Zambia. September 2019.
CANVASSING CONTOURS AND RIDGES .pdf
Program overview
The Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) in partnership with Women in Law in Sothern African- Research & Educational Trust (WLSA) with support from European Union (EU) implemented an Action contributing to increased access to justice for survivors and victims of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Eastern and Western Provinces of Zambia.
Evaluation overview
The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the extent to which the project contributed to achieving the set outcomes for the project and assess effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, sustainability, and impact.
Key findings and recommendations
Incidences of GBV in the project area have been reducing with time over the 3-year period. Community confidence of the local courts, police VSU, health department, Ministry of Community Development has increased over the project period, and this has increased the empathy to GBV survivors and victims. This is attributed to the training that increased awareness of the consequences of GBV and also increased interaction and coordination between the paralegals, traditional and religious leaders with the GBV justice delivery service providers. Cases are now documented and evidence better-preserved leading to improved prosecutions of GBV perpetrators.
The evaluation states that there is a need for more local sensitisation of communities to reach out to more people and further engage the community. There is a need to provide more training and enhance learning, especially for Local Court Justices and Officers who normally rely on Customary Laws to determine GBV cases.
A Trainer of Trainers approach should be adopted whereby the Officer trained by the Project in turn trains his work colleagues and share information on activities being undertaken. The evaluation recommends an increase in victim support, for example through the provision of safe spaces for victims during the trial. In addition, more thorough documentation and record keeping should be conducted.