Five-country Study on Service and Volunteering in Southern Africa

In the context of globalization, civic service and volunteering is emerging as a growing social phenomenon and a field of inquiry internationally. This research was done to strengthen knowledge and understanding of service and to build research capacity in order to develop service as a field of inquiry and to strengthen its knowledge base and practice

International actors and traditional justice in Sub-Saharan Africa :policies and interventions in transitional justice and justice sector aid

Due to a number of important differences between transitional justice and justice sector aid, this book explored how international actors address ‘traditional justice’ in these fields in two distinct parts, which has led to separate analyses. Justice sector aid is often part of broader development cooperation programmes, which may or may not take place in a ost-conflict country. Transitional justice processes are part of conflict-related international interventions, such as peacebuilding programmes, which are often implemented before the wheels of more longterm development cooperation programmes are set in motion. Chronologically speaking, both kinds of programmes – support for transitional justice and justice sector aid – often do not run parallel, although there can be overlaps. It also turns out that the international actors are not necessarily the same. Although in principle the same donor countries are involved, justice sector aid is often provided by bilateral or multilateral development organisations, while transitional justice interventions are more often – but certainly not exclusively – initiatives of specific agencies aimed at post-conflict reconstruction, which are established by several donor countries. Although respect for human rights is heavily emphasised in both domains, policy and interventions regarding transitional justice also need to take international norms regarding the criminal prosecution of international crimes into account. In spite of these differences, this concluding chapter formulates a number of mutual findings and recommendations. First, it discusses common elements at the level of policies, then it identifies a number of trends regarding interventions, and finally it examines the way in which linternational actors handle the tension between traditional justice and human rights

Parliamentary committees in Zambia's Third Republic: partial reforms; unfinished agenda

This article critically examines the contribution of parliamentary committees in Zambia to democratic government. Several committees are of long-standing, including the Committee on Government Assurances and Committee on Delegated Legislation; others, notably committees involved in departmental oversight, were refashioned, expanded and given additional powers in 1999. They have worked hard to make government more open and accountable. Additional proposals for reforms to the committee system are currently being studied by a committee of Parliament. Although measuring the 'effectiveness' of such committees is not easy due to conceptual and methodological difficulties, their ability to influence policy and administration is found to be severely limited due to the absence of effective mechanisms to enforce their recommendations. This article maintains that this situation is unlikely to alter significantly unless there are wider changes in the party system, the institutional balance of power between executive and legislature, and the political culture more generally

The Legal Information Needs of Civil Society in Zambia

This research seeks to assess the legal information needs of a variety of actors within Zambian civil society. We first determined the major ways in which civil society actors in Zambia, specifically civil society organisations, labour unions, and legal practitioners, access legal information. Secondly, we surveyed the limitations and barriers associated with these paths to accessing legal information. We found that the provision of openly accessible legal information relies on two factors: the ease of accessing legal information and the capacity of civil society to interpret and understand it. Major limitations to accessing and using publicly available legal information were found to be bureaucracy, financial costs, lack of legal knowledge, and the lack of computerisation and internet access. Major factors influencing the ability of civil society organizations to effectively use legal information were donor funding and capacity building services, as well as the use of paralegals

The gender implications of large-scale land deals:

This paper strives to introduce a discussion of the gender dimensions into the growing debate on large-scale land deals. It addresses the current information gap on the differential gender effects of large-scale land deals through (1) an overview of the phases of large-scale land deals and discussion of related effects on rural men and women based on new literature on large-scale land deals and past literature on the gender effects of commercialization and contract farming; (2) a presentation of further evidence using several recent case studies on the gender effects of large-scale deals; (3) an identification of knowledge gaps and areas where further research is needed; and (4) a recap of promising initiatives, followed by recommendations and conclusions.Gender, large-scale land deals, land tenure reform,

Private sector participation in the delivery of municipal services Kitwe

Activities of Local Governments in Zambia are derived from Section 6 of the Local Government Act Chapter 281 of the Laws of Zambia. These activities are many and varied. A local authority may discharge any of the functions within its area. The Act allows local authorities to enter into contract for the discharge of any of its functions. Zambia, like any other government around the world, is in the process of reviewing its obligations to its citizens. A common theme is private sector participation as partners in the provision of services. Rather than maintaining all the functions of providing municipal services, local authorities through the proposed decentralisation policy are expected to delegate responsibilities to private sector participants. In this report a review of the current Kitwe City Council functions has been made with the aim of identifying core and non-core activities. The review revealed that the Kitwe City Council is striving to perform its functions and has accordingly addressed the strategic plan for this purpose. The guiding mission statement is to improve the quality of life of the residents through the development of the sound economic environment and to provide quality social services and infrastructure. The major objectives of the strategic plan include: - making the Council more responsible and effective in meeting the needs of the stake holders; - ensuring quality representation by attracting individuals of good standing to vie for councillorship and; - developing and motivating the human resources. The Council has employed well-qualified human resources in all the departments. However, the current human resource is characterised by low morale and poor motivation arising from lack of resources to implement good management practices

The right to adequate housing : the need for its justiciability in the Zambian constitution.

Includes bibliographical references.Zambia's housing problems cannot be overstated. The current Constitution of Zambia does not recognise the right to adequate housing as a fundamental human right. It provides that the State shall endeavour to provide decent shelter for all but as a directive principle of state policy. In essence, as explicitly stated by the Constitution, the right to housing is not justiciable. This means that Zambians cannot approach any court, tribunal, administrative institution or entity to claim violation of the right to adequate housing. It is submitted that rights must be claimed if they are to be fully enjoyed. This thesis will discuss the importance and the need for a justiciable right to adequate housing in Zambia enshrined in the Constitution

Social protection in sub-Saharan Africa: Will the green shoots blossom?

This paper provides an overview of the recent extension of social protection in sub-Saharan Africa. It identifies two main ‘models’ of social protection in the region: the Southern Africa and Middle Africa models. It then assesses the contrasting policy processes behind these models and examines the major challenges they face as regards financing, institutional capacity and political support. It concludes that, for an effective institutional framework for social protection to evolve in sub-Saharan African countries, the present focus on the technical design of social protection programmes needs to be accompanied by analyses that contribute to also ‘getting the politics right’social protection, poverty, transfer programmes, sub-Saharan Africa

Governance arrangements for the Zambian information legislation

Thesis presented in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Public Policy) to the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management, University of the Witwatersrand October 2017The purpose of this study was to investigate factors leading to problems experienced in the governance system in the management of access to information legislation in Zambia. The study aimed to answer the question what are the governance challenges for the Zambian access to information law? The literature review discussed the main concepts of this research such as transparency and accountability and also looked at Governance as the field of study that this research is based. The study was qualitative in nature used the case study research design. The data collection method utilised was interviews using the semi- structured interview schedule. The method of data analysis selected was content analysis, focusing on Elite and Policy network theories to aid the analysis of findings. Findings showed that there is a fragmented system of governance in the country, one that does not seem responsive to the needs of the people. The study identified some of the challenges to the Zambian governance system such as the lack of understanding of democracy, lack of civic education by government, and high levels of both illiteracy and poverty.MT 201