Context:
Many people in Zambia struggle to assert their rights. This is particularly true of people who are poor, living in rural areas or belong to disadvantaged groups. They often have no access to legal advice or representation.
Furthermore, corruption and a lack of transparency remain major challenges for the democratic government.
Civil society in Zambia is actively pursuing access to the law, greater transparency and better local services. But their scope for action is becoming more limited.
Objective:
Government institutions and civil society organisations are more effective and capable of taking action, which enables more people to assert and enforce their rights and reinforces Zambian democracy.
Approach:
The project focuses on three key areas:
1. Improving access to the law: It supports the work and training of legal advisors and coordinates measures designed to ease the burden on criminal justice and judicial authorities and affected citizens, such as mediation and legal advice in prisons and police stations.
2. Preventing corruption: It works with civil society to improve corruption prevention by raising public awareness and encouraging people to report corruption risks at an early stage. Staff at supervisory bodies are trained to monitor compliance with laws.
3. Empowering civil society: It supports civil society in ensuring that well-informed recommendations are incorporated into policy decisions. To this end, the project support studies, networking and dialogue formats.
Organisations also receive advisory services on further development, learning from experience and how to better coordinate their work. In addition, the project works to advance the continued development of legal and political frameworks.
Like the predecessor project, it operates in the five provinces of Lusaka, Southern, Central, Copperbelt and Luapula.