Civil Society Responds to Zambia’s Fifth National Development Plan, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction
Source: Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR)
In January 2007, following the launch of the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) and the National Long Term Vision for Zambia by President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, the Zambian NGO Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) thanked the government for inviting the group to the launch and provided its analysis.
CSPR commended the government for initiating the long-awaited FNDP and for the president’s public commitment to the project. CSPR also commended the government’s intention to disseminate the FNDP throughout Zambia in order to encourage broad public participation in implementing and monitoring the plan. Civil society and CSPR in particular, intends to complement this task of public education. CSPR already has begun simplifying the official FNDP document to make it more accessible to the general public and CSPR believes that more can be accomplished in this area through partnerships between the government and civil society.
CSPR also reiterated the need to involve parliament in key development processes like the FNDP in order to enhance local accountability. Elected leaders must take center stage in key decision-making processes and in setting priorities for the nation.
Public participation can only be guaranteed, however, if the FDNP’s implementation is brought closer to the people in meaningful ways, CSPR believes. This entails placing the district councils and authorities that are ultimately the drivers of local development at the center of local implementation processes. Therefore, decentralization is critical, and CSPR called on the government to support the speedy implementation of the Decentralization Implementation Plan (DIP) to improve program implementation and service delivery at the local level.
CSPR agrees with the priorities spelled out in the FNDP and believes that in light of the resource constraints facing the plan, the FNDP offer a reasonable approach to addressing Zambia’s economic and poverty challenges. While the government has made some progress in financing the plan by securing local funds and pledges from cooperating partners, CSPR is concerned at the large financing gap that remains. The group joins the government in appealing to donors to fulfill their commitments so the government does not resort to incurring unsustainable debt as a means of financing the plan.
CSPR welcomes the president’s call for government ministers and controlling officers to be accountable for meeting the FNDP targets. This will ensure real accountability and responsibility among the people charged with running Zambia’s development process. It also should improve the performance of planning and monitoring bodies like the sector advisory groups and district development coordinating committees by establishing clear, robust indicators of success.
In conclusion, CSPR stands ready to work with the government to make the FNDP succeed and to address other issues of national concern.
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