UNZA vet school Japan’s brain child

VIOLET MENGO

Lusaka 

May 11, 2016

student in the laboratory

IN AN effort to maximise animal production and boost their health, former President Kenneth Kaunda requested the Japanese Government to help establish a veterinary school of medicine at the University of Zambia (UNZA).

Today, Zambia boasts of one of the best veterinary schools of medicine in southern Africa.
The UNZA veterinary school of medicine has continued to impart knowledge in students both from within the country and abroad.

Professor Aaron Mweene is a virologist in the department of disease control at the veterinary school of medicine and is one of the first students to be enrolled at the institution in 1983.

About 30 years ago, Prof. Mweene says there were very few veterinaries in the country, a situation that prompted Dr Kaunda to seek assistance from Japan.

Arising from the discussions between the governments of Japan and Zambia, the first veterinary school of medicine became operational in 1983 with about 10 students, although there was no physical infrastructure at the time.

From 1984 to 1986, using grant aid, the Japanese government through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), started constructing the veterinary school, which became a master piece with state-of-the art equipment.

“With the school infrastructure in place, Zambia was ready to train veterinary doctors who would look into the interests of animal production and health,” Prof. Mweene says.

According to him, the negotiations made by Dr Kaunda were based on the fact that Zambia needed to increase its animal population hence the need for good livestock programmes.

During that time, there were very few indigenous veterinarians because of the high cost that was involved in training veterinary doctors. The training was mostly conducted in Europe and other countries.

To this end, JICA organised Japanese experts who conducted training sessions for Zambian personnel in Japan from 1985 to 1997.

JICA also implemented the project for improving animal health and production through enhanced extension services from 2006 to 2009.

“From the 10 indigenous veterinarians in 1986, UNZA has to date produced more than 300 graduates of veterinary medicine,” Prof. Mweene shares.

With an increased number of veterinary doctors, Zambia now has adequate human resource capacity to deal with the health of animals and their production.

JICA also developed an intensive staff technical programme through which professors and other experts from the veterinary school of medicine at Hokkaido University in Japan came to Zambia to train local staff in veterinary services.

The aggressive intensive staff development programme was introduced to ensure that there was development of human resource that was going to eventually be responsible for running the UNZA veterinary school of medicine in terms of training and research.

“I was in this group for the intensive exchange programme for those that were trained to become lecturers. I went to Hokkaido University to do my PhD,” Prof. Mweene recalls.
After working as a lecturer for a number of years, Prof. Mweene became Dean of the veterinary school of medicine at UNZA.

JICA project formulation adviser for health Yukari Yasutaka says due to the urgent need at the time to establish a veterinary school of medicine in Zambia, the agency embarked on a technical cooperation programme through which Japanese experts came to Zambia to establish a proper teaching mechanism, train lecturers and formulate a curriculum for the veterinary school at UNZA.

Ms Yasutaka says this kind of technical cooperation took place from 1985 to 2009 during which about 100 Japanese experts came to Zambia.

“Under the Japanese Oversees Volunteer Programme which started in 1967, Japanese volunteers were sent to Zambia to help in different sectors like health, agriculture and education,” she explains.
JICA used this overseas scheme to send about 14 volunteers to UNZA as lecturers and technicians to help with the establishment of the veterinary school of medicine at the country’s highest institution of learning.

Hokkaido University was the greatest contributor to the establishment of the veterinary school at UNZA through training programmes and other collaborations that took place since 1983.

Masahiro Kajihara from Hokkaido University is working as JICA expert of the programme called project for surveillance of Viral Zoonoses in Africa.

Dr Kajihara, a virologist whose project started in 2013 at UNZA, says there are currently a lot of emerging and re-emerging diseases.

Going by Dr Kajihara, most viral infectious diseases, including Ebola, are zoonoses caused by viruses that infect both humans and animals.

“Hokkaido University and UNZA have jointly implemented the project for surveillance of viral zoonoses in Africa,” says Dr Kajihara.

The project is implemented within the framework of the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development, a partnership between JICA and Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).

one of the laboratory at the veterinary school of medicine 

In 2007, a Zambia office of the Hokkaido University Research Center for Zoonosis Control was set up at UNZA school of veterinary medicine.

With a goal of strengthening research and survey capability related to viral zoonoses, the project aims to develop and improve diagnostic techniques.

In 2010, UNZA working with JICA and Hokkaido University, established a biosafety level three laboratory in the veterinary school of medicine.

This facility is a laboratory that enables researchers to handle highly dangerous and infectious agents.
“We focus on clarifying the mechanisms of where and how viruses exist in the natural world, and when or how they invade human society,” Dr Kajihara explains.

He works with his Zambian counterparts in research and capacity building.

“We collect biological samples including bats and droppings of water birds in the field to carry out the epidemiological study of such viral zoonoses as avian influenza and Ebola,” he says.

During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the UNZA school of veterinary medicine was the sole diagnostic laboratory for early detection and outbreak prevention.

Dr Kaj ihara says while participating in the international joint research, there has been a continuous transfer of skills to Zambian researchers.

And Hokkaido University study abroad coordinator Satoshi Nakamura says Hokkaido University Lusaka, housed within the department of veterinary medicine, was established in 2012 and is the Africa regional office.

Mr Nakamura says the university has promoted the establishment of inter university agreements for academic exchange programmes.

“We have encouraged collaboration between researchers in Africa and Hokkaido University and collaborated with Japan related organisations such as JICA,” Mr Nakamura says.

He says the university is trying to extend relations to other fields such as engineering.

“Our main aim is to enhance relations between and among universities through explaining our activities and inviting students to Japan,” he says.

Because of the university’s vast experience, the Japanese Ministry of Education made a contract with Hokkaido University to act as study abroad coordinator.

“Our government is now trying to increase the international student bursaries up to 300,000 by 2020,” Mr Nakamura points out.

Let God be the judge: continue to do good

VIOLET MENGO

Lusaka

May 11, 2016

Violet Mengo

USUALLY the people that hurt you the most are those close to you. They would pretend to love, care and relate with you as real good people and yet inside them, they are hurting.

They would celebrate with you your achievements, pain and speak encouraging words to you that are often soothing to the soul but they are just pretending, leave them just pray for them.

It is usually difficult to tell their true identity because most of it is coated with pretence and fake love towards you. However, God sees them.

The Bible is clear when it says that “you have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:43-44).

The best way to respond to such people is to show them love and pray for them so that in due course, God will surely minister to them and help them become better people.

When you discover that those that are close to you are not being real, avoid them and pray for them because God in his teaching  and his new command is that we should love one another just as he loved (John 13:34).

 I left those that I felt were real good people in my life because it became evident that they were not happy with what God was doing in my life or vice versa,  we became incompatible  and was time to part ways. It is hard but it is for your own good, two people cannot move together unless they agree.

The Bible says we work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it. (1 Corinthians 4:12). Therefore, do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21).

JICA’s contribution to Zambia’s development

VIOLET MENGO

 Lusaka


April, 20 2016

NODA

 

IN LINE with the agreed Yokohama Action Plan (2013 -2017), Japan has continued to play a key role in Zambia’s development through the implementation of different projects in various parts of the country.

In 2013, in Yokohama, Japan, the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD5) agreed on seven main categories of action, spelling out goals to be achieved and specific measures to be implemented by TICAD participants which started in 1993 and this year, it will be held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Throughout this action plan, greater attention is given to Africa’s own efforts of its development agenda.

The main areas include:
- Boosting economic growth
- Accelerating infrastructure and capacity developments
- Empowering farmers as mainstream economic actors
- Promoting sustainable and resilient growth
- Consolidating peace, stability, democracy and good governance
- Creating an inclusive society for growth
Follow up mechanism

In Zambia, the Japanese Government, through the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA), has continued to play a key role in enhancing economic development.
JICA chief representative Hisanao Noda says the Japanese Government has set up a country assistant policy for each developing country through which it gives support.

Mr Noda says in collaboration with Zambian authorities, Japan has already set up the country assistant policy for Zambia.

The main target for Japanese assistant, to Zambia is the promotion of sustainable economic growth of a diversified economy because currently, the Zambian economy is dependent on mining, especially copper.

“Since the price of copper became low, the Zambian economy has been affected very much. Our aim is to help diversify the economy through development of industries other than mining and enhancement of agricultural production,” Mr Noda says.

Japan’s main policy, he says, has three pillars from which the country gives technical support to Zambia.

The first one is the vitalisation of the private sector, and according to Mr Noda, this is directly connected to diversification of the economy.
The pillar has two parts: the private sector development of industries and the development of the agricultural sector.

The pillar on agriculture focuses on improving productivity and stabilising production in domestic manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

Mr Noda says Japan is supporting business expansion, enhancing export competitiveness and improving quality and productivity of micro, small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing sector as this plays roles in the diversification of the economy.

To date, Japan, through a project for community-based smallholder irrigation, is supporting farmers to improve their food security by diversifying and increasing their food production through application of community-based irrigation systems.

The project, which started in 2013 in Northern, Luapula and Muchinga provinces, is expected to wind up in June 2017.

Mr Noda says the community-based smallholder irrigation project has proved to be a highly efficient approach due to its low cost, manageability and swift return of the investment. The project has already opened up 572 hectares of irrigated land in two dry seasons.

The project is also effective in areas that are not suitable for large- scale irrigation.
Mr Noda is concerned that Zambians are growing maize everywhere at the expense of diversifying to other crops.

“We need diversification of the crops, we are trying to make the value chain of new crops like rice and soya beans,” he says.

In partnership with the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) and the Ministry of Agriculture, JICA has started a rice cultivation development project and the models for demonstration have already started.

Once good land for cultivation is secured, rice cultivation will start and the promotion of the initiative will be extended to farmers.

Mr Noda says Zambia is importing rice from Thailand because the production level locally is very low despite the demand for rice increasing every year.

This scenario prompted the partnership among JICA, ZARI and the Ministry of Agriculture to promote growing of rice which is aimed at cushioning the importation of rice from Thailand.
The second pillar is to improve basic infrastructure for economic activities.

Mr Noda says due to the fact that every industry needs basic infrastructure such as for electricity, water and transportation for trade, Japan has continued to play a key role in these areas.

“We are focusing on two main projects in these areas which are transport and energy,” he points out.
Mr Noda says recently, JICA started undertaking a new design study for the urban water supply for the city of Lusaka.

He says this kind of infrastructure development needs foreign investment hence the involvement of Japan in this area.

JICA is also developing transport network, both road and railway, which is expected to significantly contribute to reducing the costs of transporting products such as those from the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. An example of this is the Kazungula bridge construction project.
In the energy sector, JICA, through Zesco, is helping to improve people’s access to electricity in rural areas by constructing distribution lines in seven provinces of the country.

The project, which started in 2008, is expected to be completed in 2018 by which time living standards of rural people will have been improved.

And the third pillar is about the development of human resources.

“Good quality human resources are required to develop the industry. In this concept, we are focussing on education, health, and water and sanitation to improve the standard of living of the people of Zambia,” Mr Hisanao shares.

JICA’s role in this pillar has been to improve the quality of basic education through enhancement of teachers’ performance and skills through continued professional development.

In the area of water provision, JICA, through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, has constructed borehole water supply facilities fitted with hand pumps in 176 sites in six districts in Luapula Province for phase III.

Through grant aid, Japan has helped organise village water, sanitation and hygiene education committees as well as village sensitisation activities regarding water facilities’ maintenance and sanitation.

And Mr Noda says in 2015 alone, JICA Zambia spent about one billion Japanese yen (about K94 million) on technical co-operation in Zambia.

He says these financial resources do not include grant aid or concessional loan but are merely part of Japan’s technical assistance to Zambia.

This year, JICA is again expected to spend about K94 million on technical co-operation throughout the country.

Registrar of Societies computerisation enhances service delivery

VIOLET MENGO
Lusaka
April 23,2016
 
COLLINS Simuka is from Southern Province. About three years ago, he hoped to have his group of farmers registered in Lusaka but could not manage. This was due to congestion at the registration centre. The process was also extremely slow.

Fortunately, his second attempt was successful as he managed to register his group and obtain the certificate of registration the same day.

“I arrived yesterday around 17:00 hours when the Department of Registrar of Societies offices were closing, so I was advised to come the following day,” Mr Simuka said.

The following day Mr Simuka was given the certificate of registration; there were no queues as was the case three years ago.

“It looks like the system they have now is a lot better, I am happy. I advise my friends looking forward to register [their organisations] not to worry anymore because the system here is great,” Mr Simuka said.

And Pastor Cephas Simuyemba from Apostolic Faith and Acts Church in Zambia is another client who has seen the improvement in service delivery at the Registrar of Societies.

“I submitted forms for two of our branches in Mumbwa and I have seen that the system is good. Last week I received one certificate, and today, I have collected another one,” Pastor Simuyemba said.
He commended the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Registrar of Societies for the efficiency in service delivery.

The improvements in service delivery at the department of the Registrar of Societies are due to the recently launched computerised system.

The Societies Registration (SRS) is an automated system introduced by the department in 2015 and launched last month, aimed at enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in the registration and regulation of societies in Zambia.

The system provides a number of applications which include registration of societies, a branch of a registered society; registration of exemption of a society and search on register/file of registered society by using the computer.

Computers have improved the way businesses operate in respective industries.

Technology has advanced so much that those who are not using computers in their business are at a major disadvantage against their competitors.

And the Ministry of Home Affairs, in its quest to be competitive in the sector, launched the ‘computerisation of system project’.

Minister of Home Affairs Davies Mwila, who launched the project in Lusaka, said computerisation of operations of the Registrar of Societies will help speed up business operations.

Mr Mwila said the operation shift from manual to computerised system will enhance collection of revenue and improve accountability.

He said the computerisation of the department would help reduce on logistical challenges faced by societies throughout the country.

“We live in a world where we cannot talk about development without accepting the use of information and communication technologies. Everywhere around the world, computer systems have been used for institutions to keep both their clients and staff records manage their finances and provide online application,” Mr Mwila said.

He said the computerisation process at the Registrar of Societies was in line with Government objectives, through its e-Government initiative, of creating efficiency and reducing costs of doing business, thereby improving service delivery.

E-Government describes the use of technologies to facilitate the operation of government and the dispersement of government information and services.

It deals heavily with internet and non-internet applications to aid government operations.
Mr Mwila said with the computerisation of the system, collecting of consumer feedback, ordering of raw materials, and inspection of products will be made quicker and companies will operate much faster and produce better and quality results.

He said government is determined to embrace and promote the use of such applications and other information communication technology to provide better public service as the nation moves towards achieving and implementing the Vision 2030.

The minister urged the department to strive and work towards rolling out the system to the other provinces in the near future.

Mr Mwila said the computerisation system project is in line with President Lungu’s call.
Zambia has embraced this trend as part of its strategy is rolling out initiatives that expand the interaction scope and use of e-Government processes.

President Lungu, during the opening of the National Assembly, emphasised the need to be adaptive, innovative and determined to change the way things are done.

The Registrar of Societies has been mandated with the role of registering societies, political parties, associations, clubs and churches to ensure better control and supervision under the Societies Act.
Chief registrar of societies Thandiwe Mhende said before computerisation of the system, the society had accumulated 47,000 files.

Ms Mhende said the manual system, coupled with such a high volume of records, brought about a number of challenges for the department which included difficulties in storage space, delays in retrieval of information, inefficiencies in records management and difficulties in ensuring security and confidentiality of stored documents.

Since 1958, the Office of the Registrar of Societies has been using the manual system and this contributed to delays in registration processes and issuance of certificates.

This also led to loss or misplacement of documents submitted by clients and the challenge of inadequate space for storage of huge volumes of files.

She said the introduction of the computerisation system provides the department an opportunity to address the highlighted challenges.

Ms Mhende further said the new system will help them serve clients better as it would result in enhanced revenue collection, improved records management, enhanced processing speed for registration and retrieval of information.

And Home Affairs head of public relations Moses Suwali said plans are under-way to decentralise the operations of the Department of the Registrar of Societies in all provinces.

Mr Suwali said that this will help ease the issuance of certificates in provinces without subjecting people to travelling to Lusaka just to obtain certificates.

He also said the computerisation programme is on-going in other departments under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the project is expected to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

“The Zambia Police Service and the Zambia Correctional Service are some of the departments in the ministry where the computerisation programme is critical for it will enhance security,” Mr Siwali said.

Zambia leads in fight against malaria

VIOLET MENGO

 Lusaka

May 4, 2016





 
THE 2015 National Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) released in Lusaka recently has shown that Zambia has continued to be a leader in the fight against malaria.

The country has completed five MISs, making it the first African nation to have conducted five malaria indicator surveys on the continent.

The surveys were conducted in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015.

This is particularly in scaling up coverage with life-saving tools like insecticide treated-bednets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS).

ITNs in particular have long been a primary prevention strategy and the country has one of the highest ITN coverage rates in Africa, with 80 percent of households owning at least one mosquito net.

The national vision for ITN distribution is to have universal coverage for all people where there is potential for malaria transmission.

Universal coverage is defined as ensuring that all sleeping spaces in households are covered by ITNs.
The survey shows that ownership of ITNs was fairly equitable in both rural and urban areas while coverage was high in both categories from 2012 levels.

Intervention coverage for those at the lower end of the economic spectrum has also continued to rise.
The highest and lowest wealth categories reported ITN ownership of 77 percent and 73 percent, respectively.

In the recent past, Zambia has also increased the number of districts where IRS is deployed from 15 districts during the 2005- 2006 period to all 103 districts today.

The MIS report also states that 81 percent of all households are now protected with at least one ITN or being sprayed with IRS, up from 73 percent in 2012.

In addition, the number of women taking intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy remains high with 90 percent of all women taking a dose, up from 88 percent in 2012.

And Ministry of Health permanent secretary Peter Mwaba, in his foreword of the report, says the MIS provides valuable information about progress made, which is shared with various stakeholders.
Dr Mwaba says the MIS also reflects the changing nature of service delivery in terms of malaria treatment.

The MIS report was based on a nationally representative two-stage cluster sample of 3, 750 households surveyed from 150 standard enumerated areas randomly selected from all the 10 provinces to provide national, urban and rural estimates.

The Ministry of Health has concentrated malaria elimination research in Southern Province, after choosing the region as the site for treatment strategies aimed at household and community levels.
IRS is one of the primary malaria prevention strategies in Zambia and during the period 2014- 2015, it was conducted throughout the country.

The survey shows that an estimated 29 percent of households were reported to have been sprayed in the previous 12 months, largely due to the 2014 seasonal campaign.

Eastern Province, where IRS scale-up has occurred, saw a decline from 25 percent of children testing positive for the disease by microscopy in 2012 to 13 percent in 2015.

Lusaka, Northern and Western provinces reported the lowest levels of IRS coverage.
Malaria prevalence in the country was measured by both rapid diagnostic test and slide microscopy during the 2015 MIS.

The malaria slide results showed higher prevalence in older children than younger ones.
Rural areas reported much higher levels of malaria than urban areas. Children in the highest wealth category were least likely to test positive while those in the lowest wealth category were most likely to test positive.

Deputy Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said, when he launched the report recently, that the MIS provides government with the necessary results for decision making to intensify malaria control interventions and implement elimination measures as guided by evidence.

“We still need to be innovative and continue to intensify, re-strategise and focus our efforts in a more systematic manner using evidence generated through surveys such as the MIS,” Dr Chilufya said.
The deputy minister said there is also need for a more synergistic approach involving all key stakeholders such as other line ministries, traditional partners, private sector and the community.

“The report will provide implementers and the leadership at various levels with information for better decision making as we move towards malaria elimination,” he said.

According to Dr Chilufya, government has set a goal to eliminate malaria by 2020 in line with the Abuja Declaration of 2000.

The declaration was a commitment made by African leaders to intensify efforts to halve the malaria mortality on the continent by 2010 by implementing strategies and actions for Roll Back Malaria as agreed at the Abuja Summit.

Dr Chilufya said government, through the Ministry of Health, is committed to ending malaria through evidence-based interventions.

The main objective of the MIS is to carry out a comprehensive evaluation using national household surveys to assess community level availability of key malaria interventions.

Another significant feature of the survey is the assessment on the status of malaria-related burden through anemia and parasite prevalence testing targeting children under the age of five as a proxy for the entire population.

By province, Luapula reported the highest level of malaria prevalence with 32.5 percent of children testing positive to the disease.

Overall, the 2015 MIS showed the progress that Zambia has made in the fight against malaria over the past decade.

The report demonstrated the continued success of ITN distribution and the increasing use of IRS in rural areas.

Nationally, malaria prevalence did not decline as much as it had in previous years.
However, some provinces showed dramatic improvements most likely due to increased IRS and treatment-based strategies.

World Health Organisation (WHO) regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said between 2000 and 2015, malaria cases and deaths due to the disease in Africa declined by 42 percent and 66 percent, respectively.

Dr Moeti, who was represented at the launch of the MIS report by WHO country representative for Zambia Jacob Mufunda, said although commendable progress has been made, malaria still remains a major public health and development challenge.

He said the current global solidarity for a malaria- free world has been further enhanced by the Sustainable Development Goal to end malaria by 2030.

Zambia remains an example of a country with a well-coordinated national malaria programme aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality.

As the global community seeks to attain the ambitious goal of reducing malaria mortality and incidence rates by 90 percent and eliminating the disease in at least 35 countries by 2030, Zambia continues to lead in mounting research efforts to help end the deadly disease.

Church vital in environment conservation

VIOLET MENGO,

Lusaka

May 9, 2016

BISHOPS around the world should plant a tree every time they do a confirmation or baptism; this was one of the recommendations put to the archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby by a group of young Anglicans in central and southern Africa.

Gathered at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka from April 4 to 8, the Anglican Church youths realised that climate change affects all people, including churches, and as young people, their contribution to the fight against climate change is vital.

Climate change is the consequence of unchecked pollution. When carbon emissions caused by human activity enter the air, they have dangerous effects on the environment, the economy, and people’s well-being.

But just as human activities are responsible for climate change, people can halt its progress.
The young Anglicans who had gathered ahead of the 16th Anglican Consultative Council (ACC16) in Lusaka, discussed discipleship and environmental matters.

They also pledged to dedicate a 100-day campaign to raise awareness on climate change through what they dubbed “New Green Growth” upon returning to their respective dioceses.

Drawn from South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana, the young Anglicans were sponsored by the UK-based Christian Development Agency called Tearfund.

Some of the young people that were invited to take part in the conference were already engaged in environmental campaigns in their local churches.

Timothy Chimwayi, one of the young Anglicans from Matero township in Lusaka, is among the 75 youths who pledged to promote the New Green Growth campaign.

Timothy said young people need to play their role as good stewards of God’s creation.
At the end of the conference, the young people came up with seven thematic messages that focus on water, mines, renewable energy, waste management, deforestation and land erosion, air pollution and farming practices that were presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The youth made presentations to Bishop Welby regarding their responsibility of stewardship for the earth.

Some presentations were spoken; others took the form of sketches, incorporating music and drama.
St Peters Parish priest and coordinator of the youth conference Robert Sihubwa said young people from central and southern Africa were gathered to discuss climate change and intentional discipleship.

Father Sihubwa said the conference had three major strands which are:
1. Intentional discipleship
2. Youth leadership
3. Climate change and the green campaign.
“We were also partnering with a group called Young Green Anglicans whose aim is to campaign for green dioceses and green countries,” Father Sihubwa said.

He said young people resolved that at baptism events and major church ceremonies, there has to be the planting of trees, and that by so doing, the Church will be contributing to ‘green growth’.

According to Father Sihubwa, when God placed the first human being on earth, in the Garden of Eden, one of the key commandments he gave man was to look after the garden, till it and sustain it.
He said the fundamental commandment God gave to man, before the famous 10 commandments, was to look after the environment.

“We are going back to the fundamental commandment which says that connecting with God is connecting with his passion and his passion is his environment that must co-exist with human beings,” Father Sihubwa said.

He said climate change is an issue currently affecting every one and the need for the Church to focus on environmental conservation is mostly influenced by the commandments of God.

Father Sihubwa said the Church is supposed to take a leading role in looking after the environment because Christians are the custodians of the commandments of God.

“We are the ones that God tasked to teach the world and show them how to look after the environment,” he said.

Father Sihubwa said some of the young Anglicans were getting accurate information on climate change for the first time, while others were already sensitised on the matter and saw the gathering as an opportunity to remind themselves of what they already knew.

Bishop Welby told the young Anglicans that over a long period of time, people had been noticing changes in the climate, but could not attribute it to anything as they were not sure what was happening.

The archbishop, who agreed to act as the public face for environmental issues within the Anglican, was impressed with the zeal he saw among the young people.

“It is a great honour to be requested to be the honorary chair and patron of the Anglican Communion Movement on Environment,” Bishop Welby said.

He said it had come to him with fresh force during the ACC16 and he was very honoured to be allowed to have a role to play in caring for the environment.

Naomi Foxwood a representative from the Global Advocacy Department of Tearfund, said the agency had sponsored the conference because of its desire to see the global church mobilised on matters of the environment and poverty.

With various stakeholders taking part in addressing climate change, it goes to show how important the ratification of the Paris climate change agreement is to the world.

Recently world leaders agreed at the United Nations (UN) headquarters to ratify the Paris climate deal and get the ball rolling on plans to check global warming.

Held on Earth Day, the ceremony in New York City came four months after the deal was clinched in Paris and marked the first step towards binding countries to the promises they made to cut greenhouse gas emissions.




Below is Archbshop Welby Justin of Canterbury with the Young Anglicans dedicated to care for the environment at the ACC16 held in Lusaka recently.

Going back to school after becoming a mother still sticky issue

March 26, 2015

VIOLET MENGO
Mansa

THIS year, Elizabeth Musonda, 16, of Chinanda village in Mansa, should have completed her secondary school and preparing to get to university. Instead, she is preparing for her grade nine examinations in November.

“I was in grade nine when I got pregnant and the man responsible abandoned me. My parents were too disappointed to send me back to school after the birth of my baby,” Elizabeth said.

She had to wait three years before going back to school at Chakopo Primary School after moving from Chinanda village one of the areas with a high dropout rate due to pregnancies.

A number of young pregnant girls are seen in the village while others with babies strapped to their back carrying water from the shallow wells to their various homes. However, not many girls are as lucky as Elizabeth; most of them are unable to go back to school.

This is because they do not have enough money to pay school fees, while others do not believe in educating girls, especially after they fall pregnant.

There is still a strongly held belief in many areas of the country that girls are a source of wealth to their parents, who should be given away in marriage as soon as they reach puberty.

However, Chakopo Primary School stands out as an example in its efforts to address pregnancies and dropouts.

Through career guidance teachers, a day has been set aside where pupils learn and are able to exchange ideas among themselves and their teachers on how they wish certain issues should be handled, including sexual reproductive health lessons.

These efforts are slowly yielding results through the reduced number of girls falling pregnant and dropping out of school.

The school, which is situated about a kilometre from Mansa Post Office, is making an impact in the district by advocating for the protection of girls.

Through the Agents for Change programme that helps girls to understand their sexuality and other reproductive health issues, the school is recording a decline in the number of pregnancies each year.

The programme is being implemented in partnership with parents and career guidance teachers and has been doing well for the past few years.

Children are counselled on how they can delay their sexual debut. Girls are sensitised to understand their sexual reproductive health fully.

School headteacher Morgan Kasanda is an advocate against early pregnancies. He explained that the school was losing an average of three girls every year through pregnancies and urgent action was needed.

During a PTA meeting, it was decided to establish a joint action plan to ensure that girls had access to reproductive health information for them to make informed decisions.

With a number of activities that address the welfare of the girl child in relation with reproductive health and access to information, Mr Kasanda is pleased to note that female teachers have been instrumental in assisting girls grow up responsibly and focus on their education.

“We have also set up sub-committees where the school head boy and head girl have been incorporated. They participate in coming up with solutions that help girls,” he said.

With the involvement of young people it is amazing to see that some of the best solutions originate from them, the children are given topics which they are asked to research and later give an insight into the topic.

The guiding principle for the action plan has been the Child Protection Policy and the re-entry policy which was introduced by Government in 1997 with the aim of ensuring that girls who fell pregnant can go back to school to complete their education.

The policy is also aimed at ensuring each child is cherished and affirmed as a gift from God with an inherent right to dignity of life and bodily integrity to be respected, nurtured and protected by all.

Mr Kasanda, however, said there was need to review the re-entry policy because of some gaps that should be addressed.

And Jessy Chifunda, a teacher at the school, said teachers have challenges teaching girls on reproductive health because most of them are already aware of issues of sex due to technology.
Technological advancement has allowed girls to find out certain issues about reproductive health and sex activities on their own.

“The syllabus has well explained reproductive health sex and as teachers, we try to also simplify it to the level of children so that they understand it properly,” Ms Chifunda said.

Girls are also engaged in drama, poetry and songs to avoid them engaging or indulging in sexual activities.

Ms Chifunda said before a teacher embarks on any topic, children are taught life skills that involve discussing realities such as HIV and AIDS, sex and sexuality, abortion, defilement and hygiene.

And Ministry of Health spokesperson Reuben Mbewe says teenage pregnancies could be fatal because the girls’ bodies are not well-developed and are susceptible to complications at delivery.

“What is worrying is that most of these girls give birth at home under the care of traditional birth attendants who cannot provide specialised healthcare, they risk suffering from fistula, raptured uterus or unsafe abortion,” Dr Mbewe said.

Dr Mbewe who has encountered cases where a baby was too big for normal delivery said it is important that girls are sensitised about reproductive health and how to access information.

Early pregnancies are a rapidly growing social challenge that paints a gloomy picture to the realisation of the girl’s right to education.

When a young girl is educated, she is likely to earn a higher income, get married much later, delay child-bearing and have healthier children.