UNDP and Gender in Zambia

Facts and Figures in Zambia:

The literacy rate for women is 64% against 82% for men;

17% of Zambia’s unemployed are female;

Women provide 70% of the labour in the Zambian agriculture sector;

In political decision making, women represent 14% of the Parliament, 17% of Cabinet Ministers and 13.3% of Deputy Ministers;

Zambia enacted the Anti Gender Based Violence Act, condoning Violence Against Women on 12 May, 2011;

In 2010, there were over 8,000 cases of Gender Based Violence reported in Zambia;

The estimated HIV prevalence rate among women (aged 15-49) was 16.1 percent in 2007, compared to a rate of 12.3 percent among men.

Our Goal:

UNDP focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment not only as human rights, but also because they are a pathway to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and sustainable development;

UNDP coordinates global and national efforts to integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment into poverty reduction, democratic governance, crisis prevention and recovery, and environment and sustainable development;

Through our global network, we work to ensure that women have a real voice in all governance institutions, from the judiciary to the civil service, as well as in the private sector and civil society, so they can participate equally with men in public dialogue and decision-making and influence the decisions that will determine the future of their families and countries.

UNDP and Gender in Zambia

The UNDP global Gender Equality Strategy (2008-2013) is grounded in the premise that the development of equality between men and women, or gender equality is absolutely indivisible from UNDP human development goal of real improvements in people’s lives and the choices and opportunities open to them. Guided by the Gender Equality Strategy, UNDP in Zambia contributes to the attainment of the country’s vision of integrating gender equity and equality in the socio-economic development process by 2030.

In this regard, UNDP has played a role in advocating for gender equity and equality as well as empowerment of women and girls. This is done through a two-pronged approach (i) support to the Ministry of Gender and Child Development, as the key government institution for creating an enabling environment for promotion of gender equality and women’s rights and (ii) Civil Society Organizations, which advocate for gender equality and rights of women.

The Gender Unit in UNDP Zambia has supported the development of two programmes on gender. These are the UN Joint Programme on Gender Based Violence and the Programme for the Promotion and protection of Women’s and Children’s Rights in Zambia.

UN Joint Programme on Gender Based Violence

The UN Joint Programme on GBV (2012-2016) in Zambia is supported by the United Nations System. The goal of the Joint programme is to contribute to the reduction of GBV in Zambia. The overall objective of the programme is to establish an integrated and multi-sectoral mechanism for the implementation of the Anti GBV Act, which was enacted in 2011. This will be attained through the following interrelated specific objectives:

To increase health services in addressing GBV in Zambia;
To establish appropriate justice/legal systems to effectively implement the Anti-GBV Act;
To scale up social protection systems for prevention and management of GBV, including integrated approaches to economic empowerment of GBV survivors; and
To establish an effective coordination mechanisms for an integrated GBV response in Zambia.

The specific objectives also form the pillars of the Joint Programme and structure its response along the lines of priority areas as outlined in the Anti GBV Act, namely health, legal, socio-economic and coordination.

The Joint Programme has four outcomes, which focus on strengthening the capacity of Government and stakeholders to establish an integrated and multi-sectoral mechanism for the implementation of the Anti-GBV Act, including ensuring that GBV survivors have increased access to timely and appropriate health services (Outcome 1); an efficient justice delivery system (Outcome 2); and protection and support services (Outcome 3); as well as that GCDD has coordinated an effective, evidence-based and multi-sectoral response to GBV in Zambia (Outcome 4).

National partners include GCDD, MoJ, MoESVTEC, MoH, MoCTI, MoHA, MoIBL, MoCDMCH, MoAL, MoCTA, Judiciary, HRC, DEC, ZLDC, CEEC, ZDA, NGOCC, Women for Change, Camfed, Africa Directions, Gender Links, Equality Now, YWCA, House of Chiefs and NAZ.

UNDP provides the technical leadership in the implementation of the UN Joint Programme.

Programme for the Promotion and protection of Women’s and Children’s Rights in Zambia

The Programme for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s and Children’s Rights in Zambia (2012-2016) is supported by the Government of Norway, the DFiD and UNDP. The Programme has a long-term goal of reducing Gender imbalances in political, social and economic spheres in the Country. This expected to be achieved through gender responsive policies, legal and institutional frameworks in the MGCD, Priority Line Ministries and key non-state actor organisations. The overall programme outcome is expected to be achieved through following four (4) interrelated outcomes, which are as follows:

Provisions of the CEDAW and CRC/ACRWC domesticated and provisions of the Anti-GBV Act implemented;
Policies and Programmes in four priority sectors (Lands, Agriculture, Health and Education) are reviewed and developed in conformity to gender audit, CEDAW and CRC recommendations, and Anti-GBV Act ;
MGCD and its state and non-state partners have increased participation of women in political and civic spheres of development;
MGCD has coordinated a multi-sectoral and evidence based response to gender and child development issues.

The key focus of the Programme will be to ensure that the overall policy and legislative framework is conducive for the promotion of gender equity and child development and to ensure the implementation of recommendations from the studies undertaken during the JGSP. The Programme will build up on the National Gender Communication Strategy as a vehicle for facilitating change in mindsets and attitudes and serve as a mechanism for implementing advocacy and sensitization Programmes on gender equality and child protection. It is envisaged that this will create sustained support for gender and child responsive development.

In order to ensure effective implementation, this Programme will enhance the oversight function of MGCD to influence policy review, legislative reforms and implementation in conformity with national, regional and international commitments on gender and child development. On the other hand, the Programme will also strengthen the role of CSOs, FBOs and Traditional leadership in implementing the social change agenda which include issues related to women political representation, social mobilisation, advocacy and capacity building.

The key national partners in the programme include: Ministry of Justice; Zambia Law Development Commission; Cabinet Office (PAC and PSMD); Priority Government institutions. (Ministry of Land, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Local Government, Ministry of Health ,Ministry of Finance); Office of the Auditor General; Traditional Leaders; Political parties; Parliamentarians; CSOs and other non state actors.

Source:UNDP Zambia