Here’s what’s going on in Zambia, Africa:
"ZAMBIA has missed by far the 30 per cent SADC gender and development declaration target for women in decision-making by 2005, Non-Governmental Co-ordinating Council (NGOCC) chairperson Lucy Muyoyeta has said.
"In her speech read by NGOCC board member Theresa Nyirenda during the official opening of Law and Development Association (LADA) new office block in Monze, Muyoyeta said the number of women in decision-making in various levels was very low in Zambia. ‘There are several other gender concerns relating to the lack of domestication of the various instruments that have been signed such as the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the African Protocol on People’s and Human Rights on the rights of women,"’she said.
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"In her speech read by Nondo, Southern Province minister Alice Simango described LADA as one of the outstanding actors in poverty eradication, gender equity, justice delivery and human rights crusade. She commended LADA for operating as a member-driven organisation, being responsive to the plight of less fortunate persons, including voiceless widows and abandoned orphans. Simango further commended LADA for having trained over 200 paralegal practitioners, who were sensitising the local communities on issues related to law and human rights.
"She bemoaned that paralegals in Zambia were not formally recognised although their role in the delivery of justice was critical, given the inadequacy of lawyers, especially in rural areas. Simango appealed to the co-operating partners to invest in rural-based organisations like LADA."
