- People with disabilities can be supported at community level in rural as well as urban districts.
- Recent policy and legislative pronouncements are indicative of the new Zambian government’s urgency to address challenges faced by persons with disabilities.
- Two Norwegian organisations; the Norwegian Association of Disabled (NAD), and the Norwegian Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities (NFU)are supporting Zambian state efforts as well as Zambian civil society organisations.
- So far, at least 70 grants have been released and more than 4 billion kwacha has been spent on strengthening the capacities of local organisations to deliver quality services to a vibrant disability movement.
These were some of the highlights at a workshop in Livingstone 13 to 18 of November 2011, where Zambian officials, Zambian civil society organisations and the two Norwegian organisations discussed the development of Community Based Rehabilitation plans for better integration of and support to the handicapped and other persons with disabilities.
The Norwegian organisations NAD and NFU have since 2008 implemented the Opportunity Zambia Project, which has assisted several government departments, Disabled Peoples Organisations and other NGOs to receive and efficiently utilise Norwegian funds and technical support for various disability focussed interventions according to their own priorities.
The Counsellor at the Norwegian Embassy in Lusaka, Mr Lars Sigurd Valvatne addressed the workshop in Livingstone on behalf of the ambassador, and stated inter alia:
I am very pleased to have been invited to this forum on disability, where you have been developing a Community Based Rehabilitation plan for Kazungula and Livingstone districts. The choice of a rural and urban districts mix for piloting will give you a more holistic experience. Without doubt, this will enable you to carefully develop a Zambian approach which can then be shared with other districts in Zambia when time comes for scaling up at regional and national level.
Norwegian NGOs working in Zambia represent an important opportunity for resource sharing and skills building toward this goal. This is also fully in line with Norwegian international development policy.
I humbly advise the Zambian government, NAD and NFU to fully document the lessons from the Kazungula and Livingstone CBR Program, so that other districts can learn from your experiences. I hope to encourage you to undertake relevant action-research that will inform your implementation process. The experiences of NAD and NFU at home (in Norway) and abroad (in Malawi, Uganda, Ethiopia, Palestine, Nepal, Lesotho, and Tanzania) will enhance Zambia’s implementation process of its CBR programme.