1. Comments by Civil Society
Mr. Gregory Chikwanka thanked the Chairman for according civil society an opportunity to respond to Poverty Reduction Strategy paper (PRSP) presentation. According to Mr. Chikwanka, civil society recognizes that the requirement for poverty reduction is not just spending resources of which Zambia undoubtedly has a serious shortfall but it is a question of conserving resources, both human and financial.
Civil society emphasized that Zambia faces serious problems on the latter front noting that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been debilitating the human resources while corruption has been eating up the scarce financial resources. While assistance from cooperating partners can help mobilize additional resources to bridge shortfalls, this by itself would be ineffectual in reducing poverty and bringing about development if the twin scourges of HIV/AIDS and corruption were not addressed. Civil society reiterated that the PRSP should not be used as a tool for eliciting funds from donors but as a genuine agenda for Zambia’s poverty reduction.
Civil society welcomed Government’s recognition in the PRSP of the critical role of good governance and the imperative to bring down the high incidence of HIV/AIDS. Concern was however expressed on the concrete steps Government would take beyond the rhetoric of words (such as zero tolerance towards corruption) to achieve results on the ground. A call was made on Government to recover all resources corruptly obtained from the treasury and redirect them towards development.
In addition, civil society urged cooperating partners to place sufficient circumscribing conditionalities on Government that would ensure complete accountability and a meaningful match between objectives, programs, actions, plans and resource allocations within the PRSP with subsequent demonstration of achievements on the basis of monitorable indicators.
On macroeconomics, civil society agreed with Government on the importance of creating a sound macroeconomic environment. Civil society noted that considerable containment of expenditure is key to the creation of this environment and reemphasized the need to reduce the size of Government and abolishing of the unwanted office of District administrator. Further, Government was urged to take positive steps towards bringing tariffs down on overheads (such as electricity) which lead to cost push inflation, making cost of production extremely high.
Overall, civil society agreed with the identification by Government of sectors of highest growth potential (Agriculture, Tourism, Mining and Industry) and noted that because of high poverty levels, a 3-4 % GDP growth on a per capita basis would be required for Zambia to move out of poverty.
On agriculture, civil society felt that in addition to strategies proposed in the PRSP, land issues needed to be addressed, as there is no adequate mention of land in the PRSP.
In conclusion, civil society contended that while donor funding was required, much more could be achieved in poverty reduction through right prioritization and better targeting of resources. Mr. Chikwanka explained that as civil society, they appreciate the consultative and participatory process in the formulation of the PRSP particularly that significant portions of civil society perspectives have been incorporated in the final PRSP. He noted that this not only demonstrate that Government can listen, but shows that Government has seen that civil society could contribute meaningfully to the economic development of Zambia. Government was urged to carry forward the recognition of civil society in implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the PRSP. Civil society expects even a greater role in these latter processes.
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