1. Civicus World Assembly June, 2006 Glasgow, Scotland JCTR’s Engagement with Parliament in Zambia Presentation by Jack Jones Zulu
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2. Introduction
The purpose of this presentation is to share with you the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR)’s engagement and experience with the Zambian Parliament
Specifically we shall look at:
Political context in the country
Actors in engagement
Incentives and Disincentives for Engagement
Opportunities and Barriers to Engagement
Mechanisms for Engagement
Issues of Engagement
Outcomes
Lessons
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3. Political Context and Actors in Engagement
Since November 1991,Zambia has been a liberal multi-party democracy with over 45 political parties
There are over 2000 local and international civil society organisations operating in different fields
Incentives and Disincentives for Engagement:
Both CSOs and parliament serve same constituencies and target groups and this acts as glue for working together
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4. Cont’d
Areas of cooperation are around budget formulation,national loan acquisition and debt management, formulation of national plans, etc
JCTR and the “Meet your MP” platforms
JCTR and the CCJDP on “faith” retreats for MPs
Opportunities and Barriers
National platforms through multi-stakeholder dialogues and regional platforms such as the SADC-PF exist
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5. Mechanisms and Issues of Engagement
No proper mechanism for engagement between CSOs and parliamentarians especially at community level
Last two years, government has been setting up MPs’ offices in their constituencies
Issues for engagement range from trade,aid,national budget,NEPAD,MDGs, regional integration,good governance to HIV/AIDS,etc
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6. Outcomes and Lessons from engagement
Outcomes of collaboration are varied and mixed
Some policies have been made to respond to people’s needs
Weaknesses are in form of ‘on-off-on-off’ relationships between CSOs and some MPs
Working an in environment where the executive is powerful is a real challenge for CSOs
Parliament at times not willing to work with CSOs on perceived controversial issues e.g., mid-term gratuities for MPs
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