Photos: © GIZ/Jennifer Kohel/Denise Endres
Picture left: Council Secretaries brainstorming
with GIZ on improving their budget
performance, Luapula Province, Samfya ,2022
Picture right: COVID mitigation material
distribution, 2020
Implemented by:
In cooperation with:
Decentralisation for Development (D4D) IV
Strengthening the implementation capacity, especially the financial capacity
to act, of the Zambian local government system.
The challenge
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusam-
menarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, commissioned by the German
Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ), is a long-term partner for decentralisation
reforms and local governance in Zambia. GIZ has been
supporting capacity development of local authorities
as well as the decentralisation reforms of the adminis-
trative and financial architecture between the central
and local government for over two decades.
In 2013, the Zambian Government embarked on a
decentralisation policy reform, which culminated in
2016 in the amendment of the constitution anchoring
devolution as the governing principle. Since then,
several subsidiary laws have been adjusted and a basic
fiscal instrument to fund local authorities – the Local
Government Equalisation Fund (LGEF) – was
introduced.
However, the reform slowed down from 2017 until the
current administration of President Hakainde
Hichilema came to power in August 2021. As one of
its first measures, the new government increased the
Constituency Development Fund (CDF) 17.5-fold, with
the goal of providing capital investment funds for
small local projects and improving local service
delivery. However, the increased and expanded fund
has resulted in administrative bottlenecks and high
workloads for local authorities.
The main challenges of the reform implementation
that have to be adressed are the fluctuating political
will, inadequate coordination, and technical capacity to
manage the complexity involved.
Our approach
The objective of the D4D IV programme is to
strengthen the capacities of local governments in
Zambia and especially their financial capacity to act.
The programme follows a multi-level and multi-
stakeholder implementation approach to achieve its
objective. At national level, the programme aims at
strengthening the implementation capacity for the
decentralisation reform, improving multi-level
communication and financial frameworks, enhancing
knowledge management as well as curricula
development for local government officials regarding
decentralization reforms and their implementation.
Project name
Decentralisation for Development (D4D),
Phase IV
Commisioned
by
German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Project
region
Southern and Luapula Provinces
until 12/2021: North-Western Province
Lead
executing
agency
Cabinet Office through the Decentralisation
Secretariat (DS)
Duration
04/2021-03/2025
At subnational level, the focus is on support for
• the development and implementation of
Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) at district
level;
• capacity-building of local authorities to improve
own source revenue mobilisation and utilisation;
Published by
Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Registered offices Bonn and Eschborn, Germany
GIZ Decentralisation for Development
Stand No 5760, House No 9
Private Bag RW 37X, 15102 Ridgeway
Kabompo Road, Kalundu
Lusaka, Zambia
www.giz.de/zambia
As at
February 2023
Photo credits
page 1: Denise Endres/Jennifer Kohel
page 2: Elina Chanda Halwindi
Text
Dr. Wolff-Christian Peters
GIZ is responsible for the content of this publication.
On behalf of
Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Photo: © GIZ/Elina Chanda Halwindi
Budget Consultations in Samfya, Luapula
Province. 2022
• civic engagement in annual budget planning
processes at district level
• the improvement of citizen-friendly service
provision by local authorities.
Activities and Results
Covid-19 response
To alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a
COVID-19 Advisory Centre for local authorities was
established through the Local Government Association
of Zambia (LGAZ). The centre provided advice on the
development of emergency plans and encouraged
innovative responses to the pandemic. D4D also
supported improvement in water supply and hand-
washing facilities in urban markets as a preventive
measure against the spread of the pandemic, which
received high endorsement. In 2022, the national
Covid-19 Vaccination Campaign was supported with a
focus on informing and mobilising rural districts in
Luapula, North-Western and Southern provinces,
targeting 3 Million people through radio and social
media messages, public meetings as well as
information material. In addition, 1,000 multiplicators
were formally trained on Covid-19 related topics.
Supporting reform efforts on national level
The GIZ D4D project engages in improving the
national framework for decentralisation
implementation. Support has been provided towards
the revision of the National Decentralisation Policy,
updating of the Decentralisation Implementation Plan,
amendment of the Constituency Development Fund
Act, development of a change management framework
for local authorities and to the holding of the annual
Decentralization Conference as a platform for agenda-
setting.
In refence to the new CDF Act (2018), D4D conducted
training workshops to strengthen the financial capacity
to act within the guidelines from the CDF Act (2018).
Strengthening capacities at local level
To bridge the information exchange gap between
national and local level a Local Management
Information System has been developed in
collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government
and Rural Development. It is currently in use for
human resource and payroll management in Local
Authorities, own source revenue collection and project
implementation monitoring. The system is evolving to
include e-billing and e-payment systems which have
been piloted in Southern Province.
D4D assists local authorities in developing Integrated
Development Plans (IDPs), which are a legal
requirement for the preparation of local budgets and
thereby constitute a significant step in local
development efforts. The development of IDPs
encompasses extensive citizen consultations which
have also been extended to budget consultations in
Southern and Luapula provinces, bringing together
council members and civil society representatives.
In addition, the application of a GIZ supported self-
assessment tool has helped local authorities to
determine their strengths and weaknesses regarding
finance and human resource management.
