UN Country Representative, Kanni Wignaraja, says Western Province needs to reduce its extreme poverty by 26 per cent in order to attain the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target on extreme poverty by 2015.
Ms Wignaraja said though national poverty figures are falling slowly, the poverty levels in Western Province still remain a challenge as shown in the Zambia Human Development Report from 80.3 per cent in 2006 to 80.4 per cent in 2010.
She was speaking in Mongu yesterday when she presented the Zambia Human Development Report for 2011 on Service Delivery for sustainable human development at Country Lodge.
And Western Province Permanent Secretary, Bert Mushala, has requested for cooperating partners, particularly the UNDP, to assist in contributing to strengthening the capacities of planning units.
Mr Mushala noted that development planning plays a pivotal role in service delivery and ultimately sustainable development, hence the need to put in place mechanisms that will help to gauge the performance against the agreed service delivery standards.
He observed that without fundamentally result-oriented development, it would be impossible for agendas to move forward and challenged all to peruse gender responsive, evidence and human rights based developmental programmes.
ZANIS
Where’s almighty Sata and his PF brigade to work the 90day black magic on this forsaken province?He is to blame for this mess because he has been more bark about HH and RB than bite about real development.Lozis wasted their votes on PF.
You are right about the rhetoric. Seems at the moment everyone is pissing on the poor to make a political point though.
You are UPND cadre who can not read between the lines.Whenever you hear of PF and President Micheal Sata’s name what feels your spine is disparaging remarks as you still can’t come to terms that he is the Republican President no matter how much you hate. Sata has not brought about the miseries of the LOZI’s as he is only about a year in Office as a President.Wake up from your slamber before its too late otherwise you are commiting a dangerous sin which can be likedned to watchcraft.Repent my brother God loves you.
Please do something about western province urgently! Those depressing pictures of dilapidated school structures is a monumental testimony to govt neglect. You would be hard pressed to find a similar situation in other other parts of Zambia. When the people of western  province cry for secession it’s because they feel they are treated like aliens in their own country. I bet the ministry of education officials have never been to that eyesore of a school. Our country is capable of doing better than that even amid severe economic conditions. What I perceive is that this is deliberate neglect. Mrs. Wina has been in power all her life, why hasn’t this deplorable state of affairs been highlighted?
This sounds very close to the mark. Very depressing reality.
I have hope that the PF government will deliver WP from this deplorable poverty the people have been subjected too all their lives. How can we tolerate such misery in our country? PF should not rush to make arrests in WP but comfort the people with development, that will quench the fires.
I totally agree with your sentiments. What is done from here forward could make a world of difference.
Do something for ths province or stop arresting those fighting for their own freedom frm ths chi zambia….
The blame game will do nothing to change a thing as one does not have to be a rocket scientist to work out that there are many areas of our country that face living in conditions that should be unacceptable to all. Agree with the bloggers above that immediate action is required. Perhaps when looking at what is needed for our development we should always keep in mind those who need it most for there are schools, homes and clinics in a worse condition than even depicted above. Improving that Zambia should always be a priority. A rotten legacy so far.
I am sure everybody now understands the reason why my brothers and sisters want to be liberated frm Zambia. We need is serious development in western province and not cheap talk. Action speaks louder than words.
In most social research outputs you will find that a resistant, homogeneous society is plagued with stagnation in terms of development in many areas (er… mostly social interaction!). This so-called backwardness of some parts of the country is synonymous with a community that is forever guarding things that they will never use constructively because they have refused to allow alternative infusion of developmental ideas. This is true even at country by country level… So this cry for secession is paradoxical if you look at the fact that it goes hand in hand with a visible xenophobic attitude towards any perceived “outsider” including those that intend to help!
True.
Not TRUE! Rubbish borne out of your own prejudice. Why don’t you tell us then what accounts for 79% poverty levels in Northern Province, 80.4% in Luapula and 64% overall in the whole of Zambia? All these figures are contained in the 2010 HDI Report on Zambia . Please read the whole damned report and then come back and tell us more about your pseudo anthropological theories. Stinking tribalist!
@ Kalok. Fair point if one ignores that the original deal was the province had autonomy and thus its development would be co-ordinated from within by its own. As this was never tested we shall never know how much good faith would have influenced further acceptance that as part of a larger society, the onus was now on them to interact and seek positive contribution from outside. Perhaps force feeding a new reality bred this ‘xenophobic’ attitude you perceive. In reality I am yet to meet a person who wants to physically harm a ‘Zambian’ for being ‘Zambian’ :)
Bembas and Ngonis are generally perceived to intruders in LOZILAND of Western Province. Let us face realities.
If your point is that I would not be welcome there then you are wrong :) I was trying to be diplomatic when responding to another post which missed the mark by disguising negative tribal sentiments with waffle but I think number 10 has dealt with that pretty head on. Have you read his post? He/she makes sense.
Western province needs serious economic investment. This is one province that needs a lot of focus to target the development in the right places. Yes, they are frustrated by this situation hence there demand for seccesion. However, in actual sense I really wonder if that would help! How would the new government raise money? Barotse would seccede as western province only as North western province which under Cecil Rhodes Barotseland map would remain as part of the greater Zambia. The real solutions lie in real infrastructure development of roads, schools,colleges and clinics. We also need to have agriculture subsidies in rice production for this province. We really can do better as Zambia!
@7. Kalok. Spare us your crap for it is nothing but a reaffirmation of your own prejudice against Lozis. What we have here is a failure of the Zambian state in meeting the UN Millenium Development Goals. These are access to such basic needs as education, health , access to clean water etc. Whether the Lozis are insular or not one thing I am quite sure of is that no one in WP stopped the Zambian govt from building roads, hospitals, schools in that province. It was and it is the responsibility the Zambian govt to do so. And no one stop them. So please Kalok stop your tribalism and just urge your govt to share the National cake equitably……that is the meaning of One Zambia One Nation! People in WP are not the gov’t , they like every other province look to Lusaka for public services.
Well articulated and to the point, some peoples understanding of MDG and BA64 are totally miss placed. Â
thats what happens when boys think they can do mens work. Dull people spend so much time trying to convince or fool others that there inteligent. Given Lubinda am sure you are seeing whats happening to your country and fellow lozis.