1. publication could not have been pre-
pared without the generous contribu-
tions of many individuals, organisa-
tions and partners.
The publication benefited greatly from the lead-
ership of the HIV/AIDS and the UNV units in the
UNDP Zambia country office and the entire team.
During the entire documentation process, the
National AIDS Council provided valuable informa-
tion on the National UN Volunteer Scheme includ-
ing the District Commissioners and the various
NGO partners involved in HIV/AIDS activities.
Special acknowledgement goes to the National
UNVs themselves, who are on the ground doing
amazing work with such admirable commitment and
dedication to the cause of fighting HIV/AIDS while
also ensuring their capacity is utilised in a manner
that benefits the poorest of the poor.
UNDP Zambia is particularly grateful for the
close collaboration with the Southern Africa
Capacity Initiative (SACI) at the UNDP Regional
Service Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa,
based in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the techni-
cal backstopping in conceptualizing the documenta-
tion, funding and final editing of the publication.
UNDP Zambia expresses sincere appreciation
to UNV Bonn for their constant support in promot-
ing the ideals of volunteerism that make the world a
better place to live in as millions of people volunteer
their time, aspirations, dreams and comfort to make
a difference in the lives of the people globally.
Many thanks to the entire staff of UNDP
Zambia for engaging and supporting this process
and ensuring that it was implemented as smoothly as
possible and who understand the spirit of volun-
teerism even within their daily tasks.
Last but not least, UNDP Zambia wishes to sin-
cerely acknowledge the consultants (Edem
Djokotoe, Pamela Chama and Amos Chanda) who
diligently worked on the research and compilation of
this publication with such zeal, commitment and
patriotism despite some challenges in going to inac-
cessible districts in rural areas to get the human
story of the NUNV working there.
1
This
Acknowledgements
Zambia and its neighbors
2. AMICAALL Alliance of Mayors' Initiative for
Community Action on AIDS at
Local Levels
ART Anti-retroviral therapy
ARV Anti-retrovirals
CATF Community AIDS Task Force
CBO Community-based organisation
CBoH Central Board of Health
CHAMP Comprehensive HIV/AIDS
Management Programme
CHAZ Churches Health Association of
Zambia
CRAIDS Community Response to AIDS
COCCMA Community Care and Crisis
Mitigation Association
CSO Central Statistical Office
DAPP Development Aid from People to
People
DATF District AIDS Task Force
DC District Commissioner
DCI Development Cooperation Ireland
DDCC District Development Coordinating
Committee
FBO Faith-based organisation
IEC Information, education and
communication
JCTR Jesuit Centre for Theological
Reflection
LWF Lutheran World Federation
NAC National AIDS Council
NSF National HIV/AIDS Strategic
Framework
NUNV National United Nations Volunteer
NZP+ Network of People Living with
HIV/AIDS
PASf Panos Institute Southern Africa
PATF Provincial AIDS Task Force
PEPFAR President Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief
Abbreviations
PPAZ Planned Parenthood Association of
Zambia
PMTCT Prevention of mother to child
transmission
PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
SACI Southern Africa Capacity Initiative
SHARe Support to the HIV/AIDS Response
in Zambia
STIs Sexually transmitted infections
UNDP United Nations Development
Programme
UNV United Nations Volunteers pro-
gramme / United Nations Volunteer
USAID United States Agency for
International Development
VCT Voluntary counselling and testing
VLA Volunteer Living Allowance
YDO Youth Development Organisation
ZAMSIF Zambia Social Investment Fund
ZANARA Zambia National Response to
HIV/AIDS
ZAWA Zambia Wildlife Authority
ZBCA Zambia Business Coalition on
HIV/AIDS
ZCCM Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines
ZCRP Zambia Community Radio Project
ZCTU Zambia Congress of Trade Unions
ZESCO Zambia Electricity Supply
Corporation
ZHCET Zambia Health Education and
Communications Trust
2
4. recent years UNDP Zambia has generated a number of good practices that have
shown how partnerships can make a difference in development. This publication
presents one of them. It demonstrates how the country office is promoting
innovation to address the challenges of the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Zambia's unique National UN Volunteers (NUNV) scheme was introduced in collaboration
with the National AIDS Council in 2004 to fast-track the response to HIV and AIDS. The
scheme relies on deploying National UN Volunteer HIV/AIDS specialists in all districts, line
ministries and various non-governmental organisations to ensure that the multisectoral
response is implemented at all levels, including the grassroots level. Currently the scheme
involves 96 NUNV HIV/AIDS specialists. It shows that well conceptualised and implement-
ed, volunteer initiatives can contribute greatly to engendering a spirit of ownership and
ensuring sustainability of interventions.
The documentation provides a number of lessons learned and indeed challenges that the
NUNVs have had to face in undertaking their tasks. It also shows how results can be
achieved once resources are deployed at appropriate levels and within a strategy that pro-
motes use of existing capacities to fight the HIV and AIDS epidemic.
The scheme further demonstrates UNDP's continued support to the National AIDS Council
and the "three ones" framework, which calls for one national strategy on HIV and AIDS, one
national coordinating authority and one monitoring and evaluation framework.
In addition, the lessons learned from the NUNV scheme also highlight the strengths of
working in partnerships with a diverse array of stakeholders and the opportunity this pro-
vides for increasing absorption capacity at local levels.
It is my sincere hope that the experiences and lessons learned in Zambia will be used to
inform and influence programming responses in other countries addressing the challenges
posed by HIV and AIDS. NUNV and other volunteer schemes should be encouraged and
supported in order to enhance the capacity to reduce the impact of the epidemic and to
change its course - and to promote the spirit of volunteerism.
Aeneas C. Chuma
UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator
UNDP Zambia
December 2005
In
Foreword
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
5. 5
Estimated adult prevalence of HIV by
district, Zambia 2004
Source: HIV/AIDS epidemiological Projections 2005-2010. Central
Statistical Office. January 2005
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
6. 6
On the next page, you will meet Queen Seketi, one
of the 96 National UN Volunteers (NUNVs) who
are supporting Zambia to combat HIV and AIDS.
Queen and her colleagues were recruited in April
2004 by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), at the behest of the National
AIDS Council (NAC).
Combating HIV and AIDS requires a concerted
effort and it is very difficult to establish concert
without coordination. Before the NUNVs were on
board, there was not enough human capacity to do
this. Capacity challenges were particularly pro-
nounced at district level. The districts did not have
any full-time technical staff to coordinate the
numerous HIV and AIDS responses which the state,
communities and various partner organizations have
been setting up since the end of 1980s.
The acting National AIDS Council Director-
General Dr. Alex Simwanza describes the situation:
"There were District Aids Task Forces, but the
members of these task forces had their own jobs
and HIV/AIDS was just added to what they already
had. So, in a sense, their plates were quite full. We
realised that we needed full-time officers engaged to
specifically coordinate HIV/AIDS activities. We
spoke to several partners and we were happy that
the UNDP stepped in and said they could secure
funds to help us solve the problem. Employing
NUNVs was a practical solution to the problem."
Role of UNDP
It was a natural move for the UNDP to support the
NAC in strengthening HIV and AIDS capacities in
the districts. "Capacity building is the primary man-
date of UNDP and we believe in working through
national institutions, not creating new institutions.
NAC is the apex institution coordinating the HIV
and AIDS response. We have been working with
NAC to take the response to sub-national level, to
provinces, districts and communities. In essence, we
have helped to create an extension service for NAC
to reach the people," UNDP Resident
Representative Mr. Aeneas Chuma says.
The UNDP has also made an arrangement with
Development Cooperation Ireland to collaborate to
provide HIV and AIDS support at provincial admin-
istration. "Provision of programme officers to
provincial level completes the chain of decentralized
response," Mr Chuma says.
After having seen the scheme at work in the dis-
tricts, NAC requested the UNDP to fund additional
NUNVs for line ministries. The ministries had HIV
and AIDS focal point persons, but their situation
was very similar to that of the District AIDS Task
Force members: they had their own jobs and HIV
and AIDS was just added to what they already had.
The UNDP responded to this request through its
Southern Africa Capacity Initiative (SACI), a region-
al intervention for addressing capacity challenges.
Mr Chuma is happy with the way the NUNV
scheme has worked in Zambia: "The NUNVs have
done commendable work in 62 districts and all line
ministries. We hope by the end of this year, every
district will have a NUNV." Mr Chuma himself has
visited thirty districts in three provinces. He believes
the scheme is worth replicating as long as the fight
against the pandemic is decentralised to the lowest
social unit: the family. However, since each district is
facing different challenges, the scheme needs to be
customised to make it responsive to local needs.
The scheme in a nutshell
The essence of the National UN Volunteer scheme
is to fast-track Zambia's response to HIV and AIDS.
It is deploying local professionals to provide techni-
cal assistance to institutions with a central role in
coordinating the implementation of the national
AIDS strategy.
~ Building capacities:
The NUNV scheme
National AIDS Council
The National AIDS Council (NAC) is a
broad-based corporate body with govern-
ment, private sector and civil society represen-
tation. The NAC is the national mechanism to
coordinate and support the development,
monitoring and evaluation of a multisectoral
national response to HIV and AIDS. The
overall mission of the NAC is the prevention
and combating of the spread of the pandemic
and the reduction of the personal, social and
economic impacts of HIV and AIDS. The
NAC was established in 2000.
1
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
7. The National UN Volunteer HIV/AIDS specialists
are deployed in all districts and line ministries. They
work under the overall coordination of NAC, which
operates in Lusaka as a small secretariat with a skele-
ton staff. (See organizational framework on p.12.)
The NUNVs working in the districts have made it
possible for NAC to have a presence across the
country. They are pivotal in building a coordinating,
monitoring and evaluation mechanism that is needed
to ensure that resources for HIV and AIDS are used
wisely. In particular, the scheme builds capacities for
HIV and AIDS mainstreaming. The NUNVs in the
districts are engaging all subcommittees of the
District Development Coordination Committees in
strategic thinking on how HIV and AIDS affect
their sector and what the sector could do to reduce
new HIV infections and mitigate the effects of the
disease. The NUNVs in the line ministries are doing
the same as part of their support to the HIV and
AIDS focal points in the ministries.
The current scheme has been functional since
2004 and it involves 96 NUNV HIV/AIDS special-
ists. These men and women include public health
workers, social scientists, educationists and planners.
The scheme is a partnership between NAC,
UNDP Zambia country office and UNDP's regional
programme, Southern Africa Capacity Initiative
(SACI) in collaboration with the UN Volunteers
Headquarters in Bonn, Germany. The country
office funding covers the allowances of the NUNVs
in the districts and their operational funds estimated
at US$600,000 and US$350,000 respectively in 2005.
Other partners, such as Development
Cooperation Ireland and the World Bank have also
extended their support to the scheme by funding
AIDS programme officers to provincial level as well
as vehicles for coordination activities at district level.
Previous NUNV schemes
The current NUNV scheme was preceded with two
schemes dating back to 1991 and 1996. The first
scheme was introduced through the first UNV exe-
cuted HIV and AIDS project. The project focused
mainly on information, education, communication
and home-based care activities in three districts, i.e.
Mwanza, Kasama and Livingstone. The second
scheme run from 1996 to 1998. It provided support
to the implementation of the Greater Involvement
of People Living with AIDS (GIPA) initiative, which
aimed at involving people living with AIDS in the
fight against the disease as change agents. The
NUNVs involved in the scheme were forerunners in
coming strongly out against the stigma related to
HIV and AIDS and their work continues to make
impact on the society today.
“
“These are my people and I
hate to see them suffering
National United Nations Volunteer (NUNV) Queen
Seketi knows more or less all organizations working
with HIV and AIDS in the Kalulushi District. One
of her prides is the Bwafwano HIV/AIDS preven-
tion group. With minimal resources, the group has
succeeded in spreading HIV/AIDS awareness to
more than 500 community members.
"Every time I visit, something new has hap-
pened. These are well-informed people. Many of
them used to work for the mine", Queen says.
Kalulushi is situated in the Copperbelt Province,
once the money machine of the entire country. "The
end of the golden era of mining has had far-reach-
ing effects, the collapse of the health sector belongs
to the worst of them", Queen explains.
Having grown up in Kalulushi, Queen can use
her knowledge of the history and the social context
of the area in her work. Identifying professionals
already living in the area was one of the goals when
UNDP and NAC were recruiting the NUNVs.
"Local people simply know the issues at stake better
than anybody else", UNDP Resident Representative
Aeneas C. Chuma says.
Serving in the area where you are from can be a
motivational factor also in another sense. As another
NUNV, Isaac Mukuka serving in Chinsali District in
the Northern Province puts it: "These are my people
and I hate to see them suffering."
7
Supported by Queen (in the front), seventy Bwafwano members have
received a formal training in peer education and counseling.
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
8. Sustainability of the scheme
The National UN Volunteer Scheme is a temporary
measure to enhance and strengthen capacity at dis-
trict and line ministries so that they will ultimately be
able to mainstream HIV and AIDS concerns in all
planning without external support.
The scheme provides one possible solution for
balancing the need to rapidly scale up AIDS inter-
ventions in order to respond to the urgency of the
epidemic, and the need to promote longer-term sus-
tainability and capacity building. This issue was one
of the major challenges for effective HIV and AIDS
responses identified by the Global Task Team on
Improving AIDS Coordination Among Multilateral
Institutions and International Donors in its final
report in July 2005.
Capacity building elements with
long lasting impact include:
• NUNVs are setting a new standard for the work of
District Development Coordinating Committees
(DDCCs) and DATFs by introducing various new
instruments and tools. For example, the NUNVs
have developed training modules and manuals.
They are also using monitoring and evaluation
tools developed at national level. National level
institutions are now expecting more from district
level structures, and this will force DDCCs, DATFs
and District Commissioners to ensure basic mini-
mum standards even after the NUNVs have moved
out.
• As the NUNVs have also been supporting com-
munity groups by providing them with technical
assistance and connecting them to sources of
funding, communities have learned to demand
services and support from DATFs and DDCCs,
which will continue responding to these needs even
after the NUNVs have gone.
• Several Community Task Forces, Village Task
Forces and community-based organizations have
been created with support from the NUNVs.
These structures will remain behind when the
NUNVs move on. They have created a sense of
strength in the communities and this strength is
already fuelling new initiatives to complete ongo-
ing response. Community and Village Task Forces
also provide a platform of participation for the tra-
ditional leaders, such as Chiefs and Village
Headmen.
• NUNVs have been training district staff, teachers,
NGOs and community members in various skills.
These include planning; monitoring; use of techni-
cal tools; awareness raising and knowledge creation;
proposal/report writing; and monitoring and evalu-
ation. These skills will continue to produce results
for a long time.
• The districts have been provided with information
and communication technology facilities as part of
the scheme. Most districts can now communicate
electronically with each other and with national
level institutions. The facilities will remain at
DDCC/DATF after the NUNVs have moved out.
• The UNVs are facilitating the institutionalisation
of a systematic documentation process. The aim is
to make information available at all times to all
stakeholders.
• Work done by the NUNVs at line ministries will
continue to affect the work- place programmes.
Their efforts to inform new projects and policy
decisions of HIV/AIDS concerns will have long-
term effect. While they are acting as stopgap meas-
ures, their introduction of instruments to the min-
istries and assistance to the focal-point persons are
sowing seeds for future benefit.
• Through the NUNV assignment, the NUNVs
themselves are strengthening their skills and acquir-
ing new skills. As most of the NUNVs can be
expected to stay in the country, this will benefit the
society in general. A NUNV assignment builds
technical skills and expands knowledge and access
to institutions. Furthermore, the NUNVs are expe-
rienced in decision-making processes at district
administration and line ministries.
• The NUNVs set an example. The spirit of volun-
teerism they have demonstrated through their dedi-
cation and commitment, while sacrificing their per-
sonal comfort and priorities, has set examples in
many communities and institutions.
Results
In addition to the stakeholder interviews conducted
for this publication, the NUNV scheme has so far
been assessed in a mid-term UNDP evaluation
report produced by an independent consultant in
February 2005. The report notes that the idea of
using National United Nations Volunteers to
strengthen HIV and AIDS interventionism at district
level in Zambia is a good one. It describes the initia-
tive as "well functioning", assessing the functionality
of the UNDP HIV and AIDS programme against
the backdrop of traditional UN solutions to techni-
8
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
9. cal problems: flying in short-term consultants to
work for development projects and flying them out
again once their job was done.
The report acknowledged that working with
home-grown expertise was a more sustainable way
of dealing with developmental concerns. "It demon-
strates most effectively how, with local rather than
external people and at a fraction of the cost, pro-
ductivity and positive change and contributions can
be effected," the mid-term report reads.
At the time of the final editing of this publica-
tion, the District AIDS Task Forces supported by
the NUNVs had successfully started providing NAC
with monitoring and evaluation information from
the districts and their contributions had fed into the
preparations of the National AIDS Strategic
Framework and National Development Plan 2006-
2010. In the light of the stakeholder testimonies in
this publication, the NUNVs have been critical in
ensuring that this information is a result of a gen-
uinely inclusive process reaching all the way down to
grassroots level.
The testimonials also tell that the scheme has
brought more partners together at district level and
reduced duplication of work. They have been able to
foster strategic thinking and make District AIDS
Task Forces more focused.
Communities
Wherever the team doing research for this publica-
tion went, people would always want to tell them
about community-based initiatives that the NUNVs
had thrown their support behind and of how these
projects were making a difference; even though this
kind of work was not originally supposed to be part
of the terms of reference of the NUNVs.
The NUNVs have been relentless in building
capacity at community level. They have assisted
numerous communities by suggesting interventions
that could be used to halt the spread of HIV and
AIDS and mitigate its effects. Where communities
have had their own ideas, the NUNVs have helped
to formulate these into fundable proposals and con-
nected promising initiatives to funding. This says a
lot about the urgent need for scaling up the national
HIV and AIDS response. It also helps to keep focus
on the essentials; HIV and AIDS coordination might
require much in the way ofway of meetings, report-
ing forms and policy work, but what matters in the
end is how it helps communities to access services
and come up with their own solutions to their own
problems.
9
United Nations Volunteers Programme
United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) was
established by the UN General Assembly in 1970 to
be the operational programme in development
cooperation. Through the promotion of volun-
teerism, UNV supports conflict prevention/resolu-
tion, peace building and the attainment of the
Millennium Development Goals.
UNV provides the opportunity each year for
more than 7,000 women and men - 75 per cent
coming from developing countries - to support
peace, relief and development initiatives. In addition,
it engages thousands of other individuals in the
work of the UN through www.onlinevolunteering.org,
and manages the WorldVolunteerWeb.org, a knowledge
resource base portal on volunteerism worldwide.
The UNV programme reports to UNDP and
works through the UNDP country offices. At pres-
ent, UNV programme is functional in over 140
countries world wide.
UNV Programme in Zambia
The UNV Programme in Zambia started in 1984
and to date 329 (156 international and 173 national)
UNVs have been deployed in Zambia. The current
number of NUNVs serving in Zambia is 137 with
the national UNVs dominating at a rate of 78%
(107) as compared to 22% (30) international UNVs.
Zambians as International UNVs
There are currently 128 Zambians serving as
International UN Volunteers outside Zambia, while
179 Zambians havealready completed their assign-
ment as international UNVs. Additional 79 Zambian
professionals are rostered on the UNV Roster as
potential candidates for UNV assignments abroad.
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
International Volunteer Day 2005 in Lusaka
10. 10
~ Background: The changing face of
HIV and AIDS
interventions
Ways of addressing the challenges presented by HIV
and AIDS in Zambia have come a long way since
1985 when the pandemic was seen as a medical
problem which ought to fall under the jurisdiction of
the Ministry of Health. An analysis of the pro-
grammes that Government has initiated since then
shows radical shifts in the thrust of interventionism
- from the one-dimensional approach to the prob-
lem the pandemic posed to the multisectoral initia-
tives currently in effect.
Plans to combat HIV and AIDS
from 1986 to today
The establishment of the National AIDS Prevention
and Control Programme in 1986 was followed by a
short-term plan to ensure safe blood supplies in
1987.
Between 1988 and 1992, the first medium-term
plan was introduced to target eight operational areas:
tuberculosis and leprosy; information, education and
communication; counselling; laboratory support; epi-
demiology and research; sexually transmitted dis-
eases and clinical care; programme management; and
home-based care.Two years later, the second medi-
um-term plan was introduced. Interestingly, this was
multisectoral in design and incorporated a mecha-
nism for coordination and collaboration among sec-
tors. This ran from 1994 to 1998.
In 2000 the government established the
National AIDS Council (NAC) to exert concerted
and coordinated efforts as a response to the pan-
demic. From 2001-2003, Zambia developed the
National HIV/AIDS Strategic Framework and the
current response is defined in the National
HIV/AIDS Intervention Strategic Plan 2002-2006.
This will be followed by the National AIDS Strategic
Framework 2006-2010,which is currently under
development.
Today, Government, after almost two decades
of trials, has acknowledged that HIV and AIDS is a
development problem because of the extent to
which it has shaken the foundation of the country;
robbing Zambia of its most valuable asset - its peo-
ple. Life expectancy has dropped from 47 years to
37 years from 1980 to date, according to the latest
Human Development Report.
The multisectoral approach
The idea of a multisectoral response was born out
of the realisation that containing the pandemic
required a broad-based, multi-dimensional strategy
that tackled HIV more as a development problem
than a medical one. The 2001 UN Declaration of
Commitment on HIV/AIDS urged diverse stake-
holders to be actively involved in national responses.
By 2003, member countries were expected to estab-
lish and strengthen national response mechanisms by
involving the private sector, civil society partners,
people living with HIV and key vulnerable popula-
tions. The 2004 UNAIDS report on the global
AIDS epidemic notes that since the declaration,
more than 90 per cent of countries have created
national multisectoral bodies to facilitate AIDS coor-
dination between government, the private sector and
civil society. The growth of national AIDS commis-
sions; government-led partnership forums and work-
ing groups; expanded UN theme groups on HIV
and AIDS; and the Global Fund's monitoring mech-
anisms attests to efforts to involve a diverse range of
participants in the national response.
In short, the multisectoral response to HIV and
AIDS is a broad-based response aimed at reducing
the transmission of HIV and its socio-economic
impact, by mobilising resources to this end.
Towards decentralized response
In Zambia as well as globally, current thinking favors
a decentralised approach to fighting HIV and AIDS.
National strategies are implemented at district level
and it is also the level at which local and community
action meets government initiatives and services.
Districts should therefore learn to execute national
priority strategies in a way that articulates and coor-
dinates local/community responses. The District
AIDS Task Forces should facilitate, analyse and doc-
ument district specific HIV and AIDS situations and
responses, detailing local determinants, key vulnera-
ble groups and the local impact of the epidemic.
The districts should also be able to plan for the
medium-term financial and human resources
required for a scaling up of responses. To this end,
the District AIDS Task Forces are developing yearly
2
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
11. HIV/AIDS action plans that should detail activities,
costs and implementers. This annual process aims to
ensure that gaps are covered, duplications reduced
and financial and human resources properly man-
aged. It is important to note that the District AIDS
Task Forces are not supposed to become imple-
menters. Their key role is in management, coordina-
tion, progress reviews and reporting, as well as advo-
cating for the mobilization of local, human and
financial resources.
Funds available for
HIV and AIDS intervention
The realisation that HIV and AIDS are multisectoral
problems has expanded the network of strategic
partnerships in the fight against the epidemic.
Resources and technical assistance for HIV and
AIDS initiatives can now be mobilised from a range
of partners including the bilateral donors, interna-
tional NGOs and the UN family.
Global Fund
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria has committed US$445million to fight HIV
and AIDS in Zambia between 2002 and 2008. The
support is directed towards prevention and treat-
ment, including capacity building.
PEPFAR
The United States Government, through the
President's Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS (PEP-
FAR), released a total of US$81million for Zambia
in 2005. The plan focuses on prevention, treatment
and palliative care. The principal recipients of PEP-
FAR grants are the Zambia National AIDS Network
(ZNAN), which covers the private sector and civil
society; Churches Health Association of Zambia
(CHAZ) which goes towards faith-based organiza-
tions; Central Board of Health (CBoH) whose con-
stituency is all public health institutions; and
Ministry of Finance and National Planning, for pub-
lic institutions such as line ministries and govern-
ment departments. The plan also gives support to
NAC.
World Bank
The World Bank has allocated a grant of US$42 mil-
lion towards the Zambia National HIV/AIDS
Intervention Strategic Plan 2002-2005. The grant has
four components. The first is support for the
Community Response to AIDS (CRAIDS), devel-
oped as a component of the Zambia National
Response to HIV/AIDS (ZANARA) to back com-
munity-based interventions in all the 72 districts of
11
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
National HIV/AIDS objectives
The overall objective of Zambia's strategic plan is
"to reduce the HIV prevalence among Zambians by
10 per cent and to improve the health status of peo-
ple living with HIV/AIDS by 2005". The specific
objectives include:
• promoting responsible sexual behaviour
• reducing mother-to-child transmission
• ensuring safe blood transfusion
• improving the quality of life of people living with
HIV/AIDS
• providing appropriate care
• providing support and treatment
• providing support services for orphans and vul-
nerable children.
HIV and AIDS situation in 2005
Zambia, with a population of over 10.3 million
(Census 2000), is one of the Sub-Saharan African
countries worst affected by the HIV and AIDS pan-
demic. After the first diagnosis 21 years ago, in 1984,
Zambia is currently experiencing the impact of a
mature generalized HIV and AIDS epidemic with a
national HIV prevalence rate of 16% among the 15-
49 years age group (Zambia Demographic Health
Survey 2002.) The epidemic has affected all aspects
of social and economic life in the country.
Overall, urban residents are more likely to be
infected as compared to the rural residents: 23% of
urban residents were HIV positive compared to 11%
of rural residents (ZDHS, 2002). The HIV preva-
lence rates also vary significantly from province to
province, ranging from a rate of 8% in the
Northern Province to a rate of 22% in the Lusaka
Province.
Lusaka NUN V Michelle Kanene
12. the country and totals US$14.7 million; the second
component, worth US$21.3 million, covers support
towards NAC and its secretariat; the third compo-
nent , worth US$21.3 million, is spread out to line
ministries and is intended to expand Government's
multisectoral response to HIV and AIDS. An
amount of US$3.5 million has been earmarked for
programme support and administration.
UN Agencies
All UN Agencies are providing support to HIV and
AIDS initiatives. The total UN support (including
World Bank) in 2005 was US$37.9 million.
Bilateral partners
In addition to PEPFAR, which is the single largest
bilateral donor, a myriad of bilateral sources haveof-
fered consistent support to various HIV and AIDS
interventions in Zambia. Currently, the biggest bilat-
eral donors in addition to PEPFAR include Canada,
Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and
the UK.
International NGOs
International NGOs supporting HIV and AIDS ini-
tiatives in Zambia include World Vision, Care
International, the USAID-funded, Pact Zambia, and
the International AIDS Alliance.
12
National HIV/AIDS Intervention
Strategic Plan 2002-2006
Zambia's HIV and AIDS interventions between
2002 and 2006 are outlined in the National
HIV/AIDS Intervention Strategic Plan 2002-2006.
The aim of the plan is to build on political commit-
ment at the highest levels of government and
national decision-making. Its aim is to guide the mul-
tisectoral response for the prevention, care and miti-
gation of HIV and AIDS by stimulating and
catalysing government, private sector,
NGOs/CBSOs, {SHOULD THIS BE CBOs]
church organisations and traditional leaders to par-
ticipate in the response.
To this end, the National HIV/AIDS Strategic
Framework established a high-level body made up of
a Cabinet Committee, National AIDS Council
(NAC) and its secretariat to effectively implement
the interventions of Government and society at
large with regard to the pandemic. The Cabinet
Committee is a consultative body, which advises
NAC on political and government issues on HIV
and AIDS. The NAC and its secretariat are responsi-
ble for formulating, coordinating andmobilising
resources and evaluating the National HIV/AIDS
Strategic Framework and related policies, thus pro-
viding national and technical leadership for the mul-
tisectoral response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Cabinet Committee of
Ministers on HIV/AIDS
Network for civil soci-
ety response
National AIDS
Council
Line ministry activities
Provincial activities
District
Community
Cabinet Committee
National AIDS
Council Secretariat
Civilsocietyorganizations
(FBOs,NZP+,NGOs)
Network for private
sector response
Private sector
Expanded Theme Group
on HIV and AIDS
Technical working
groups
Multisectoral response to HIV and AIDS
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
13. Line ministries are empowered to develop and
implement HIV and AIDS policies, strategies and
interventions using their comparative advantage. For
example, the Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperatives uses its extensive network to reach
farmers and fishermen with HIV and AIDS infor-
mation and services. The Ministry of Education tar-
gets in-school youth with behavioural-change mes-
sages and helps to provide orphans with opportuni-
ties to attend school.
At provincial level, the Provincial AIDS Task
Force (PATF), a subcommittee of the Provincial
Development Coordinating Committee, coordinates,
supervises and monitors the implementation of HIV
and AIDS policies and programmes in the province.
Similarly, the District AIDS Task Force (DATF), a
sub-committee of the District Development
Coordinating Committee, undertakes the same func-
tions at district level.
Various structures such as neighbourhood
health committees, area development committees
and other community-based groups are expected to
implement HIV and AIDS programmes at commu-
nity and village levels.
The private sector is a vital part of the equation
and has a comparative advantage in developing,
financing and implementing HIV and AIDS inter-
ventions in the workplace. The sector has coordinat-
ing networks, for instance, Zambia Business
Coalition on HIV/AIDS (ZBCA), to promote its
collective interests and responses and to coordinate
and collaborate with government and civil society.
The Zambia Partnership includes other groups
such as Kara Counselling, Zambia Health Education
and Communications Trust (ZHECT),
Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Management
Programme (CHAMP) and Planned Parenthood
Association of Zambia (PPAZ) that provide HIV
and AIDS services and information to private sector
companies, among others.
In addition, civil society helps ensure wide-
spread representation of views, interests and expert-
ise in the fight against HIV and AIDS. This is a
broad alliance of non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs),
and faith-based organisations (FBOs), each of which
has a comparative advantage based on role, function
and position in society. Civil society groups coordi-
nate and implement the activities of their members.
For instance, the Zambia National AIDS Network
(ZNAN) promotes collaboration and coordination
among AIDS service organisations. ZINGO, the
Zambia Interfaith Networking Group on
HIV/AIDS, is responsible for coordinating the reli-
gious response to the pandemic.
National UN Volunteers scheme
builds partnerships
In terms of funds…
The realisation that HIV and AIDS are multisectoral
problems has expanded the network of strategic
partnerships in the fight against the epidemic.
Resources and technical assistance for HIV and
AIDS initiatives can now be mobilized from a range
of partners including the bilateral donors, interna-
tional NGOs and the UN family.
The National United Nations Volunteers
(NUNVs) have a key role in connecting local organi-
sations to funding agencies, such as the World
Bank's Community Responses to AIDS programme
(CRAIDS).
…and in terms of knowledge
The NUNVs are also connecting partners to infor-
mation. The strategic partnerships facilitated by
them are creating a tangible framework for sharing
best practices and mainstreaming HIV and AIDS in
all development planning.
At district level, they are assisting District
Development Coordinating Committees and DATFs
to coordinate the existing responses and providing
stakeholders with new ideas. Due to the coordina-
tion support from the NUNVs, co-operation has
been enhanced and duplication decreased.
NUNVs are also making recommendations to
urgently mainstream HIV and AIDS in all district
level planning. These messages have been enhanced
by the high visibility the DATFs are now enjoying as
a result of NUNV contributions.
The NUNVs also connect the National AIDS
Council (NAC) to the districts. Their presence has
been instrumental in establishing a communication
system for the NAC to disseminate information
beyond national level and for districts to inform the
national strategies and plans with the reality on the
ground.
Most importantly, the NUNVs have enhanced
NAC's capacity to monitor the progress made
towards the long journey of establishing an HIV
free nation.
13
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
14. Inadequate capacity at district level was identified as
one of the most difficult challenges for an effective
national HIV and AIDS response in a needs assess-
ment study that the National AIDS Council (NAC)
conducted in 2002. The National UN Volunteers
scheme was built up as a temporary solution to this
problem. It was clear from the onset that the
scheme should include as many capacity-building
elements as possible so that its benefits should not
be lost when the NUNVs leave.
Supported by the UNDP, the NAC drew up the
terms of reference for the National NUNV
HIV/AIDS Specialists in 2003. They were discussed
at a consultation workshop with other stakeholders.
Achieving consensus on what was expected was
important for the functionality of the scheme.
Therefore, all stakeholders were invited to another
consensus-building workshop before the terms of
references were finalised and posted for advertising
in the national press.
Terms of reference for
the NUNVs in the districts
A. Job purpose:
The national UNV Specialist will be responsible for
the Multisectoral District Response Initiative project
implementation at district level. He/she will work
with the district Administration authorities, as dele-
gated by the District Commissioner, to build capaci-
ty of DATF for District Multisectoral Response
Initiatives to HIV/AIDS.
B. Key/main responsibilities:
Planning
• Identify gaps In the mainstreaming of rights based
• Plan meetings for HIV/AIDS Task Force and
other stakeholders.
• Develop rights based HIV/AIDS, gender sensitive
mainstreaming workshops.
• Identify gaps in the mainstreaming of the rights
based HIV/AIDS, gender sensitive programmes.
• Plan for the dissemination of relevant rights based
HIV/AIDS, gender sensitive information.
• Plan for the development of the monitoring of the
project objectives.
• Plan for the documentation of the project imple-
mentation and plans for the sharing of results with
relevant institutions.
~ Background: Steps taken in
establishing the scheme
• Plan other activities as may be delegated by the
District Commissioner.
Coordination
• Coordinate the training of members from various
stakeholders to meet the projects objectives.
• Mobilize stakeholders to mainstream rights based
HIV/AIDS gender sensitive into their existing pro-
grammes.
• Work with stakeholder in facilitating the collection
and documentation of HIV/AIDS information.
• Technical Support
• Provide technical support to District Development
Coordinating Committee through the District
AIDS Task Force in developing annual action plans
for mainstreaming rights based HIV/AIDS and
gender sensitive programme.
• Support activities of District Development
Coordinating Committee to plan by integrating
HIV/AIDS activities into the development plan
and priorities.
• Participate as a facilitator/trainer in the district for
Programme planning and management training
requirements.
• Provide support to implement monitoring plan to
capture information for reporting to relevant par-
ties.
Training
• Facilitate the training of stakeholder in the main-
streaming of gender sensitive rights based
HIV/AIDS programmes into governance.
• Facilitate training workshops or awareness cam-
paign organized within the context of other
UNDP projects with HIV/AIDS as a cross cutting
issue.
• Arrange for Stakeholder members in the district to
attend training workshops and conferences on
HIV/AIDS, human rights and gender.
Reporting relationship
The UNVs will be answerable to District
Commissioners and will work in close co-operation
with DATF members and other DDCC sub-com-
mittes.
Required qualification
• University degree in social sciences and/or public
health or equivalent
14
3
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
15. • Minimum three years professional experience in
development field; specific experience in multi-sec-
toral initiative/response to HIV/AIDS, in partici-
patory planning, community mobilization, project
implementation, training, monitoring and evalua-
tion;
• Documentation skills
• Knowledge and experience of/in human rights and
gender
• Computer literate
More than 500 applicants
In the job advertisement that appeared in the nation-
al press, applicants were required to send their appli-
cations and curriculum vitae to Provincial
Permanent Secretaries indicating districts of their
choice. At this first round, more than 500 people
applied for 73 positions in the districts.
To ensure that the best candidates would be
selected, a checklist for short-listing the applications
was created. Provincial and district representatives
were taken through the criteria of short-listing
prospective applicants in January 2004. The process
of short-listing was done by nine teams in all the
headquarters of Provincial Permanent Secretaries
later that month. To enhance transparency, the NAC
conducted an internal audit on the process.
The applicants were short-listed and interviewed
in February 2004. The interview panel comprised
members of Provincial and District AIDS task
forces, members of NAC technical working groups,
governmental and UN representatives, and in some
provinces, representatives from NGOs.
Line ministries
The National UNVs for the line ministries were
recruited following a similar procedure to that
described above for districts.
The NUNVs were placed in the line ministries
to provide HIV/AIDS focal point persons with
technical assistance and support to further enhance
their capacity for the mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS
in the ministerial functions and deliveries. This is
expected to contribute to the development and
implementation of strategies for the prevention and
mitigation of the spread of HIV/AIDS in general,
and to improved assistance to affected staff mem-
bers infected by HIV and AIDS, (by way of infor-
mation, psychological, emotional support). This will
influence the mitigation of the impact of HIV and
AIDS at the work place.
The terms of references of the line ministry
NUNVs can be read in the panel on the right.
15
Terms of reference for
NUNVs in the line ministries
The National UNV HIV/AIDS Specialists working
in the line ministries support the HIV/AIDS Focal
Point Persons to:
• Effectively coordinate and implement sectoral
HIV/AIDS activities in the line ministry
• Plan, and budget for HIV/AIDS activities in the
ministry and ensure budgetary allocation to carry
out approved plans and stipulated tasks.
• Implementation of HIV/AIDS activities in the
ministry.
• Establish care and support mechanisms for
HIV/AIDS infected/affected employees.
• Analyse the impact of HIV/AIDS on the sector
and report on the change pattern
• Facilitate mainstreaming and integration of
HIV/AIDS in the work plan to ensure that
HIV/AIDS activities are institutionalised in the
Ministry
• Mobilise resources for HIV/AIDS activities and
ensure equitable distribution of resources among
departments/employees.
• Initiate/implement HIV/AIDS workplace related
policies.
• Prepare advisory briefs on HIV/AIDS activities
for policy makers in the ministry.
• Procure necessary goods and services for the
implementation of HIV/AIDS programme.
• Create/maintain database, statistics of HIVAIDS
activities and progress. Improve reporting system
and ensure timely preparation and submission of
periodic reports and statistical analysis.
• Establish and steer the HIV/AIDS committees or
support groups in the ministry.
• Conduct/hold meetings between the Permanent
Secretaries and HIV/AIDS Committees for con-
sultation, reporting and monitoring purposes
• Build/strengthen network with other institutions
involved in HIV/AIDS activities.
• The UNV HIV/AIDS Specialists will also provide
technical assistance for the development and insti-
tution of a monitoring and evaluating system to
track HIV/AIDS activities in the ministry vis-à-vis
other ministries. They will be responsible for pro-
viding timely input for the PSs to initiate any
strategic directions, new measures and/or dialogue.
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
16. The National UN Volunteers scheme has proved to
be a good practice. At national level, it has provided
the National AIDS Council (NAC) with an "exten-
sion service" that draws information from the dis-
tricts to inform national planning.
As the testimonies show, stakeholders feel that
the scheme has improved coordination and built
capacities at district level. This chapter describes
how the National UN Volunteers are doing it. It
gives examples on how they are implementing stan-
dard features of the scheme - such as developing
annual action plans - as well as coming up with
unique innovations worthy of replicating in other
districts. The chapter is based on interviews with 22
NUNVs and 68 stakeholder organizations in all nine
provinces. While it highlights the efforts by some
individual NUNVs, it is not to say that others are
not doing commendable work.
The setting
The National UN Volunteers (NUNVs) working in
the districts are providing technical support to the
District AIDS Task Forces (DATFs). The DATF is
one of the several subcommittees to the District
Development Coordinating Committee and it is
mandated to coordinate, supervise and monitor the
HIV and AIDS response; collate and disseminate
information; and mobilise resources for it.
However, this is not as straightforward as it
sounds. For one thing, the DATF is a loose alliance
of interest groups directly or indirectly involved in
HIV and AIDS work, which meets once a month or
once every quarter, depending on how active it is.
For another, until the engagement and deployment
of NUNVs, the DATFs had no full-time staff,
which meant that members were more committed to
their full-time jobs elsewhere than to the activities of
a task force. With the NUNVs, the task forces now
have a full-time staff member. The role of the
NUNVs is to support the task forces to plan, coor-
dinate, monitor and evaluate HIV and AIDS
responses and advocate for mainstreaming of HIV
and AIDS in all district-level planning. While doing
this, they are building capacities in the District
Development Coordinating Committees, DATFs
and local communities.
Because of the sheer necessity on the ground,
the NUNVs have extended their working sphere
beyond their preliminary job description and into
the communities. Several community and village
AIDS task forces have been established with support
from the NUNVs and a growing number of com-
munity-based organisations are coming up with their
own solutions to the challenges of HIV and AIDS
and accessing funding for their initiatives.
Administratively, the NUNVs fall under the jurisdic-
tion of District Commissioners.
Choma District:
DATF constitution brings focus and
transparency
Province: Southern
Population: 204,898*
HIV prevalence: 18,7%*
Choma, in Zambia's Southern Province, has been
hit hard by HIV and AIDS. One reason to this is its
location along the busy road between Lusaka and
Livingstone. Truck drivers, minibus drivers and
traders in transit lead very mobile lives and many of
them engage in casual and often unprotected sex.
Visitors and passersby are not the only ones
exhibiting risk-behaviour. Good tobacco crops at the
farms around Choma town over the last two farming
seasons have created an outbreak of money in the
area. In March 2005, Zambia's Finance Minister
Ng'andu Magande said that this was directly respon-
sible for the high rate of HIV infection in the dis-
trict. Clement N. Moonga the NUNV in Choma
confirms this observation. In the current situation,
some people have more to spend than before.
Others, however, have nothing. "Poverty is very high
here and a lot of young women resort to prostitu-
tion to earn a living. You can see from the large
16
~ Examples of emerging
best practices4
Choma
* All figures in this chapter are for age group 15-49, based on Zambia HIV/AIDS Epidemiological Projections 1985-2010. Central Statistical Office. Lusaka. January 2005.
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
17. 17
number of night clubs in a town as small as Choma
that there are big opportunities for commercial sex
workers here," Moonga says.
Focused approach
Given the HIV and AIDS situation in Choma, it was
necessary for the District AIDS Task Force (DATF)
to have a focused approach to its interventions, says
Moonga, who found that the roles, responsibilities
and terms of reference of the DATF were not cate-
gorically spelt out and often created friction among
various stakeholders. With the blessing of the
District Development Coordinating Committee and
the District Commissioner, he developed a constitu-
tion for the task force.
The constitution provides an operational frame-
work by defining the parameters of activity and giv-
ing the DATF a quasi-legal character. It spells out
the composition of the DATF; terms of office for
members; the functions of the executive and techni-
cal committees; the frequency of meetings and what
percentage of attendance would constitute a quo-
rum; and how money matters are to be handled,
among other things. It also provides for a board of
trustees, which acts as the custodian of the task
force. The board is composed of two chiefs and
three members appointed by the executive commit-
tee and ratified by the stakeholders. The chiefs on
the board are elected by other chiefs in the district.
Accountability and transparency
Article 10 of the DATF constitution, the section
dealing with finances, stands out as the best example
of best practices by any DATF in the country by
virtue of the high level of accountability and trans-
parency it aspires to. It reads in part:
1. The District Task Force shall open an account
with one of the banks;
2. All funds received and disbursed shall be chan-
nelled through this account to enable easy recon-
ciliation by the Treasurer;
3. There shall be four signatories…
4. The four signatories shall come from four differ-
ent organisations;
5. The Audit Committee shall comprise four com-
mittee members from different institutions than
the signatories;
6. The Audit Committee shall meet once a month to
check and authenticate the reconciliation of the
Treasurer;
7. District Task Force shall receive the Treasurer's
monthly financial report;
8. All District Task Force financial books shall be
closed as at 31st December of each year;
Providing alternatives for
commercial sex work
Clement Moonga, the National UN Volunteer in
Choma, has had a key role in supporting a youth
group, Youth Development Organisation (YDO),
which is actively finding solutions for the problems
of commercial sex. YDO approached Moonga after
they had conducted a study to investigate what
drives young women to commercial sex and found
out that many of the commercial sex workers were
willing to be rehabilitated as long as they could find
an alternative way of earning a living.
Moonga helped the group to convert their
thoughts into a tangible project proposal, which
received funding from CRAIDS. "Had it not been
for Moonga's input, the project would not have
taken off because we would not have known where
to start", says Arthur Muyunda Programme Officer
for YDO. The project trains rehabilitated sex work-
ers in income-generating skills such as tailoring and
dress-making and engages them in psycho-social
counselling to enable them work as peer educators.
“The NUNV has been given us valuable advice
on how to encourage volunteerism. YDO is run by
volunteers, and we depend on being able to motiva-
teourselves and the project officers continue their
voluntary work”, the YDO xecutive Director Partner
Siabutuba says.
Choma NUNV Clement Moonga together with YDO mem-
bers and beneficiaries in the commercial sex worker project.
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
18. 9. All accounts shall be available to an external audi-
tor after the closing of the books;
10.The Treasurer of DATF should be a qualified
accountant.
The constitution also provides for the alteration of
the internal regulations on condition that this is
done with a two-thirds majority and with the
approval of the stakeholders of the district task
force. Members of the DATF admitted that the
drawing up of a constitution has brought order to
its operations. They commended the NUNV for his
initiative and added that as a district, they were will-
ing to share this experience with other task forces.
“More comprehensive interventions”
The list of testimonials commending the Choma
NUNV is long. "From the time the NUNV started
his work, there has been a high increase of commu-
nity participation. This is something we failed to
achieve as a ministry. Moonga has also managed to
reduce replication of HIV/AIDS activities in
Choma. He has done this by bringing all stakehold-
ers together. Now everybody knows who is doing
what," said District Director of Health, Dr Rhoda
Mkandawire. According to her the NUNV has also
helped to streamline HIV and AIDS activities in all
other sectors. "This has led to more comprehensive
interventions because partners now come together
to work towards a common goal and strengthen
each other's programmes. For instance, CBOs,
FBOs, NGOs and government departments comple-
ment each other's efforts," Dr Mkandawire said.
Kara Counselling acting-manager Emmanuel
Ntilima said that from the time the NUNV came
into office, there has been a noticeable shift in the
work of the DATF from being a government task
force to a multisectoral taskforce which includes
organisations like Kara and community-based organ-
isations.
Kawambwa District:
Strategic focus and
information for all
Province: Luapula
Population: 102,503
HIV prevalence: 8%
Kawambwa, a district in Luapula Province best
known for its unique tea crop, is ravaged by poverty
and unemployment like many other rural districts in
Zambia. Most of the population subsist as peasant
farmers. This is the constituency where NUNV
Scriviner Chikonde Kambikambi operates. In the
15 months he has been working there, Kambikambi
has managed to galvanise the District AIDS Task
Force to develop a five-year strategic plan for
Kawambwa; form six Community AIDS Task
Forces; and introduce coordination of HIV and
AIDS activities at grassrootslevel using Area
Development Committees.
He has introduced the concept of the action
plan into DATF meetings so that issues arising from
the meeting are followed up diligently. Furthermore,
he has managed to establish a HIV and AIDS
resource centre from which people can obtain infor-
mation about the pandemic. A number of people
troop in and out of the resource centre everyday, a
sign that the facility is fulfilling what appears to be a
deeply felt need for HIV and AIDS information.
In spite of the lack of transport to travel
around the vast, sparsely populated district, the
NUNV manages to reach all areas by taking advan-
tage of field visits by stakeholders like World Vision,
working in Kawambwa. Officers at World Vision
cite the number of community-based organisations
that have now developed the capacity to write
acceptable proposals for funds to support their
activities as a feather in the NUNV's cap. One of
these organizations, Kawambwa Anti-AIDS Club,
credits Kambikambi with linking them and other
local NGOs to SHARE, Pact and nd Community
Response to AIDS (CRAIDS) for financial and tech-
nical support.
18
Kawambwa District AIDS Task Force in Luapula Province
is fighting stigma with road signs
Kawambwa
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
19. Solwezi District:
Timely updates on HIV trends to
inform strategig planning
Province: North-Western
Population: 205,797
HIV prevalence: 11,9%
The NUNV for Solwezi, Kenneth Bwembya, is
struggling with a similar situation to that of his col-
league Clement Moonga in Choma. In Solwezi, the
"outbreak of money" has been created by mining.
Mining towns are powerful magnets that attract
people from all walks of life, especially during boom
times. In Solwezi, there is a steadily rising migrant
worker population, with some of the newcomers
opting to settle permanently because of what seems
like the promise of a better life. Mr Bwembya sees a
direct link between the influx of new money and a
trebling in the number of sexually transmitted infec-
tions. Kansanshi Mining PLC, the largest mine in the
area, recently dismissed 12 employees for testing
positive for alcohol and drug abuse. Alcohol and
drug abuse have been cited as being an agent to
risky sexual behaviours, the kind that increase HIV
and other sexually transmitted infections.
Bwembya, a sociologist by training, has been
alerting the stakeholders by providing them with
timely updates on the new trends concerning the
pandemic and other sexually transmitted infections.
As a result, the Provincial AIDS Task Force and the
DATFs have been able to plan logically and more
coherently, says North-Western Province Permanent
Secretary, Danny Lumbama. According to Bwembya,
the owners of Kansanshi mine are responding to
this with an HIV and AIDS workplace programme.
The management of Kansanshi Mines says it is
aware of the impact "new" money in the district is
having on the social fabric and promises to soon set
up a modern medical facility which will, among
other things, offer HIV and AIDS services and vol-
untary counseling and testing.
Line ministries
At the time of the
research for this publica-
tion, the line ministry
NUNVs had been on
board for five months
and it is too early for
generalised comments on
their effectiveness.
Nonetheless, 15 of them
were interviewed and
encouraging examples
were found.
Ministry of Education
NUNV Alice Mwewa
Saili has formed support
groups for people living
with HIV and AIDS and
is helping them to access
anti-retroviral therapy.
Through support to the
Anti-AIDS Teacher’s
Association of Zambia,
she is also helping HIV
positive teachers to
access food. The associa-
tion runs a vegetable garden where close to 1,500
teachers come for supplementary nutrition. The
photograph on this page depicts Alice in the garden.
Ministry of Science,
Technology and Vocational Training
NUNV Eliud Phiri has drawn up a workplace poli-
cy and conducted training for focal point persons
and peer educators in more than 20 colleges. In
total, some 250 staff members need HIV and AIDS
services.
Public Service management division
NUNV Elizabeth Mwiinga has facilitated home
visits for the chronically ill, linking them to the
District Health Management Team for voluntary
counselling and testing, anti-retrovirals and other
services. In addition, she has initiated a workplace
policy and encouraged the team to participate in
HIV/AIDS awareness creation through sports.
Ministry of Youth, Sport and Child Development
NUNV Beatrice Kaimbo reported that a care-giver
programme is in effect and weekly sensitisation pro-
grammes in HIV and AIDS at the ministry have
given fresh impetus to the peer education activities
that were already ongoing.
19
Solwezi
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
20. Kasama District:
Answering the needs
of the communities
Province: Northern
Population: 170,929
HIV prevalence: 12,4%
Another district where the local community has
come to appreciate the presence of a NUNV is
Kasama in the Northern Province, the operational
area of NUNV Bywell Simposya. Simposya
reports that he attends to over five community-
based organisations daily. The Kasama DATF, sup-
ported by the NUNV, is taking proactive measures
to ease the challenges people living with HIV and
AIDS are facing in their daily lives.
The Vice Secretary of Mulenga Hills Home-
Based Care Maggie Saili stated that the organiaation
had registered 85 clients who were in need of treat-
ment but were unable to get it because they could
not afford to pay for it. The District AIDS Task
Force resolved the situation by arranging with the
director of Kasama General Hospital, and . accord-
ing to the DATF Chairperson Dorothy Ndhlovu, an
exemption criterion would be put in place to cater
for those who have no means to pay for treatment.
Chinsali District:
Boys’ initiation ceremony
Province: Northern
Population: 170,929
HIV prevalence: 12,4%
Chinsali NUNV Isaac Mukuka is supporting the
boys' initiation programme, which teaches males
between the ages of seven to 23 to abstain from sex
until they are married and to lead sexually responsi-
ble lives. Hundreds of boys and young adults have
been trained since the programme started in January
2004. The waiting list is long, but many parents are
happy to wait, believing that the lessons their sons
will learn could save their lives.
Traditionally, boys were not inducted into
responsible adulthood the way girls are. "Society has
left the boy-child to discover things for himself and
allowed him to have as many sexual relationships as
possible to show that he is a man. The culture of
silence in many homes, where parents do not discuss
issues of sex with their sons, has not helped matters
at all, exposing them to destructive sexual behav-
iours," says Emmanuel Chiluba, Programme Co-
ordinator for the Association of Lay Missionaries,
the local non-governmental organisation behind the
new initiation programme.
20
Kasama
Samfya
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
Samfya District:
Bringing diverse
stakeholders together
Province: Luapula
Population: 163,609
HIV prevalence: 9,5%
Samfya in Luapula Province is a large fishing district
covering about 10,000 square kilometres. Unlike
other districts in the province, the population of
Samfya is scattered in the mainland, on islands in
Lake Bangweulu and in the Bangweulu swamps
which cover large tracts of the terrain.
NUNV Benson Mumba is bringing informa-
tion from the scattered communities together in an
HIV and AIDS data bank, which is accessible to all
stakeholders. So far, Mumba has trained 24 mem-
bers of the District Development Coordinating
Committee in monitoring and evaluation as well as
in information gathering. The information is fed
into the HIV and AIDS data bank and a compre-
hensive, consolidated report is sent to the National
AIDS Council and UNDP every quarter.
Mumba has also been able to initiate pro-
grammes, which involve people with different skills
and areas of expertise in the efforts to tackle the
challenges of HIV and AIDS in the mainstream
development efforts. The formation of a gender
committee to look at gender perspectives in HIV
and AIDS interventionism is a case in point.
Mumba has a great many ideas for income-gen-
erating activities, which he shares with grassroots
communities - another example of taking a wider
perspective to the problem. "Samfya is one place
where cassava is a staple. Setting up a cassava pro-
cessing plant here would be one way of developing a
market for cassava products. Such an income-gener-
ating activity could contribute a lot to helping people
living with HIV/AIDS rebuild their lives and help
orphans survive," Mumba explains.
Chinsali
21. Chipata District:
NUNV harnessing the media
for HIV and AIDS fight
Province: Eastern
Population: 367,539
HIV prevalence: 25,6%
Chipata NUNV Eunice Masi has thrown her sup-
port behind HIV and AIDS interventionism through
radio. Mrs Masi, a former nurse, feels that the
impact and reach of radio is such that it is powerful
medium for HIV and AIDS interventionism. Since
she came on board, the number of radio pro-
grammes initiated by the DATF has increased signif-
icantly.
Mrs Masi credits Chipata District Health Board
for also being actively involved in media communi-
cation and sensitization, using the commercial sta-
tion Breeze FM and the Catholic-owned Radio
Maria as a means to an end. The programmes are on
thematic issues ranging from harmful traditional
practices; unsafe sexual practices; voluntary coun-
selling and testing; antiretroviral therapy; and pre-
vention of mother to child transmission. The key
participants in these radio interventions range from
people living with HIV and AIDS, parents, teachers
and pupils, traditional leaders, health workers, tradi-
tional birth attendants and commercial sex workers.
"The inclusivity of participation is a good
reflection of multisectoral responsiveness," Mrs
Masi says. Corridors of Hope Site Manager for
Chipata District Aggrey Ng'ambi commends Mrs
Masi for her work. "Before she came, the DATF had
lost control and direction, but now there is coordi-
nation and as someone working on the ground, I am
seeing the effects of her work in the communities,"
Ng'ambi says.
Mrs. Masi has also encouraged communities to
form Community AIDS Task Forces (CATFs). Nine
CATFs have been formed so far in the outlying
areas of the district and there are plans to establish
Area Development Committees based on wards.
Local radio programmes
in local languages
Chipata NUNV Eunice Masi cites the Zambia
Community Radio Project (ZCRP) as an inter-
vention after her own heart. Supported by
USAID, ZCPR aims to foster discussion and
raise awareness about HIV and AIDS-related
issues at village level. It uses an interactive radio
instruction series developed by Education
Development Centre and the Education
Broadcasting Services.
All programmes are recorded in local lan-
guages. "This is very important. Villagers describe
their problems and share their solutions. The radio
programmes are produced around issues that are
close to the hearts of the people such as HIV/AIDS
prevention, child welfare and education, income gen-
eration and agriculture and food security."
Corridors of Hope Site Manager for Chipata
Aggrey Ng'ambi says the use of radio is helping to
change people's sexual behaviour in very definite
ways and commends Mrs. Masi for her activism.
Ng'ambi said condom use has gone up by 20 per
cent, as has the number of people going for volun-
tary counselling and testing. "I am seeing the effects
of concerted advocacy and IEC [information, edu-
cation and communication] in the fight against
HIV/AIDS. There is more community awarenes
about the pandemic now and I can see us making
some major strides in our work," he said.
21
Chipata
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
Chipata community radio journalist at work
22. Senanga District:
HIV and AIDS included in the
District Strategic Plan 2006-2010
Province: Western
Population: 109,119
HIV prevalence: 9,7
Senanga, a rural outpost on the edge of the
Zambezi River, aims to make strides in the long
term. The district has integrated HIV and AIDS into
its strategic development plan for 2006 to 2010.
The District Administrative Officer and
Chairperson of Senanga District AIDS Task Force,
Nalishebo Situmbeko, emphasises the role of the
NUNV in strategic planning. The NUNV Ikumesa
Limbali has been producing timely reports for the
District Development Coordinating Committee and
DATF meetings since he came, and this up-to-date
and accurate information was crucial in plan-devel-
opment. Limbali himself says he was lucky to have
found a task force with good working relations with
stakeholders working in the district.
CRAIDS regional facilitator for Western
Province Nanga Simwinji commends Limbali by say
ing that the work of his organisation is made a lot
easier when districts are focused and know what
they want.
Senanga's strategic plan on HIV and AIDS:
Senanga’s strategic plans includes following measures
for tacckling HIV and AIDS: Establishing centres
for voluntary counselling and testing and prevention
of mother to child tranmission of HIV; providing
antiretroviral treatment to all those who need them
free of charge; setting up a local
blood bank; sensitising males in the
district about the benefits of circum-
cision, with the view that many peo-
ple will have it done voluntarily; pro-
tecting prisoners from HIV infection;
and empowering women with train-
ing and money to enable them to generate income
for themselves and their families; and empowering
orphans, vulnerable children and people living with
HIV and AIDS economically.
Supported by the NUNV, the DATF is already
working to meet several of these goals. For example,
it has trained 20 counsellors in the district as an
entry point for anti-retroviral treatment and decided
to expand the voluntary counselling and testing
function by seven new testing centres. A proposal
for the new centres has been submitted to the
CRAIDS Regional Office and is awaiting appraisal.
An 18-member support group has been formed
to cover Senanga and Shang'ombo to supervise peo-
ple on antiretroviral treatment and to ensure adher-
ence to the treatment regimen. The group also aims
to mobilise resources for food supplements for
clients on anti-retroviral treatment.
To achieve the antiretroviral treatment target
and other targets related to HIV and AIDS, the dis-
trict has drawn up an elaborate blueprint for wealth
creation and poverty alleviation. "We have realised
that we cannot do much about HIV and AIDS if we
do not tackle one of the main reasons for the spread
of the virus, which is poverty,",Mr Situmbeko says.
According to him, poverty is fuelling ignorance. "In
the west bank of Senanga, for example, men have
refused to use condoms. They are saying they do
not see the reason why they should eat sweets with
the wrappers still on", meaning that they would
rather have unprotected sex and live with the risks
that come with it. These are communities where
polygamy is a way of life, so the problem we have
on our hands is very serious indeed. Most of the
young people here do not work, so sex has become
a pastime for them," he says.
The wealth creation strategies outlined in
Senanga's strategic plan include a programme to
plant and replant soft wood forests in the district.
The plantations will be harvestable in five-year cycles
in order to generate raw materials for seven timber-
related industries, including a timber processing
plant, a furniture-making project and a paper-manu-
facturing initiative.
Community AIDS Task Forces
Limbali has also established a good rapport with the
community. This can be seen from the number of
clients who visit his office in search of information
and advice. The Senanga district has several
Community AIDS Task Forces. They are drawn
from neighbourhood health committees, which exist
at ward level. Each ward comprises between 10 and
15 neighbourhood health committees.
Senanga
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
Senanga NUNV Ikumesa Limbali
23. Chongwe District:
Benefiting from synergies with a
UNV microfinance project
Province: Lusaka
Population: 157,461
HIV prevalence: 18,5
In Chongwe, NUNV Lucia Banda enjoys a unique
opportunity to tap into another NUNV-driven
Microfinance project for networking and ideas.
The Microfinance for Poverty Reduction project
explores how the Grameen Bank methodology
could be used in Zambia to provided credit sources
for the poorest of the poor as done in Bangladesh,
where the Grameen Bank originates from.
Immediate beneficiaries of the project at the
moment are 1,400 poor women in Chongwe and
Lusaka, but in the long-term the project will build
capacity at two Zambian microfinance NGOs.
Ms Banda has an important role as a hands-on
HIV and AIDS advisor for the microfinance project.
(See more in the panel on the right.) In addition, the
clients of the microfinance project are now an inte-
gral part her network at grassroots level. For exam-
ple, she can share useful lessons learned in a lifeskills
training initiative she does with a local community-
based organisation called Facing the Challenge.
Among the life skills the organization imparts to its
members are carpentry, sewing and farming.
Members of Facing the Challenge are people
living with HIV and AIDS. Many stakeholders have
observed that Ms Banda's support to groups like this
and her general advocacy work have reduced the
stigma often related to HIV and AIDS and encour-
aged more people to undergo voluntary counseling
and testing. To show leadership, Ms Banda has con-
vinced all the members of the District AIDS Task
Force to do the same.
23
Chongwe
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
HIV and AIDS sensitive
microfinance modality
The UNDP/UNV's Microfinance for Poverty
Reduction project aims to alleviate poverty by build-
ing local capacities to provide viable microfinancing
to poor women. To do this, the project is adapting
the principles of the Grameen Bank methodology,
which has already been successful in Bangladesh.
Among other things, the project has modified
the methodology to respond to the challenges of
Zambia's severe HIV and AIDS situation. All clients
have received training in HIV and AIDS issues and
they have been put in touch with various service
providers who can supply education, information,
care and treatment. The project is also planning on
establishing a solidarity fund to help its clients over-
come HIV and AIDS-related costs.
All staff UNVs
The project staff consists entirely of United Nations
Volunteers, of which 12 are National Volunteers
from Zambia working as assistant branch managers,
credit officers and drivers. Two technical advisers
from the Grameen System in Bangladesh volunteer
as branch managers.
“UNVs as committed and broad-minded pro-
fessionals are an ideal solution when trying out a
new way of doing things”, UNV Programme Officer
in Zambia, Shipra Bose, believes.
NUNV Lucia Banda and Mrs Kamambwa from Chongwe
clinic giving a condom demonstration to microfinance clients.
24. Despite the successes, a number of challenges and
problems threaten the functionality of the National
UN Volunteers scheme. At the most fundamental
level, everything that fuels the spread of HIV threat-
ens to reverse the gains from the work National UN
Volunteers (NUNVs) are doing. These risks include
issues such as poverty and harmful sexual practices.
There are also political challenges to the
scheme, such as turf conflicts, unclear divisions of
responsibility and competition over budget alloca-
tions. However, according to UNAIDS Country
Coordinator Dr Catherine Sozi, such glitches are to
be expected because the coordinated approach to
HIV and AIDS is still in its infancy.
A third group of challenges arises from the
problems NUNVs face in their daily work. These
include geographical challenges combined with lack
of vehicles, and poor roads and communication
infrastructure. Delays in the payment of allowances
have also been a problem.
Against this backdrop, finding the right balance
for volunteer living allowances (VLA) is a challenge.
If the allowance is too big, the NUNVs risk being
treated with resentment by civil servants. Big
allowances would also undermine the spirit of vol-
unteerism. On the other hand, if the NUNVs feel
they are not receiving rightful compensation for
their efforts, the scheme risks losing them. This
chapter takes a closer look at the main challenges to
the NUNV scheme in Zambia, as seen by the team
that visited the 22 districts and talked with 22
National NUNVs and 68 stakeholder organisations.
Poverty
The link between poverty and HIV and AIDS is a
pervasive one. Poverty is one of the main forces
driving the pandemic in Zambia and yet HIV and
AIDS is one of the main forces driving poverty.
Figures about the extent of poverty in Zambia
vary from source to source. The Central Statistical
Office (CSO) places the number of national poor at
73 per cent. Examples from Choma and Kasama
(p. 16 and p.20) show how poverty is forcing young
women into prostitution. Other interviewees told
similar stories. Elias Nkhuwa, the NUNV for
Kapiri Mposhi, explained that trading sex for fish is
a "way of life" in the remote Lukango Swamps area,
where condoms do not exist.
~ Challenges
to the NUNV scheme
Auggie Shinchende, Corridors of Hope Behavior
Change Coordinator in the Kazungula district, stated
that the district of 67,666 inhabitants has more than
500 sex workers who range from the low class who
exchange sex for fish in fishing camps to those with
secondary and tertiary education who target the
affluent and even cross borders to ply their trade.
According to Shinchende, the lower class of sex
workers is more prone to unprotected sex than
those who cater for a more discerning clientele.
As Nalishebo Situmbeko, the District
Administrative Officer and Chairperson of Senanga
DATF, explains on p. 22, poverty is fueling igno-
rance; some people are still not fully aware of how
HIV virus is spread. Furthermore, claiming to pro-
vide a cure for HIV and AIDS can be a profitable
business for a traditional healer, who also needs
money to survive.
Cultural challenges
There are deeply entrenched cultural practices that
fuel the spread of HIV and AIDS in Zambia.
Traditional healers, some of whom promise
immunity to HIV or a cure for AIDS, are a case in
point. For example, in the Kazungula District a total
of 12 traditional healers have been given licences to
operate in the area. The DATF is worried about this
development, but cannot do much about it because
the Municipal Council has the legal authority to reg-
ister traditional healers. According to the District
Commissioner for Kazungula and acting DATF
chairperson, David Siasundi, the proliferation of
healers is due to the high demand from across the
Zambezi River from neighbouring Botswana.
"Tswanas come to Kazungula to consult traditional
healers here. In fact, these people are making a lot of
money from Botswana," Siasundi said.
There are also a number of sexual practices
fueling the spread of HIV, such as sexual cleansing
and dry sex. Lucia Banda, the NUNV for Chongwe
told how it is still common in her area for the
extended family to force young girls into early mar-
riages, often to older men who have lost their wives,
and who by tradition are required to inherit another
female from the family of their deceased wives.
According to Banda, many of these young girls are
forced to marry men who are infected with HIV.
24
5 !!!
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
25. If recent developments are anything to go by, then
traditional rulers are realising the need to do away
with harmful cultural practices in a bid to curb the
spread of HIV. On 3 September 2005, five chiefs
from Luapula Province signed a declaration reflect-
ing their commitment to abolishing early marriages
in their chiefdoms and the practice of sexual cleans-
ing. They were Chiefs Lukwesa, Kalaba, Mabumba,
Chimese and Chisunka. They had met at a seminar
to deliberate on cultural practices that encourage the
spread of HIV. The chiefs said they would advocate
voluntary counselling and testing for people who
wanted to get married in their chiefdoms. "We do
declare that we will fight promiscuity in our areas as
this accelerates the spread of HIV/AIDS which is
killing our people," their declaration read in part.
Political challenges
Political interference
Political interference poses one of the biggest chal-
lenges to the effective operation of the NUNVs at
district level. Though the extent of interference dif-
fers qualitatively from district to district, the place-
ment of the NUNVs under the jurisdiction of
District Commissioners appeared to be a concern
everywhere.
One such concerns expressed, was over the sud-
den political decision to dissolve the District AIDS
Task Forces. For example, CRAIDS Copperbelt
Regional Facilitator Vera Mbewe mentioned that last
year the DATF in Ndola was dissolved all of a sud-
den and this affected the continuity of the HIV and
AIDS programmes in the district.
Sustainability of the DATF is also a big chal-
lenge in cases less severe than the Ndola example.
"The turnover of DATF members is too high," said
CRAIDS Programme Manager Crispin Melele. "That
is very bad for programmes because new members
have to be trained in desk and field appraisals. The
way forward would be to align ourselves to the
Department of Social Services in the Ministry of
Community Development rather than to a district
AIDS Task Force whose members are here today
and gone tomorrow," he said.
In Chipata, there was a general view that the
UNV should be placedfor instance, in a civic office
like a district council, which is easily accessible to all
stakeholders.
Turf conflicts
In some districts, such as in Samfya where NUNV
Benson Mumba is doing a commendable job (p. 20),
DATF members seem to experience the NUNV as a
New HIV infections on the increase
The HIV and AIDS Epidemiological Projections
1985-2010 released in January 2005 by the Central
Statistics Office shows that new AIDS cases are cur-
rently on the increase. However, the trend should be
reversed in 2007, the report projects.
Though the percentage increases vary from dis-
trict to district, the figures show a significant rise.
For instance, in Choma where, according to Finance
Minister, Ng'andu Magande, there has been "an out-
break of money" in recent times, projected new
AIDS cases among both sexes rose from 12,671 in
2003 to 12,735 in 2005.
In Solwezi, where animated mining activity has
brought a new lease of life to the district, projected
new AIDS cases for both cases rose from 1,270 in
2003 to 1,354 in 2005. In Kasama, the scenario is
the same: an increase from 1,378 to 1,508 in the
period under review. In Mansa, the figure rose from
1,798 to 1,878, in Lusaka, from 13,124 to 13,435. In
Shang'ombo, the increase is disturbingly high: from
2,405 to 3,174 during the same period.
25
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
Many HIV/AIDS support groups generate funds by manu-
facturing beaded red ribbon badges.
26. threat because he is does not to report to the DATF.
Some members suspect the NUNV was appointed
to undermine the chairperson of the task force and
to take over his job and his influence. It has made
working together difficult. One of the loudest com-
plainants is Innocent Daka, Zambia Information
Services' District Information Officer. He said: "The
NUNV has failed to respect and recognise protocol
and as a district, we can do without him. We think
he should be reporting to the DATF instead of to
the District Commissioner."
But Mumba insists that his terms of reference
require that he reports to the DC. He says reporting
to the DATF is challenging because there are no
clear reporting lines within the DATF in Samfya.
District Commissioners themselves did not
seem to have problems with the NUNVs falling
under their jurisdiction. "If politics is about saving
lives, then the direct involvement of the District
Commissioner's office is a good thing because I can
effectively supervise the mobilisation of resources
and make transport available from my office for the
DATF when it has no transport. It is also easy for
my office to prevail on those DATF members who
work for government ministries and departments to
attend meetings even at short notice. In short, since
all government departments report to the DC, it is
in order for the NUNV to do the same because they
need constant supervision and assistance," said
Mongu District Commissioner, Matthew
Kwalombota Muwanei.
For Isaac Mukuka, NUNV for Chinsali, the
political interference he encounters has more to do
with words than with deeds. "Politicians and officials
from NAC frustrate our work by making statements
that there is a lot of money in the country for HIV
and AIDS work. What this has done is increase peo-
ple's expectations and complicates matters for those
of us working on the ground and in the districts.
When we fail to go back to these areas because of
the serious financial and logistical difficulties we
face, people feel we just do not want to share fund-
ing resources with them."
Geographical challenges
Mpika District
With a total landmass of 752,612 square kilometres,
Zambia is bigger than the United Kingdom, Greece,
Austria and Hungary combined. The district of
Mpika alone, which covers 41,000 square kilometres,
is bigger that the state of Israel. Given the size of
the territory and Zambia's limited communications
infrastructure, accessibility to all areas is an enor-
mous challenge.
Mpika NUNV, Daniel Nkondwa concedes
that the topography of the district poses a big chal-
lenge for HIV and AIDS intervention. "This is one
of the reasons why we have only been able to form
five Community AIDS Task Forces so far. To reach
a place like Nabwalya which is located in the
Muchinga escarpment, I need about K5 million and
that money isn't available. To get there, you need to
fly down using the Zambia Flying Doctors or with
the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) and that
takes about 160 litres of fuel. What this means is
that we leave a lot of communities out because we
simply cannot reach them," he said.
Mkushi District
Cecilia Kaonga, NUNV for Mkushi echoes the
same concern. "There are parts of Mkushi where
people have never heard anything about HIV/AIDS
and where awareness levels are very low. These are
places in the south of the district especially in the
Luano Valley where you cannot reach except by heli-
copter or Zambia Flying Doctor. A good 4x4 can
get there but the driver has to know the terrain. Last
year August, I was able to go to Mboroma village in
the Luano Valley to hold a workshop of HIV and
AIDS. It was the first time most of them heard
about the pandemic. The people in these remote
areas are also Zambians and need to be educated
and sensitized about the dangers of HIV, but how
do you do sensitize them if you can't reach them? "
Nyimba District
In Nyimba, the issue of inaccessibility is just as
pressing as it is in Mkushi. DATF Chairperson
Nicholas Muyeba, a clinical officer with the Nyimba
District Health Board, says the vastness of the dis-
trict makes coordination difficult, especially in the
absence of reliable transport. "Nyimba stretches
over 10,943 square kilometres of the Eastern
Province. To reach some parts, you have to go
through Lusaka. For others, you have to go through
Mkushi. Not only that. Some of the areas are moun-
tainous. Others are between three big rivers. There
are pockets of people living in these areas who we
can't reach. In cases like that, there is very little the
DATF can do. If there are no stakeholders with reli-
able transport going to those areas, there is nothing
we can do but wait. That is why even though we
have managed to form 14 CATFs, it has been diffi-
cult to monitor what they are doing," he said.
Kapiri Mposhi District
NUNV for Kapiri Mposhi, Elias Nkhuwa also
26
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
27. has a vast expanse of territory to work in. He also
has no vehicle and that poses quite a challenge for
him. "This district covers 45,000 square kilometres
but because of lack of transport, we confine our-
selves to the district centre. Some of the parts of
the districts are virtually inaccessible. Meanwhile,
these are places which need urgent attention. I am
talking about the Lukango Swamps, for example,
which is more than 200 kilometres from the district
centre. This is a fishing area and as you know, where
you have fishermen, you have risky sexual behaviour.
Women go there to trade sex for fish and this is a
way of life. Now you can imagine the problem when
they tell you that in that area, condoms don't exist
and that they have no choice but to do without
them," Nkhuwa said.
Logistical, operational and
administrative constraints
Volume of work
The sheer volume of administrative work as well as
the task of coordinating, monitoring and evaluating
activities is more than one volunteer can handle.
NUNV for Kawambwa, Scriviner Kambikambi
explains clearly why the District AIDS Task Force
office needs additional staff.
Kambikambi said: "The design of the pro-
gramme requires the NUNV to man the DATF sec-
retariat. Though there are other members of the
executive to carry out certain functions, all these are
in full-time employment for various organisations.
Their voluntary work for DATF is not subject to
appraisal work like the work they are employed to do
and therefore their motivation and level of commit-
ment is seriously compromised. This leaves the
NUNV as the only person who is held accountable
for progress or the lack of it. He or she does all the
clerical work including distribution of notices, chas-
ing signatories to pay up bills accrued to the DATF,
and usually these people are not found in one place.
This leaves the NUNV with very little time to con-
centrate on important issues like planning and coor-
dinating."
NUNVs for Nyimba and Lundazi, Mary
Goretti Phiri and Christa Nyirenda echoed these
sentiments: "There is need for support staff like
accounting staff, office orderly/messengers etc. so
that the NUNV can concentrate on the important
aspects of the programme."
Some stakeholders agree with this assessment.
They say one-person secretariats such as those in
DATF offices tend to be inefficient because they are
usually overburdened with work. When a NUNV is
out of station for long stretches of time, the office
27
Shang'ombo District
- the extreme example
Province: Western
Population: 70,409
HIV prevalence: 9,7%
Shang'ombo, a
remote district
bordering Angola
is a nightmare for
multisectoral HIV
and AIDS coordi-
nation. For a start,
the district office has
no power of any kind - no
solar power, no generator, no hydro-electricity. "To
type a simple report, I have to travel to Senanga or
Sesheke," says Richard Shimwala, the NUNV in
Shang'ombo. Senanga is 170 kilometers away,
Sesheke more than double that distance.
The line ministries, NGOs and faith-based
organisations Shimwala has to work with are either
in Senanga (about two hours of bad road away),
Nangweshi (147 kilometres away) or Sioma. The fact
that all district meetings are held in Kalongola
(162km) adds to the problem - although there are no
meetings during the rainy season when the Zambezi
River bursts its banks, cutting off the road between
Kalongola and Senanga. For a whole year, Shimwala
went to all meetings without transport, even though
the UNDP had procured a vehicle to facilitate HIV
and AIDS activities in the district. Reason: the proj-
ect vehicle had been commandeered by the
Provincial Permanent Secretary's office.
The District AIDS Task Force meets in
Shang'ombo - until recently under a tree because
there was no other place. Shimwala, who would love
to work together with different organisations, has
suggested that to improve coordination activities, it
would be better if the DATF secretariat was situated
in Nangweshi. District Commissioner Moses
Mwangala commends Shimwala for his work but
does not support this idea. "If we keep holding
meetings in those places, we are likely to lose our
status as a legitimate district," he says.
Meetings are critical because issues cannot be
discussed over thetelephone. Communication in
Shang'ombo is so unreliable it might as well be non-
existent. Not a single rural health centre can com-
municate with the outside world either by phone, fax
or radio. Zambia Police has a radio, but most of the
time it does not work.
Shang’ombo
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
28. is shut, and that creates operational bottlenecks.
Corridors of Hope Site Manager in Chipata, Aggrey
Ng'ambi says the need for support staff cannot be
over-emphasised. "There have been times when the
NUNV has been out of station for about two weeks
attending a workshop. This means that all the
DATF's activities come to a standstill. Members
can't access computers, phones or documents
because everything is locked up until the NUNV
gets back," she said.
Lack of vehicles
At the time of the interviews, most NUNVs work-
ing at the districts did not have access to a vehicle
and many cited transport problems as one of the
biggest challenges. (Towards the end of 2005,
UNDP and World Bank partnered to resolve the sit-
uation. Fifty fourFifty-four vehicles were procured
for the District Development Coordinating
Committees and the District AIDS Task Forces.)
Those NUNVs with their own cars, such as
Kelly Chanika of Kabwe, Clement Moonga of
Choma and Bywell Simposya of Kasama, use them
to ease the problem of mobility that often hinders
their work. But they all admit that given the bad
state of roads in their operational areas and the high
cost of vehicle maintenance, they have no choice
but to restrict the use of their cars to the central
parts of the districts where they work. "It is very dif-
ficult to use your own vehicle to do official work,
especially when you have to put fuel in it at your
own expense from the limited resources you have.
But if you don't do that, you can't do your work and
those around you will think you are either incompe-
tent or just lazy. If there was an allowance to cover
some of these expenses I wouldn't really mind so
much, but you have to use your Volunteer Living
Allowance to subsidise the office and that is not
fair," said Kelly Chanika, the NUNV for Kabwe.
Those who do not own their own vehicles say
they have to ask for transport from various min-
istries, government departments and sometimes,
non-governmental stakeholder agencies.
"We have become like beggars," says the
NUNV for Lundazi, Christa Nyirenda. "We have
to go from office to office trying to request trans-
port. Some are understanding and help you whenev-
er they can, as long as you put in fuel in the vehicle
and pay the driver his lunch allowances. But others
get irritated with this constant begging. And the fact
that we are United Nations Volunteers gives people
the impression that we have a lot of money and that
often makes life very difficult."
In the Western Province, seven districts have to
share one vehicle. The acute shortage of transport
means that DATFs have to submit a timetable of
activities to the Permanent Secretary's office so that
a programme of vehicle-use can be drawn up to
facilitate the sharing of what is evidently a very
scarce resource. Consequently, programmes such as
field appraisals, monitoring and evaluation have
stalled, increasing the backlog of work.
Administrative bottlenecks
hinder payment of allowances
The problem of erratic funding is a major obstacle
for NUNVs working in the districts. They say it has
made their work very difficult. Kelly Chanika, the
NUNV for Kabwe said that she had received fund-
ing for her work only once since she started work
and that was in September 2004. Meanwhile, she was
told she would receive funding on a quarterly basis
for her work. In effect, she has to subsidise the
office out of her own pocket, hoping that when
funds finally come, she will be reimbursed for the
official expenses she has paid for.
"When I took this job, I thought there would be
logistical support and that this support would be
consistent. But there is no money coming in and
with HIV/AIDS work, you can't afford to sit in the
office and watch things happening in the community
from a distance. Our role should be pro-active,
meaning that we have to get out there and sensitize
28
Road infrastructure in Luapula Province
Lessons learnt from Zambia – capacity utilization at local levels
