(DAILY MAIL) Zambia assured of UK support
Zambia assured of UK supportBy YANDE KAPEYA
BRITAIN has assured Zambia of her continued budgetary support despite the global financial crisis which has affected many countries in the world.
British High Commissioner to Zambia, Carolyn Davidson said her government would stand by its commitment and render development assistance to developing countries like Zambia.
Mrs Davidson said this in an interview in Lusaka yesterday.
She said the United Kingdom (UK) would not reduce the budgetary assistance but use its Gross National Income to work with developing countries.
“Like our Prime Minister Gordon Brown earlier stated, this is not the time to abandon countries like Zambia. Despite the global economic crisis, we shall continue to render assistance in any possible way we can,” Mrs Davidson said.
And Mrs Davidson said there was an urgent need for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to institute stringent measures which would resolve the political crisis in Zimbabwe.
She said the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe was increasingly become alarming.
Mrs Davidson said there was an urgent need for the MDC and the ruling ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe to deal with the power sharing agreement.
“ The key issue here is for the two parties to accept the power sharing deal which was signed in September to end the humanitarian crisis in that country,” she said.
Mrs Davidson said she was, however, confident that President Banda and other leaders in the region would deliver solutions to the political crisis in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, the British government will tomorrow introduce a new streamlined visa application system.
Mrs Davidson announced this at a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday.
She said the new system had been streamlined from a score of 80 points to five, making it easier for applicants to access visas within a short period of time.
“The introduction of the new points based system means that to qualify for a skilled worker permit, foreign nationals will have to earn a certain number of points before being allowed to work in Britain,” Mrs Davidson said.
She dismissed reports that it was difficult for Zambians to access visas from the British High Commission office in Lusaka.
Mrs Davidson said her office had since January this year issued 3, 700 visas out of 4, 600 initial applications.
She said only those who had improper documentation were denied access into the UK.
“Britain is open to everyone and as a commission we are geared to offer a good service to people in Zambia through our threshold visa section. Those who do not manage to get visas in their first application have the right to appeal,” she said.
Labels: CAROLYN DAVIDSON, DONORS, UK
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