Dr Daniel Hammett, Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography and Planning, returned to Zambia last week to deliver the second in a series of workshops to support Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working to reduce poverty in the country.
Informed by Dr Hammett鈥檚 experience of running similar training activities to build capacity within civil society working in the transitional justice sector in Rwanda, the workshops will help to develop a clear roadmap and shared vision for strengthening the civil society sector; increase capacity within the sector; and build relationships with government and donors which will enable CSOs to influence policy and raise funds.
Dr Hammett鈥檚 activities are supported as a key activity within the NCA-DCA (Norwegian Church Aid - DanChurchAid) Joint Country Programme in Zambia - the main focus of which is on poverty reduction. Dr Hammett will be delivering workshops using a training tool which he co-wrote with colleagues from Norwegian Church Aid.
Participants include senior leaders from organisations including the Centre for Trade Policy and Development, National Organisation for Agricultural Development in Communities, Women For Change, Centre for Environmental Justice, Zambia Land Alliance and Zambia Alliance of Women.
Speaking before he left, Dr Hammett said: 鈥淚鈥檓 really grateful to get the opportunity to travel to Zambia and work with some inspiring people from a wide variety of organisations dedicated to tackling poverty. In the longer term, I hope that our work with CSOs will lead to a national dialogue with government and key global donors and embassies later this year, bringing these organisations into the conversation and ultimately changing policy and practice around civil society.鈥
The training builds on some of Dr Hammett鈥檚 research, including articles on , and (with co-author Lucy Jackson). This work also feeds into Dr Hammett鈥檚 teaching on the third-year BA Geography module "Democracy and Citizenship: Dilemmas and Tensions".
