Zambia democratic governance project : monitoring and evaluation studies -- mid-term review

Mid-term evaluation covers the period 1992-95. Although slow to hit full-stride, the project is now making major and critical contributions to the consolidation of democratic institutions and processes in Zambia. Four of the five project components have made progress toward intended results, while the fifth has been suspended (correctly, in the evaluation team's judgment). (1) Constitutional Reform. The Constitutional Review Commission has completed a nationwide series of public hearings, and issued a draft constitution on June 16, 1995. (2) Civic Education. Despite slow institutional growth at its National Secretariat, the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has built a cadre of volunteer trainers to conduct a mass civic education campaign. (3) The Media Independence component has begun to increase the professional skills of Zambian journalists and contributed to policy dialogue leading to media law reform. (4) Under the Policy Coordination component, the project has established a policy analysis and coordination unit in the Cabinet Office and introduced efficiencies into the conduct of cabinet affairs. (5) In the wake of the National Assembly's failure to meet an agreed condition precedent, USAID/Z has withdrawn support from the Legislative Performance component. The project has been demand-driven from the outset, with Zambian partners initiating requests for assistance and actively participating in project design. As a result, Zambians have generally taken ownership of individual project components, notably in the Cabinet Office and the Zambia Office of Mass Communications (ZAMCOM). The Speaker of the National Assembly ultimately disassociated himself from the project's goals (though support remains among reformist members of parliament), and the ownership of the national civic education campaign remains blurred between FODEP and its contractors. A major design flaw was inadequate attention to institutional arrangements and practical mechanisms for implementation. Other project weaknesses have included substantial delays in procurement of TA and commodities and occasional constraints placed on the strong performance of the Democracy and Governance Advisor by the need to play the dual role of policy advisor and Project Administrator. In addition, the sheer range of project activities has stretched USAID/Z management capacities and posed challenges of project integration. Despite these problems, the project has made USAID the lead donor in the democratic governance field in Zambia.