Govt. urges civic society to extend operations to rural areas

20/01/2013

Kafue District Commissioner, Grace Ngulube has urged Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to extend their services to rural areas instead of concentrating only on urban areas.

And Expanded Church Response to HIV/AIDS Trust (ECT), Project Coordinator Mwangala Chibbabbuka said the programme which is a USAID funded project which will run for five years from November 2012- October 2017.

Mrs Ngulube said there has been a tendency by most NGOs such as those in Kafue to concentrate their services in urban areas there by leaving out people in the remote parts of the district.

“ People in remote areas dearly need services being provided by the civil society. Therefore civil society here ( in Kafue District ) should not be denying people such opportunities that can help improve their lives, “ she said.

ZANIS reports that the DC said this when Expanded Church Response to HIV/AIDS Trust held a stakeholders meeting on the Gender Based Violence Survivor Support (GBVSS) project they will soon start implementing in the district.

Ms Chibbabbuka said Kafue is one of the districts that has been identified where the project will be implemented because of the high rate of gender based violence(GBV)cases.

“ The objective of the project is meant to increase the availability and uptake of quality GBV services for both adult and child survivors and to also strengthen a comprehensive response to gender based violence, “ she said.

Ms Chibbabbuka disclosed that they will work in partnership with government line ministries such as Community Development, Ministry of Health, Police and Gender in Development Department to institutionalise services for GBV survivors throughout medical centres and government structures in order to strengthen the quality of GBV service referral mechanisms.

She further said they will also work with Sonke Gender Justice to build capacity for Zambia’s networks and community organisations to respond to GBV and strengthen the work of NGOs working on GBV prevention, identification and persecution of perpetrators of violence.