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What Has Already Been Done |
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In 2000 the Eastern Province Women Development Association (EPWDA) conducted an action-oriented research to document legal problems that women and girls face in the rural areas of Eastern Province
In 2001–2006 the results of the research were used to develop the Legal Education Programme (LEP) that ran from 2001 to 2006, with its main funding partners being German technical support (GTZ) and German development service (DED). EPWDA educated community paralegals in the Eastern Province of Zambia and as a result the organization became a significant actor in the area. The positive results of the Legal Education Programme continue to be major in the area.
In 2001–2005 the Student Union of the University of Helsinki (HYY) had projects with four district-level Women Development Associations, of which EPWDA is the umbrella organization. The projects concentrated on food security and the livelihood of the people in the rural areas of Eastern Province and on strengthening the status of female small-scale farmers in the society. The continuation project (2004–2005) concentrated especially on education and income generating activities.
In 2007–2010 HYY became EPWDA’s co-operation partner under the project name Improving Women’s and Girls’ Rights and Legal Education in the Eastern Province of Zambia. As a result of the LEP, major positive impacts and social structures have been established including training of 159 paralegals, conducting of rural based community sensitization workshops, airing of radio programmes on human and legal rights issues, creating of campaign materials to raise awareness on human and legal rights issues, creating of monitoring structures such as the Focal Point Persons, District Legal Support Committees and Area legal support committees, establishment of legal desks, building of capacity (designing of websites, installation of broadband and adopting of pastel accounting package) and developing of good relationships with traditional leaders who are very influential especially in the most remote rural areas.
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In 2011–2013 EPWDA is conducting its newest project, Advancing Women’s and Girls’ Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights. So far, during the year 2011, altogether 50 women, men and youths (32 female and 18 male) has been trained as community facilitators in districts of Chipata, Mambwe and Lundazi. 72 community sensitisation workshops was conducted and attended by 4,943 of which 3,360 were women and 1,583 were men. In 2012, 54 more community facilitators (36 females and 18 males) were trained in the districts of Nyimba, Chadiza and Petauke. Further, an average of 190 more sensitization meetings will be held with a targeted number of 60 (30 females and 30 males) each. After the trainings the community facilitators are better equipped to tackle reproductive health- and sexual rights -related issues in their communities in a long run. Positive outputs of the activities have already started to emerge.
EPWDA has gained very promising results through the projects, programs and other activities it has been conducting and as a result has became a sought-after partner provincially, nationally and internationally. EPWDA’s work is even seen as complimenting to the work of the Zambian government. In future EPWDA will continue to be committed to its work in the field of equal rights of women and girls in the Eastern Province of Zambia.
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Last Updated on Monday, 30 April 2012 11:35 |
