Making trade indispensable in Zambia’s national development agenda

There has been little debate about the role of civil society in reducing the macro-micro gap in the trade agenda for Zambia, over the years. However, Zambian civil society organisations have now started to play a key role in bridging this gap. CUTS International Lusaka has led this process from the front by building forward and backward linkages between the realities at the grassroots and the process of policy making at the national level. This has accentuated the linkage between the trade policy process and the national developmental objectives better in Zambia. Our project “Better Exploration of Trade as a Means for Poverty Reduction,” (www.cuts-international.org/ARC/Lusaka/BETAMPOR/index.htm), provided a platform for sharing views from the bottom and refining the perspective on trade in the current national development related discussions and actions in the country.

Global visibility to National Trade Interventions

CUTS International Lusaka’s interventions on trade related issue has been recognised in the global Aid for Trade (AfT) review process and reflected in the related documents. CUTS International Lusaka aims to maintain the same level of engagement on this agenda in the future as well. CUTS International Lusaka also continued to be the lead organisation in coordinating trade initiatives such as the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) in Zambia. CUTS successfully organised the Zambia AGOA Civil Society Conclave for 2013, and a civil society position was reached on trade with the US with a communiqué developed that was presented later at the 2013 AGOA Summit in Addis Ababa.

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Empowering
Consumers with information

CUTS International Lusaka has been at the forefront of consumer awareness and is grateful to friends in the media (print and electronic) for offering us space in their esteemed newspapers, TV and Radio for spreading information about implication of international/national/sectoral policies on consumers. CUTS International Lusaka utilised this space effectively and has been successfully spreading understanding and awareness on key issues that affect the ordinary consumers, e.g., in the pharmaceutical, electricity, telecom, transport and staple food sectors.  
(www.cuts-international.org/ARC/Lusaka/CUTS-MUVITV)

Amongst the Top Think-Tanks in Zambia

CUTS Lusaka was identified by Zambia Economic Advocacy Programme (ZEAP), a DFID,UK run programme as one of the 5 top Think-Tanks in Zambia, using evidence based policy advocacy on trade and economic issues. This has yielded support in the areas of capacity building and research on economic policy for CUTS International Lusaka. Going forward this will strengthen CUTS International Lusaka’s ability to link evidence with advocacy and facilitate positive changes in Zambian society.

Evidence based Advocacy for protecting Consumers

In our quest to promote evidence based dialogue on consumer matters, CUTS Lusaka has continued to produce first rate research work. For example a recent study on the removal of fuel subsidies and its effects on the Zambian consumer and producers, was released in partnership with other Zambian CSOs. Research remains a key tool for CUTS to gather evidence from the ground and influence policy. CUTS has remained a strong and an active voice of the Zambian consumer, and has taken up cases where consumers have been affected by action of businesses, including even large Companies.....
(www.cuts-international.org/ARC/Lusaka/LECOP)