation with JICA and UNICEF;
Human Resource Development e.g. training of Medical Licentiates (non-medical doctors, but qualified perform basic surgery), Clinical Officers, Managers and the contracting of Technical Assistance as requested by the Zambian Health Authorities;
Through a tailor made ongoing incentive scheme which offers better conditions of labour to Zambian doctors that are willing to work in relatively remote parts of the country all vacancies could be filled. This scheme has attracted broad attention and is being copied by other cooperating partners and the Government of Zambia.

A programme for national medical imaging/theatre equipment has been implemented, focussing on basic health services, including training and maintenance in co-operation with MOH/CBOH and Philips medical Systems.

Zambia has been badly affected by HIV/AIDS: decreasing life expectancy, increasing number of orphans, a severe burden of human suffering and a negative economic impact.

HIV/AIDS has been mainstreamed as priority throughout all activities of our development programme. Actual financing of HIV/AIDS related activities has been out-sourced to sub-granting agencies (SGAs) such as the Central Board of Health and civic society organisations: Churches Health Association Zambia (CHAZ) and the Zambia National AIDS Network (ZNAN). The same organisations also handle the grants from the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). By channelling our funds through SGAs it is envisaged that more co-ordination and greater efficiency will be achieved through improved Zambian ownership and leadership. In addition support is being provided through a regional HIV/AIDS programme, that is being managed by the Netherlands Embassy in Pretoria in close consultation with Embassies in the region.

In 2005, total expenditure of the Netherlands Embassy to the health sector and HIV/AIDS amounted to almost € 15 million. For 2006, expenditure is planned at €14.8 million.

Education

The education program of the Netherlands Embassy in Zambia is focused on the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Education. In addition, the Embassy supports key educational NGOs and provides assistance to the development of technical education and vocational training (TEVET).

The 5th National Development Plan 2006-2010 includes education as a priority sector for poverty alleviation and economic growth. The Ministry of Education has developed a Strategic Plan 2003-2007 that covers all sub-sectors in the education system: early childhood, basic schools, high schools, teacher training colleges, universities and adult literacy. The Strategic Plan is a successor of the Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Plan (BESSIP) that was the main focus of the Embassy’s program in the period 1999-2003.

The Strategic Plan has four central themes:

access and equity in educational provision
quality of education
administration, financing and management of education
mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS

The Strategic Plan works towards the achievement of the Education for All (EFA) goals, as agreed upon at the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000, and the Millenium Development Goals. It aims to achieve universal access to quality primary education and gender equality for both boys and girls.

Zambia has seen a tremendous increase in access to education with enrolments growing over 9% since 2000. However, the quality of education remains a problem, and is probably affected in a negative way by the large influx of pupils. Only a third of the students in grade 5 attain the minimum level in English and maths. Quality improvement will therefore be the main priority for the Ministry of Education.

The Strategic Plan is supported by 14 bilateral and multilateral donors within a sector-wide approach that aims to reduce transaction costs for the Ministry of Education as well as the donor agencies. Netherlands is one of the 8 donors providing support through a common pool account, and is among the largest donors of the sector. The Embassy has developed a partnership with the World Bank, whereby the Embassy will represent the World Bank in the education sector.

The involvement of NGOs in the sector is important, but still rather fragmented. To strengthen civil society involvement, the Netherlands supports FAWE Zambia, an NGO working on girls’ education. The Embassy also supports the community school movement in a context in which these non-government schools receive almost 20% of all the basic school students in Zambia. Assistance to technical and vocational training is provided together with the World Bank and Denmark. It aims to implement major reforms in this sub-sector by supporting a national fund that will provide financing to training programs on the basis of demand from the private sector.

The contribution to the education sector in 2005 amounted to EUR 9.9 million, of which EUR 8.4 million for the Strategic Plan (85%). For 2006, expenditure is planned at €11.4 million. The budget for education will grow to EUR 20.5 million in 2007.

In 2004, the Embassy financed the severance package for retired teachers and the settling-in grant for newly recruited teachers with an amount of EUR 9.2 million, which the government was unable to cover. This has allowed the Ministry to recruit 7,700 new teachers in 2005. The lack of teachers, with a very high pupil/teacher ratio, will remain a policy priority to improve the quality of education for the years to come.

Private Sector Development

The Netherlands supports Zambia with the improvement of the business climate. It provides financial support and it facilitates the process to achieve better rules and services for the private sector. The Netherlands coordinates with World Bank the support of about 10 donors in this area. Three areas are distinguished:

Reform agenda for private sector development

The Government, private sector and donors have agreed to the implementation of a reform programme for private sector development. These reforms focus on cross cutting issues such as financial services, trade expansion, business facilitation, labour/training reforms, infrastructure policy and citizen empowerment. Activities include:

basket support to the general reform fund of € 9 million (coordinated by the Netherlands for UK, Sweden and Finland) for the preparation of the reforms
basket support for the institutional strengthening of the Zambia Business Forum and the Zambia National Farmers Union as the main private sector representatives
Involvement in strategic discussions on the project support from other donors (e.g. EC, USAID and Japan).

Service delivery through public private partnerships (PPPs)

The Netherlands builds on the lessons learned with the difficult public service delivery for private sector development. It promotes the partnering of the public and private sector for service delivery. Norway provides additional resources through the Netherlands Embassy. Examples of support are:

Facilitating the public private dialogue through the Agricultural Consultative Forum
Strengthening of public-private agricultural research
Strengthening of public-private training trusts for livestock and horticulture
Building public-private inspection capacity in the horticulture sector.
Facilitating the provision of modern trading services to small farmers through a new joint venture of the farmers union and a commercial trader.

Use of specific international business instruments (see www.evd.dyb)

The following are examples of the Dutch support through specific instruments:

Three joint ventures are supported for innovative investments (via PSOM).
The infrastructure component of a housing scheme is supported by FMO
Individual enterprises receive technical assistance through PUM
The horticulture training centre is supported by CBI

The total amount spent by the Netherlands Embassy on private sector development (excluding the use of specific business instruments) amounts annually to about €4.5million, including the contribution by Norway of about €2million via the silent partnership.

Matchmaking facility OS

On invitation by the ministry of Foreign Affairs (DDE), the EVD will start from the 1st of September 2007 onwards with the implementation of the Matchmaking Facility for developing countries.

The local company can download the intake form here (Word document).

Good Governance

Good governance is one of the crosscutting themes in the Embassy’s programme in Zambia.

In sectoral programmes, special attention is therefore paid to governance aspects, including the risk of corrupt practices, to democratic control and to transparency.

Additionally, there is a small portfolio of specific Governance activities. They aim at fighting corruption, reforming the electoral process and the constitution, public finance management reformsand parliamentary reform.

The Embassy believes that for Governance issues to be tackled successfully, it is essential to co-operation with both Government institutions and Civil Society. Partners include the Office of the Auditor General, the National Assembly, the Electoral Commission of Zambia, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning and law enforcement agencies, but also, critically, organisations such as Transparency International and Citizens' Forum.

In order to reduce administrative demands for both recipients in Zambia and for our own organisations, special attention is given to donor co-ordination and donor harmonisation with Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and other “like-minded” donors.

In 2005, total expenditure in the field of Good Governance amounted to €2.2 million. For 2006, expenditure is planned at € 2.7 million.

Small Embassy Projects (SEP) Zambia

The SEP-programme supports local initiatives to improve the socio-economic position of the poorest in society, in particularly women, and to offer solutions for acute needs and problems. The budgets for SEP-projects range between €7,500 and approximately € 20,000. Projects should be implemented within a period of 12 months. A hardcopy of the application form is available at the reception of the Embassy and an electronic version can be downloaded from the link below. Proposals for funding can be submitted form 1st November to 31st January. In February the screening and selection of the proposals takes place. Funding requests submitted by organisations, known by the royal Netherlands Embassy, and with a foreign reference person, get preference treatment.

Positive criteria

A SEP must be based on a small-scale local initiative originating in the community or agency involved, It must be targeted at a clearly defined group of people who are actively involved in it and prepared to contribute whatever they can to its implementation (money, labour, materials or land). It must be capable of being sustained by the local population once complete.

Negative criteria

A SEP may not take the form of charity (such as supplying food, regional study grant, salaries or medical aid) or constitute a gift or part of an election campaign or for social functions. It is not meant as emergency aid, except as a stopgap to more permanent solutions. It may not be part of a project or programme belonging to another development agency, or of a larger project split up into different SEP’s

Applying for funding

A hardcopy of the application form is available at the reception of the embassy. You can also download it (Microsoft Word document).

Environment

Water and environment has been mainstreamed within the sectors of health and education as well as in the economic development programme. At the end of 2005, the Netherlands Embassy signed a silent partnership with Development Cooperation Ireland (DCI) to support the National Water Supply and Sanitation Programme in Zambia. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities will improve the health situation of poor families in rural and urban areas. It will also contribute to decrease the workload of women and children who are responsible for fetching water.

Within the education sector, specific attention has been paid to environmental education at the Teacher Training Colleges. Learning material on environmental education will be developed and used to improve environmental awareness at schools. This is considered as a starting point to promote the awareness of natural resources and bio-diversity.

The link with the private sector has been made visible in conservation activities and wildlife. Through a Public-Private-Partnership, the Liuwa Plains National Park receives financial support from The Netherlands. The objective is to protect species in extinction, assure the sustainability of the Liuwa National Park through involvement of the communities, and to promote tourism in Zambia.

In 2005, total expenditure in the field of Environment amounted to € 500,000. For 2006, expenditure is planned at € 1.8 million.

Gender

Gender is one of the cross-cutting themes in the development programme. The improvement of women’s rights and participation in social and economic life is crucial to achieve sustainable development and reduce poverty and violence. By gender mainstreaming throughout policy making, the Embassy aims to contribute to gender equality in society. It supports the National Gender Policy (NGP) that has been adopted in 2002. NGP is the foundation for equitable participation of both women and men in socio-economic development.

The gender program of the embassy consists of three major activities. First, the Embassy contributes through dialogue and exchange of ideas at national and international level in coordination with other cooperating partners, government and women’s NGO’s. Discussions are held in order to determine how best gender can be integrated in the new aid modalities at an early stage.

Secondly, the Embassy contributes to specific projects for the improvement of the position of women and the integration of gender in national programs. One of the projects is the National Legal Aid Clinic, a national NGO that provides legal assistance to poor women.

Another activity that receives support from the Embassy is the Gender in Development Division of the Zambian government. This program focuses on the implementation of the National Gender Policy through capacity building, gender training of civil servants at line ministries, provincial and at district level. It offers assistance in advocacy and the preparation of laws that promote equal participation of women.

Thirdly, the Embassy puts emphasis on mainstreaming gender equality within the sectors of health and education. In coordination with the gender focal point person at the Central Board of Health, special attention has been given to integrate gender more explicitly in the health strategic plan. Within the health sector, the focus is on the services delivered to women within the district health basket. Linkages have been made between the vulnerable position of women and girls in relation to HIV/AIDS.

Within the education sector, special programs have been supported to increase the enrolment of girls in primary education. These programs enable and challenge girls to complete education, support the attention for gender equity in curriculum development, and promote the access of women to vocational training. Within the private sector, RNE monitors the participation of female farmers in agricultural development e.g. gender sensitive technology and promotes female entrepreneurship.

Annual expenditure on gender specific activities amounts to €450,000.

Joint Assistance Strategy for Zambia (JASZ) 2007-2010

The Joint Assistance Strategy for Zambia (JASZ) is a national medium-term framework
(2007-2010) which has been developed by the Cooperating Partners to manage their development cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) in alignment with the Fifth National Development Plan. Download the PDF documents below for more information:

Joint Assistance Strategy for Zambia (main document)
Memorandum of Understanding (annex 1)
Key performance indicators for the FNDP (annex 2)
Division of Labour (annex 3)
Paris Declaration baseline and targets (annex 4)

Development co-operation in Zambia

Care Zambia
HIV/AIDS in Zambia
USAID in Zambia
USAID Leland Initiative
Finnish Development Co-operation projects in Zambia
Swedish Development Co-operation with Zambia
German Development Co-operation with Zambia
International Monetary Fund in Zambia
Europe's Forum on International Co-operation

Links to other development and development co-operation sites

Irish Aid - Annual Report 1998
World Bank; World Bank Initiatives on IT
World Bank; World Bank Initiatives on Capacity Building
World Bank; World Bank Initiatives on Capacity Building - African Virtual University
World Bank; World Bank Initiatives on Capacity Building - Policy making - Global Development Learning Network
World Bank; World Bank Initiatives on Capacity Building - Development general
World Bank; World Bank Initiatives on Linkages and Partnerships Global Knowledge Partnership