Annual Report: Fostering Accountability and Transparency in Zambia (FACT) Cooperative Agreement AID-611-14-L-00001

The program is being implemented in two provinces, Lusaka and Eastern, and focuses on engaging sector-specific Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to strengthen and increase meaningful engagement among Zambian civil society, citizens, and the state. The program has two primary objectives: strengthening the capacity of local CSOs to enhance delivery and oversight of public service delivery in the education, health/HIV, sustainable rural livelihoods, and environment sectors; and improving engagement between citizens and government service providers in the same sectors to improve service delivery. FACT is being implemented in 74 communities across 8 districts in the Eastern and Lusaka provinces, with regular assistance provided to 111 CSOs, including neighborhood health committees, parent teacher associations, and community-based natural resource management boards. During FY17, the FACT program provided training to its partner CSOs in Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI), which helped them integrate gender into their work and make their programs more socially inclusive. These partners helped 250 women and youth achieve leadership roles within the 103 community structures. The program also supported research conducted by two partners, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) and Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC), which informed their programs and provided evidence-based recommendations to decision makers. The Social Accountability Symposium held in September 2017 brought together 249 participants from various stakeholders, including national and local government officials, civil society, and the private sector, to discuss social accountability in Zambia. The symposium highlighted the importance of citizen participation in driving improvements in public service delivery and created momentum for future progress. The Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) launched in June 2017 emphasizes the importance of citizen engagement and participation in strengthening service delivery and enhancing governance in Zambia. Evidence generated from community scorecards has provided insight into how the social accountability tool can enable effective, evidence-based engagement between service users and service providers at health facility, school, and community levels. Public Dialogue Forums were held in the districts of Kafue, Petauke, and Lundazi, bringing together citizens with government service providers to identify challenges and agree on a way forward. The FACT program continues to face challenges, including the limited ability of CSOs to present evidence-based recommendations to decision makers, but has made significant progress in promoting social accountability and improving service delivery in Zambia.