Development Cooperation between Sweden and Zambia

The aim is to support effective implementation of Zambia’s Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP 2006-2010). Furthermore, the work is based on the Joint Assistance Strategy for Zambia (JASZ), developed by all major Cooperating Partners (CPs) active in Zambia as a response to the FNDP.

The current Zambian-Swedish development cooperation programme covers health, agriculture and energy, as well as general budget support and support to civil society. Democratic governance, urban development, and private sector development will be phased out during the strategy period 2008-2011.

Donor Harmonization

In accordance with the Paris and Accra declarations , Sweden is working actively to coordinate development cooperation with other donors to increase the effectiveness of aid by strengthening Zambian ownership, and national systems are expected to be used as much as possible. With JASZ, the donors have organized themselves in various sectors according to a division of labour. Sweden is part of the lead troikas or duos in all three focus areas for Swedish development cooperation, health, agriculture and energy, and currently also for support to civil society.

In addition to the sectors the donors decided to operate within, the JASZ states a series of cross-cutting issues where Zambia’s FNDP needs support; thus HIV/AIDS, gender and environment permeates the development cooperation carried out in Zambia. Through JASZ, the donors have created a common platform to engage in development cooperation in Zambia. Among the reforms, the following should be mentioned:

• A multi-year joint donor framework for the budget support, and signing of a memorandum of understanding.
• Division of labour among donors within JASZ.
• Delegated partnerships between different donors, e.g. Sweden acting for the Netherlands which is as a silent partner of Sweden in the health sector, i.e. Sweden handles and monitors the resources on behalf of the Netherlands.

Development cooperation at sector level

The Swedish support in the health sector consists mainly of sector programme support in a basket fund submitted by Sweden together with the Netherlands under a delegated partnership. The basket funding is similar to budget support in the sense that the funding goes directly to the budget, but instead of being allocated via the Ministry of Finance, the basket funds in this case are channelled through the Ministry of Health. In addition to this, Sweden is funding several advisors at the Ministry of Health and Medical Stores Ltd, as well as at University of Zambia and Chainama College. According to the health sector review made in the end of 2008, significant progress was shown with regards to a number of health indicators – including the national vaccination rates, maternal mortality and infant mortality. Regional differences still exist however.

Sweden also provides support to the Zambian National AIDS Council, which coordinates its work in the HIV/AIDS field. A positive trend in the proportion of the population testing themselves for HIV can be discerned, reaching 23 percent of the sexually active population in 2008. 2008 also represented a milestone in the fight against HIV/AIDS – with fewer people dying of AIDS in 2008 as compared with 2007. This can largely be attributed to the increasing availability of antiretroviral drugs. Sweden is also working at a regional level with HIV/AIDS in Africa, the regional team being located at the Swedish Embassy in Lusaka. The regional work is based on three thematic areas;

• HIV prevention/sexual and reproductive health and rights.
• Increased capacity to implement  impact mitigation and social protection in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Strengthened leadership and respect for human rights in the response to AIDS.

Sweden’s work in the agriculture sector aims to improve the living conditions of small-scale farmers. This was previously done through the Agriculture Sector Programme (ASP). The programme was based on the motto "Farming as a Business" and involved the whole household (men, women and children) in agricultural extension. Of the 44 000 households that participated in the ASP project, the majority increased its income by more than 50 percent, and improved food and nutritional security significantly. Since ASP ended in 2008, a programme to implement a similar concept under the Ministry of Agriculture is under preparation. However, the process has been slow and no decision has yet been taken on the new Swedish support to the agricultural sector. Currently, Sweden supports the Agricultural Consultative Forum and the Zambian National Farmers Union, as well as a UNICEF assessment of the economic implications of the global financial crisis in the agriculture sector.

Increased access to energy is identified as a specific Swedish goal in the development cooperation strategy, especially for the rural population. Thus, Swedish support to the energy sector has in recent years focused on rural electrification. Sweden's support has for instance included funding to the Rural Electrification Authority (REA). The pace of rural electrification is increasing, with strong commitments from both GRZ and donors. 

The development cooperation within democratic governance is channelled both through the support of the public sector and the civil society. Support to the public sector is directed towards strengthening the financial management systems and public service reform – this will however be phased out in accordance to the development cooperation strategy. Support to the civil society will continue, the support is mainly channelled via the Zambian NGOs and organizations working on women's and children's rights, anti-corruption and freedom of association and expression. In some cases, Swedish NGOs are used as umbrella organisations for support to Zambian civil society. Sweden has also recently initiated support to Zambia Governance Foundation as part of a pilot project on support models in line with the Paris Declaration.

> Read the strategy for Swedish development cooperation with Zambia 2008 – 2011
> Read more about Swedish development cooperation in general on the web site of Sida
> Read more about Swedish development cooperation on the web site of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs