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Number of enrolled children (FY12): 28,657
Number of beneficiaries (FY12): 346,907
ChildFund Zambia seeks to provide a positive and sustainable environment for deprived, excluded and vulnerable children, to help them have the capacity to improve their lives and the opportunity to become young adults, parents and leaders who bring lasting and positive change in their communities. ChildFund implements programmes and projects through partnership with fully registered community-based local partners called Child Development Agencies (CDAs). Currently, ChildFund has established partnerships with six such CDAs in Chibombo, Kafue, Lusaka, Luangwa, Mumbwa and Chongwe. ChildFund’s key strength lies in mobilising communities and empowering them to play an active role in their own development efforts, through community-based interventions, capacity-building and ensuring sustainable practices in the community.
The goals of the programme interventions are to:
During FY12, ChildFund Zambia implemented programmes in the areas of health, HIV and AIDS, education, food security and economic empowerment. An estimated 346,907 children, youth and their caregivers were reached through livelihood, education and health interventions. Outlined below are some of our major successes.
ChildFund successfully launched and disseminated the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) to staff and Local Partners. The plan was launched by the Minister of Community Development and Mother & Child Health.
ChildFund developed two high level proposals on food security and Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) amounting to USD $24,300,000 that were submitted to USAID. A response is forthcoming on the award. Additionally, ChildFund sourced USD $175,048 from USAID/Family Health International Progress for implementation of the scale-up of the Injectable DEPO Provera project in Luangwa, Nyimba and Mumbwa. Six other proposals were developed and submitted to ChildFund Alliance members. Of these, four were approved for funding to the tune of USD $1,127,602: (1) the Chongwe Youth and Caregiver Development Project (USD $156,521); (2) Chibombo Integrated HIV and AIDS Project II (USD $449,474); (3) the School Infrastructure Development Project (USD $405,109); and (4) the Luangwa Preschool Development Project (USD $116,498).
ChildFund Zambia’s Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Manager built the capacity of National Office staff and local partners in monitoring and evaluation, that resulting in improved reporting on core programme areas. Recruitment of M&E Officers for the local partners is underway, in order to enhance quality in programming.
ChildFund actively participated in strategic national-level technical working groups, resulting in being selected to pilot the OVC service standards and advise on their implementation nationwide, and develop draft guidelines for the implementation of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) minimum standards of care for children and youth. ChildFund further participated in development and review of national education, health and HIV strategies and was elected to chair the Education Sector Projects Coordinating Committee, which oversees all key players in the education sector, including donors.
ChildFund actively participated in national level advocacy networks and supported youth to identify and engage with key policy and decision makers on matters affecting them. One such network is the Global Movement for Children whose activities engaged government Ministers, resulting in the ban of manufacture, importation and sale of alcoholic sachets that were being abused by children and youth.
ChildFund supported the implementation of education, livelihood and health programmes according to the Life Stages approach. This resulted in improved learning conditions for children, increased access to education, improved health for infants and mothers, and increased knowledge, skills and income among caregivers and youth. For example, beneficiaries of the Youth Empowerment Project in Luangwa and Chongwe raised a total of ZMK18,901,000 (about €2,757) from their banana plantation Income Generating Activity.
ChildFund completed the construction of a school for children with special education needs – the only one of its kind in the Luangwa district. Once it opens, it will accommodate up to 60 children with various special education needs.
ChildFund also provided books to 12 schools in the Mumbwa districts for teachers and students from grades 1 to 9. This was in an effort to improve teaching and learning under the Active Teaching and Learning Approaches in Schools (ATLAS) framework. A total of 53 teachers, including officials from the Ministry of Education, were trained in three modules over a one year period. The training was conducted in collaboration with the International Reading Association.
In water and sanitation, ChildFund, in partnership with ChildFund New Zealand implemented a project aimed at improving access to clean water for 600 households. The project involved drilling boreholes and installing solar-powered water pumps and overhead water tanks to these households.
In malaria prevention and control, ChildFund distributed over 10,000 Insecticide Treated Nets to 2,400 households. This was in an effort to reduce the incidence of malaria among under five children, pregnant women and the aged.
One of the major challenges for ChildFund Zambia is limited resources, which hinders geographical growth. The National Office continues to invest its efforts in attracting large grants.
ChildFund Zambia has continued to improve the lives of vulnerable children and sponsorship has made real and sustainable differences in the lives of children and their families. Eighteen year old Hope Mbaimbi is one of the children whose life has been impacted positively by the sponsorship programme.
Hope came from a very poor family background and her parents had no reliable source of income. None of their seven children went to school as they could not afford to pay for uniforms, shoes and books.
“We lived in a house without electricity or running water and my older siblings could not go to school due to financial difficulties. I knew that when I was a bit older, I would join the rest of the family in tilling the land so that we could have food in the house,” Hope explains.
Help was on the way for Hope, as her mother heard about the sponsorship programme after her third birthday. She was enrolled and immediately assigned a sponsor. Her mother who really wanted Hope to get an education knew that her prayers had been answered and she was really excited. The sponsor however cancelled before Hope could start her primary education.
“It was sad when I was told that my sponsor had decided to stop sponsoring me as she had no money. The staff at the project assured my mother that there was still a chance to be assigned to another sponsor,” says Hope. She was assigned another sponsor in 2006 and this was the beginning of the road to success for Hope and her family members. The quality of her life was immediately enhanced.
“My sponsor was very nice. She encouraged my parents to put me into school and all the school requirements were bought from the monetary gifts she consistently sent. She also sent clothing and other necessities each time it was my birthday. She became like a second mother that really wanted me to have the finer things of life,” Hope explains.
Since Hope’s family was involved in farming, her sponsor sent money in the form of Designated Fund Gift for the family to purchase an oxcart. She encouraged them to use the oxcart to take their surplus produce into town for sale so that the family could have income for other necessities.
“We bought the oxcart from the monetary gifts and our status has changed. We are the only ones with a means of transport in this community and this really makes me proud and that is why I made sure that I worked hard at school so that I don’t disappoint my sponsor,” she adds.
Another major highlight of her sponsorship is that the family has been able to build a bigger and better house through the monetary gifts from the sponsor.
“We have moved into a house built from the sponsorship funds and all my siblings have benefited. We also own goats now and we will remain grateful to ChildFund and my sponsor for the support we have continued to receive,” says Hope adding that the family is now self-sufficient and able to cope on their own.
At school, Hope has been a diligent student and has managed to sail through primary school. She is now completing the eleventh grade. She wants to study nursing after completing school in 2013. All this is thanks to her relationship with her sponsor.
Hope now serves as a youth leader in her community, encouraging other sponsored children to communicate with their sponsors regularly and helping those who are not able to read and write on their own. Her story has been an encouragement to all and for ChildFund. It simply shows that poverty does not define the potential of a child. Even children from very poor families can become symbols of bright futures through sponsorship. Simply put, they can live their dreams.
Under-five Mortality Rate (2010): 111 deaths per 1,000 live births (ranked 21 of 194). Source: UNICEF SOWC Report, 2012.
Human Development Index (HDI) (2012): 0.448 (ranked 163 of 187). Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, 2013.
