Zambia stands for peace - KK
By Moses Kuwema
Thu 31 Oct. 2013, 14:01 CAT
DR Kenneth Kaunda says Zambia stands for peace in Africa and the whole world. And outgoing United Nations resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja says Zambia is a country that lives with a quiet set of contradictions.
Meanwhile, first lady Dr Christine Kaseba says, she has come across very few people who are not intimidated by her husband and Wignaraja is one of them.
During the 68th UN Day reception held at Taj Pamodzi hotel on Tuesday evening, Dr Kaunda said just like the UN, Zambia stood for peace in Africa and the whole world
"We must live together in harmony across factors such as colour, age, ethnicity and tribe," Dr Kaunda said.
He said the UN was a partner in the development process and there was need for collaboration to be stepped up.
Dr Kaunda told Wignaraja that she still had a place in Zambia and that she was free to come back if she so wished.
And Wignaraja said she has always referred to Zambia as a country that lives with a quiet set of contradictions.
She said these contradictions were not brought about as a result of lack of data or understanding, or a lack of capacities or knowledge.
"They are well known, and almost accepted. And this is where we need to keep questioning if this is good enough for a country wanting to take great strides forward. My family and I count ourselves so lucky to have lived and served here these past three and half years. I guess we have become a part of these sometimes calm, and sometimes chaotic contradictions! But, I have often repeated these famous words, that there are always 'a few crazy people who think they can change the world and they are the very ones that do'! So, I hope that both inside this hall and also somewhere out there, are those few crazy people who will tackle the big contradictions and shake it all up," Wignaraja said.
She said Zambia had been given the rare opportunity of being spared terrible tragedy, being unhurt by harsh wars and conflict, so that it could build its future on all that was positive from its history and heritage, and thrive and grow on the wings of a young and proud democracy.
Wignaraja's mission to Zambia comes to an end, at the end of November and she will be heading to the UN headquarters in the US.
And Dr Kaseba, who spoke highly of Wignaraja, described her as a very bold person who was never afraid to state the facts as they were.
"In my time as a wife to the president and my time as a wife to Mr Sata, I have come across very few people who are not intimidated by him. Kanni is one of those. Every time when we talk of Kanni, the President says that 'ka trouble maker'. He calls her a 'trouble maker' in a nice way because he knows that Kanni is always around to prod our government officials to do much better than what they do," she said.
And Dr Kaseba said Wignaraja's leadership at the UN's offices in Zambia has been tremendous.
She said Wignaraja had become synonymous with the issue of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"Kanni has contributed to the change in the mindset of the way people perceive the MDGs issue. For a long time, people thought the MDG was an issue of the government, but under her leadership, I think everyone has come to identify with the MDGs, whether they are youths, old people, civil servants," she said.
Earlier, Dr Kaseba caused laughter when she disclosed that she was a gate-crasher at the event.
"I am sure everyone must be wondering why we are having so many people attending the 68 UN Day reception. Some of us are party-crashers. We are gate-crushers because State House is almost like a maximum prison. At least a maximum prison has inmates, but in my case I have only got one inmate, who presently is in the mood to cane people, so I had to run away," said Dr Kaseba amidst laughter from the audience.
Meanwhile, visiting Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway, who is the United Nations Development Programme's Goodwill Ambassador and was the special guest at the event, said his country and Zambia had enjoyed cordial relations since the latter's independence.
Prince Haakon said, from the beginning, Norway provided economic and political support to Zambia.
Labels: CHRISTINE KASEBA, KANNI WIGNARAJA, KENNETH KAUNDA, ZAMBIA
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We need to address inequity and inequalities
By Editor
Mon 22 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
KANNI Wignaraja, the United Nations resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Zambia, says that "we have to address inequity and inequality before it breaks the very backbone of our countries and turns into a sense of injustices".
This is true because if this country is not good for all of us, it won't be good for any of us. This country will not be a good place for any of us to live unless it's a good place for all of us to live in.
We shouldn't allow all the work that has gone on here to benefit just a few. And unless we start to address the inequities and inequalities that we today have in our country, none of the things we seek to do will ever take us where we need to go. Unless we do something about inequity and inequalities, we will not be able to repair this country.
We have to abandon greed and selfishness. We have to stop ignoring each other and caring only about ourselves. A nation that calls itself a Christian nation cannot allow the inequities and inequalities that exist among us to continue. As people who call themselves Christians, we have to quickly and resolutely deal with these inequalities. We have to struggle against these inequalities without respite and realise that if we are to live in the world and are to be regarded as a decent nation, a decent people, we have to act up to different and higher standards than we have been following in the last two decades or so. We should resent most bitterly these inequalities and this unconcern for the lives of the poor.
These inequalities remind us that we have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any of us till we remove these inequities and inequalities, till we make all the people of this country what destiny intended them to be.
We have to govern and manage the affairs of our country in a way that will help us to quickly end poverty, ignorance, disease and inequality.
And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard to make the dream of ending inequity and inequality a reality. We have to bring opportunity to the common man; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.
Inequities and inequalities are terrible things. Look at the effect that equality has on human beings and their happiness! People need more than nshima; they need honour, dignity, respect and to be treated like human beings. Inequality causes terrible suffering.
We have to share what we have as a nation. We cannot continue to have gross inequalities, with some having much more than they need and dying of heart attacks and cholesterol, while others starve to death. We should share everything - our country belongs to all of us, and so do its riches.
All our people must be made to feel they count; they are a part of society; they have a national dignity and a homeland. Here, we are talking about things that, in our opinion, constitute true humanitarianism, the policy of promoting the dignity of human beings and their wellbeing. Inequality causes terrible suffering.
A comprehensive approach is required to fight this situation and to struggle for diminishing or eradicating such inequalities in our country.
Some people say inequities and inequalities are inevitable. But a more just, fair and humane society is built upon the belief that inequities and inequalities are not an inevitable and necessary part of human life. They are ultimately a product of human decisions and can be eradicated by human decisions. This is so because when we speak of "the economy", we are speaking of policies and plans which control the wealth and resources of the country, about how resources are distributed between people, and about how the means of production - such as land, factories and technology - are owned and controlled. It is sometimes suggested that economic laws, like the basic laws of nature, are beyond human control; that we can no more influence them than we can defy gravity or stop the motion of planets. Therefore, it is argued, the existence of poverty and unemployment, and the inequitable distribution of wealth, are the result of inescapable economic laws, and must be accepted as such. When suffering and even death flow from these "inevitable facts of economic life," that is simply unfortunate, it is said, just as it is unfortunate when suffering and death result from a natural disaster. Although we sympathise with the victims of an earthquake or a flow, we do not consider such natural occurrences unjust or immoral. In the same way, the argument continues, we should not regard an economic system as unjust or immoral, though we regret the suffering, inequities and inequalities that may be part of such a system. Some people will be poor, some rich, inevitably and unavoidably, just as some will be victims of earthquakes and floods, and some will not.
This argument must be rejected. It fails to take into account the fact that economic consequences - poverty, inequities and inequalities - come about as a result of human agency. At the heart of every economic system lies human needs, human abilities and human decisions, and it is the choices which we make in addressing those needs, sharing those abilities, and making those decisions, that determine the justice or injustice of an economic system. The more powerful our economic position, the greater our freedom of choice, with the poor and marginalised having very little effective choice in their economic decision-making. There is thus a moral quality about an economy, a quality which has its roots in the morally correct or incorrect choices by people; and it is the moral quality of the economy that enables us to make judgments about whether or not it is a just economy.
Therefore, poverty, inequities and inequalities are some of the indicators of an unjust economy. The fact that untold thousands die every year from lack of food, lack of basic healthcare and lack of shelter is an indicator of economic injustice. As a nation, we need to develop a social conscience which recognises the injustice of poverty, unemployment, inequities and inequalities and which leads us to take action against it. Undoubtedly, the development of an effective social conscience will not happen quickly. It will have to be striven for, and the striving will have to be widespread, involving all sectors of society.
Labels: KANNI WIGNARAJA, UN, UNDP
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'Zambia is not doing much on inequality'
By Agness Changala
Mon 22 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
ZAMBIA National Women's Lobby Group says Zambia is not doing much to address the challenges of inequity and inequality.
Commenting on United Nations resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja who said Zambia needed to address inequity and equality before they break the country's backbone, ZNWG chairperson Beauty Phiri, said there was need to address the two because the development of the country could not be attained without them.
Phiri said it was selfishness on the part of leaders for Zambia to fail to distribute resources equally and put food on the table for everyone.
She said if the decentralisation programme was not going to be implemented fully, the country would get stuck and some people would continue to wallow in poverty while others have more than others.
"If for example we have people that have problems in North-Western Province and with the resources the province has still those resources are controlled by Lusaka, then we are not going anywhere," she said.
"Lusaka controls this, Lusaka will control the shots and the permanent secretary in Lusaka will control resources in North-Western, where he has never even been, and if he has been, it's because he wants to get an allowance, not to go and look at what is happening on the ground and how to improve the economy in that area."
Phiri said if decentralisation was not going to be fully implemented and women left behind in terms of development, the country would continue to lag behind.
She said although President Michael Sata was trying to appoint women in decision-making positions, it did not take away the fact that the country was running away from the real issue of coming up with affirmative action that would enable the country to attain 50/50 representation in decision-making positions as required.
Phiri observed that the women representation in Parliament today was only 10.7 per cent when it was supposed to be 50 per cent. "So really, we are not doing anything about it as a country," she said.
Phiri said countries that had reached 30 or 50 per cent representation, had some affirmative action that had made them attain the percentages they had attained.
During the Local Government Association of Zambia and 10th Alliance of mayors and municipal leaders (AMICAALL) general conference in Nakonde, Wignaraja said despite Zambia recording a steady growth, good macro policies that stabilised inflation and brought more foreign direct investment, nearly half of the country's population still lived in extreme poverty and could not fully meet their family's basic needs.
Labels: KANNI WIGNARAJA, WOMEN
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Zambia needs to address inequality - Wignaraja
By Abigail Chaponda in Nakonde
Wed 17 July 2013, 14:01 CAT
UNITED Nations resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja says Zambia needs to address inequity and inequality before it breaks the country's backbone.
During the Local Government Association of Zambia and 10th Alliance of Mayors and Municipal leaders (AMICAALL) general conference in Nakonde, Wignaraja said despite Zambia recording a steady growth, good macro policies that stabilised inflation and brought more foreign direct investment, nearly half of the country's population still lived in extreme poverty and cannot fully meet their family's basic needs.
"The story of inequality is as alarming….. points to the growing gaps between the rich and the poor. This undermines all other gains. We cannot grow and sustain a prosperous and peaceful country for all Zambian if our women are paid so less and are only a fraction of our representational leadership, if our daughters don't get to finish secondary school, if our rural youths remain jobless and our farmers cannot get their produce to the market. We have to address inequity and inequality before it breaks the very back bone of our countries and turns into a sense of injustices," she said.
She also expressed dismay at the growing inequalities and the limited opportunities to gain quality secondary education.
"The post national dialogue across all the provinces came back to the number one priority that all young Zambians see as what holds the key to their future, a quality education. Over and over again, this is what was voted in the biggest game changer that will make the difference. And yet today, only about one-tenth of those children who enter our primary schools actually complete secondary school. So what is happening along the way to the rest and what a heavy, heavy cost to the government and the families and what a loss to the country," she said.
Labels: AMICAALL, KANNI WIGNARAJA, MAYOR
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Open govt listens to the people - Wignaraja
By Moses Kuwema
Mon 24 June 2013, 14:00 CAT
UN resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja says an open government is one that keenly hears and responds to the voices of its people, whether they voted for that government, or are of different opinions, religions, ethnicities and tribes.
Speaking yesterday during the celebrations to mark the African Public Service Day held under the theme "African Public Service in the Age of Open Government: Giving Voice to Citizens", Wignaraja said an open government and with it an open public service, serves and protects all people on its territory.
"This day is an important reminder to all people on the African continent and the world over of the vital role that the public service plays in fostering social justice, peace and development in our countries. Where a public service discharges its duties with care and conscientiousness to ensure that the most vulnerable are also well served; with a scrupulousness and transparency to ensure it holds to high ethical standards and is accountable first and foremost to the people; and with a daring courage to change and innovate with the times, then we have a public service that performs to high standards, and also inspires," Wignaraja said.
"It is easy to point fingers, to place blame and to keep raising our levels of expectations, without addressing what, where and how the change has to happen. A people's expectations and demands are always evolving. Sometimes, they are within reason, and sometimes not so..."
Wignaraja said there was need to reflect on whether the public services across the continent, and in Zambia, live up to standards.
"In a country like Zambia, with a dramatically shifting demographic, a public service has to directly engage with the 65 per cent of the population that are under 25 years of age. This cannot be left only to youth groups and NGOs. This is the majority of the citizenry today, and hence the majority clientele. And this is a different group from those with whom a public service is more at ease dealing with. This requires a different skill set and mediums of engagement that a youthful client understands and engages with," she said.
And Wignaraja hoped to see many of Zambia's brightest youths join the public service in the spirit of caring and being committed to something bigger.
She said much had been heard about lessons from high performing public services around the world, and "while we can learn and improve", there were some fundamentals beyond the usual resource and capacity issues and performance and oversight systems to be implemented, that we can focus on".
She said a public service that stayed relevant and ahead of the game, was one that was fully engaged in policy formulation with its eyes and ears to the ground.
"…so it stays relevant to a changing social dynamic," she said.
She said hard as it was to design and to deliver programmes, it took even more to be an 'open government' when it comes to "constantly tracking impact, to ask if we are doing the right thing, to evaluate the performance of national policies and programmes, and to correct our course."
"Institutions get stuck in their ways and it is easier said than done to change direction, make adjustments and have the guts to admit a mis-step. This is where having that regular open engagement with the public and with the politicians, with a give and take of feedback without fear of reprisal, is so critical to a high performing, motivated public service," she said.
"This is also where a public information Act that provides real-time information in the public domain is key so we look to the approval and implementation of this progressive legislation in Zambia."
Wignaraja also said just as much as people demand of their public service, they should also honestly ask what it is they should demand of themselves, as clients of that public service.
"Gone are the days, when we can or should just stand by, waiting, just waiting for a service to be delivered. This is a level of disengagement and apathy that no public service can fix. It takes a motivated, 'can do' spirit by the people to also engage, to get things done, to be entrepreneurs and to meet the public service half-way. The days of waiting till the public service comes by to 'fix it' are long over," she said.
"The sense of having choices, of taking opportunity by the scruff of its collar, of harnessing the positive energy and drive to make change happen, this is the kind of public space and engagement that the public service and the political leadership has to support and inspire."
Labels: KANNI WIGNARAJA
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COMMENT - Does she have the government's back when they raise taxes on the mines? We need a broad coalition with lots of cover.
There's need for more health funding - Wignaraja
By Angela Kabamba in Mongu
Fri 22 June 2012, 13:23 CAT
UNITED Nations Development Programme resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja says
there is need for the government to increase funding to the health sector in the 2013 budget to revamp the sector.
And Mongu district acting Medical Officer Namata Masialeti says the district has a challenge of transport and poor infrastructure. Wignaraja noted that most health centres in the country could not be easily accessed by the local communities due to poor road network.
She said this when she toured Namushekendi Rural Health Centre in Mongu on Wednesday.
"As much as government is making efforts to construct many rural health centres countrywide, there is need to concentrate much on transport and roads because without a good road network, the local community won't have access to the health centres," she said.
Masialeti lamented that the district also had a few motor bikes making it difficult for the medical staff to deliver health services to far flung places.
He said Namushakendi rural health centre also had no institutional houses for staff.
And Western Province Permanent Secretary Bert Mushala said the government had targeted most used rural roads to be worked on so as to improve the health, education and agriculture sectors in the province.
Wignaraja is in Western Province to familiarise herself to the challenges faced in the health, education and agriculture sectors.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, KANNI WIGNARAJA, UNDP
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Wignaraja cautions Zambia on exploitation of environment
By Kabanda Chulu
Fri 15 June 2012, 13:23 CAT
UN country representative Kanni Wignaraja yesterday warned that Zambia and the rest of the world are set on a path of self-destruction unless societies and institutions change the way the environment is exploited.
And a youth climate change ambassador Josephine Pumulo has challenged the government to stop the tendency of bringing on board all stakeholders in preparations for forums like the Rio+20 conference but fail to embrace them when it comes to implementation of the outcomes of the meeting.
During a briefing to present Zambia's key message to the Rio+20 United Nations conference on sustainable development scheduled for next week, Wignaraja said the world today had a 'once in a generation' opportunity to do things differently.
"We have to rise to the occasion and seize a moment to do things differently. If we don't change how economies produce, how societies are organised and how institutions respond, then we are headed towards a path of self-destruction," said Wignaraja.
"There is no other option for Zambia, Africa and the world but to take sustainable wise choices so that as we grow, there is greater balance between managing our economy and the environment hence there will be no excuses for the leadership in Rio, whether from private or public to deliver what can change the world for better."
Presenting the country's position at the forum, environmental protection and natural resources minister Wylbur Simuusa said Zambia had high expectations that the Rio+20 would reinvigorate international community towards integrating social, economic and environmental strands of development to ensure that current development patterns do not jeopardise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
"Two main themes of the conference are transitioning to a green economy within the context of sustainable development and poverty reduction and building consensus on appropriate framework for fostering sustainable development," he said.
"It is the poverty reduction portion of the green economy that is of particular relevance to our country and Zambia's strongest call to the conference is to rally international support towards poverty eradication by giving real meaning to this important development goal."
And Pumulo said without the involvement of young people, Zambia would not attain the desired future of having a cleaner, healthier and green environment.
"We have noticed that during preparations, all stakeholders are invited but when the meetings take place, nothing happens and people are not informed anymore," she said.
But Simuusa assured that the government had developed a plan of action dubbed 'Beyond Rio' that would undertake the implementations of resolutions of the forum.
Labels: ENVIRONMENT, KANNI WIGNARAJA
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UN urges government to raise HDI in next budget
By Kombe Chimpinde
Thu 14 June 2012, 13:23 CAT
UN country director Kani Wignaraja says the government should endeavour to raise the country's human development index in 2013 through the next budget. Wignaraja said in an interview that the 2013 budget, being the first PF structured national plan since attaining power, must reflect on how the government will increase the rate of decent jobs in both the public and private sector.
"We hope that the PF can proceed with what it said it would do, what we saw in the manifesto," she said. "We saw that there would be a significant increase in both the health and education budgets and I think those two raise the level of human development in the country which is critical. So we are very much hoping that goes through."
Wignaraja also outlined the agriculture sector as the key engine, emphasising the need to diversify the sector.
"So what we would like to see is which of the areas in agriculture for instance, the agro industry, livestock that create many jobs for a large number of people," she said.
"At the same time that relates to education because, at the same time there is interest in putting up more money into technical education. So young people are coming out of schools with skills and they can go into these sectors and have a decent job and decent wage. That is the main promise of PF and that is what we hope that this new budget really supports that kind of employment creation."
Wignaraja said it was impossible for the government to absorb all the unemployed Zambians into public sector generated jobs.
"The other issue is that the budget also has to be an enabler to get all private sector to expand and create jobs, by putting in the right incentives," she said.
On calls for the re-introduction of mining windfall tax, Wignaraja said the government must adopt a tax system which will draw reasonable amount of income and not dampen business by frustrating the players in the sector.
"They have to understand which type of tax is best placed to increase (revenue) and move on and boost business. It might be that it has to do with increasing the royalties which they have done. It might be in other ways but I think you have right people now in the finance ministry and mines looking at this. I don't think there can be one instrument, it has to be a combination. It's a matter of balancing that," said Wignaraja.
Labels: KANNI WIGNARAJA, UN, WINDFALL TAX
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Wignaraja sees need for rural-biased investment
By Christopher Miti in Chipata and Fredrick Mwansa in Itezhi-te
Mon 23 Apr. 2012, 13:27 CAT
UNITED Nations resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja says there is need for rural-biased investment. And Wignaraja says the role of the media in Zambia will be very critical as the country embarks on the decentralisation policy and constitutional reforms.
Briefing the media after concluding her tour of Eastern Province on Friday, Wignaraja, who toured Chipata, Mambwe, Lundazi and Petauke, said the bad state of infrastructure in rural areas was a blow to progress in human development.
"I would even say that for too long and you know that there has been a serious urban bias and maybe it is time to see a rural bias because at some point, you have to make decisions that in order to really balance the equation, you have to bias the investment to rural areas, it has to be intentional. The planning, the budgeting, decision making, you can't leave to chance; it has to be intentionally favouring the rural areas," Wignaraja said.
On the education sector, she said it was good that there had been an attempt to build back the infrastructure in basic schools and even to upgrade community schools to basic schools.
Wignaraja said it could also be a good trend for both basic and community schools to open up to early learning.
She said early learning was important because it gave children an equal start to education.
"Now the sad thing is that on the other end of the education system, you see a very serious bottleneck. The children are coming out of basic schools and there are not enough places in secondary schools. And the fact that we have built up these groups of children and they are now able to complete grade nine and now many have nowhere to go," Wignaraja said.
She also said the role of the media in the coming months would be very critical in putting forward the accurate and responsible articulation of what would be coming out in terms of decentralisation and constitutional reforms.
"(Decentralisation and constitutional reforms) are going to be a large dialogue debate in the country and the more public awareness about these issues. And what are the options being discussed? What are the issues that really matter to change one's life? So the role of the media in this to me is going to be critical," Wignaraja said.
She said media coverage of the two issues should be responsible and not biased.
Labels: FDI, KANNI WIGNARAJA, NEOLIBERALISM, RURAL AREAS, UN
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High poverty levels worry E/Province PS
By Christopher Miti in Chipata and Fredrick Mwansa in Itezhi-te
Thu 19 Apr. 2012, 12:57 CAT
EASTERN Province permanent secretary Hlobotha Nkunika says one of the key challenges facing the province is the high poverty levels particularly among rural communities.
Speaking when United Nations resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Chipata yesterday, Nkunika said poverty levels had been very high in the province since independence. He said one of the contributing factors was underinvestment in rural areas.
"There hasn't been serious infrastructure investment which could be very important for the development of the country, and if we look at the road network, it's very, very bad and that's one of the key areas that we have to improve in our services. There is also need to promote rural and local investment because that is not fully promoted in rural areas," Nkunika said.
He said although the province was doing well in agriculture, the rural farmers were facing difficulties because improved technology was not there.
"This problem is coupled with the poor marketing strategy which is there; the farmer has to suffer for him or her to find correct market and the correct market price with limited access in transportation and so on. The poor road network was also an additional problem," said Nkunika.
And Wignaraja said every province had a range of opportunities and challenges that could not be tackled at once.
She wondered why hydropower was not generated in the province despite having a good water table.
Wignaraja said hydropower was a real answer to the energy problems.
Later, Nkunika said there was need to add value to the products being produced in the province.
"We do not want to be exporting our raw materials; we want to add value, let us have finished products that are coming out. Like for cotton for example, we want investors who can start from the raw material up to the finished product so that from that chain we have a lot of employment opportunities. So those ideas are already there, there is a farm block in Lundazi that is going to look at the cotton production," she said.
Wignaraja, who is on a tour of the province, also paid a courtesy call on the provincial medical officer, Dr Kennedy Malama, before touring Chipata General Hospital.
Labels: EASTERN PROVINCE, KANNI WIGNARAJA, POVERTY
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UN notes Zambia’s progress on MDGs
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Fri 08 July 2011, 15:20 CAT
ZAMBIA has recorded many successes in its efforts to achieve its national millennium development goals, says the United Nations. The UN yesterday launched the global MDG progress report for 2011 in Geneva, and concurrently around the world, to raise awareness on the progress this far and further acceleration required to achieve the MDGs by 2015.
UN resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja said Zambia had shared many successes, particularly in its efforts to improve primary education and health.
Wignaraja said in order to move to the next level of progress and to sustain gains made possible through sustained economic growth, there was need to look to further human development investments in agriculture that would yield decent jobs.
She said both net enrolment and the number of pupils reaching grade seven had grown steadily over the past few years and the targets of secondary school completion and quality must now be the focus.
Wignaraja said successes had also been seen in Zambia’s fight against HIV and AIDS, and with prevalence rates now at 14.3 per cent of the population, the country had surpassed its MDG target in this area.
“This, however, leaves no room for complacency, with much work remaining particularly in addressing the root causes of HIV which sustain high levels of vulnerability in sectors of the population with new infections, on average 200 people per month,” she said.
Wignaraja noted that the prevalence of underweight children had fallen to 14.6 per cent, not far from the 2015 goal of 12.5 per cent.
“The global report provides evidence and pointers to reducing maternal mortality and child and infant mortality rates, that are still some distance away, per the national data here in Zambia,” Wignaraja said.
She said women giving birth in Zambia remain at high risk, with a maternal mortality rate of 591 per 100,000 live births.
Wignaraja said the MDG goal to be realized in four years was 162 per 100,000 live births.
She said the global report showed that progress on the MDGs had been uneven and the overall gains mask local specific disparities in most countries.
Wignaraja said in sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest urban households were 12 times less likely than their richest neighbours to have access to piped drinking water supply.
“Similarly, in rural areas, children are twice as likely to be underweight as their urban cousins. Countries in, or emerging from, conflict, are likely to lag 40 to 60 per cent behind other low and middle-income countries in achieving most of the goals,” she said.
She said to accelerate and sustain the required rate of poverty reduction in Zambia, the application of a broad based job creation effort, particularly in rural areas was key.
Wignaraja further noted that expanding education and business opportunities for women and closing the gender gap in decision-making positions would also go a long way to ensure a more gender balanced progress on the MDGs for Zambia.
Moving forward, the UN report noted the importance of focusing on equity and inclusion in the reach and acceleration towards the MDGs in the coming four years, and beyond.
Wignaraja said for countries like Zambia, this meant that the poorest and most marginalised groups often in rural settings were made the focus of policy choices, and national development investments and programmes.
The UN launched a number of major partnerships and initiatives, such as Countdown to Zero, a global plan toward the elimination of new HIV infections among children; UN-Redd to reduce deforestation and promote sustainable livelihoods and scaling up nutrition; global strategy for women’s and children’s health, among many others.
Labels: KANNI WIGNARAJA, MDGs, UN
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UN coordinator explains PVT
By Moses Kuwema
Fri 08 Apr. 2011, 04:12 CAT
UNITED Nations resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja says she does not understand what the big fuss on Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) is all about. In an interview, Wignaraja said PVT was all about tabulating the already announced results that were in public domain.
“Countries decide whether to go with using Parallel Vote Tabulation as one mechanism to just aggregate votes that are already counted and in the public domain, I can't say I understand at all what the big fuss is about. One way or the other because some countries prefer that they will use it, other countries prefer that they will go around with papers and pencils and just write down the elections, most countries do it with cell phones,” Wignaraja said.
“Now the key to me is not the conversation around PVT, the conversation is the primacy of both the vote count and reporting of the results and announcing results is to the Electoral Commission of Zambia, no one else because the ECZ is the constitutionally, well-established and well-regarded principal and that is what is paramount.”
And Wignaraja said the media has a big role to play in ensuring a very credible, open and transparent election. She said this called for responsible reporting. She said the media also had a role to play in voter education in order for people to exercise their rights to vote and that they could only do this if they understood issues by looking at their challenges and their opportunities.
“People need to know what they are voting for and this is a critical role of the media, they should report on the progress achieved, where things need to be pushed in a very responsible manner. That is the critical role of the media in an electoral process,” Wignaraja said.
She said the key for the UN systems in Zambia was ensuring that the process of democracy keeps on getting stronger.
“We shall continue to be here through to elections to come and all the local and international organisations, both state and none-state, engage actively in the electoral process,” said Wignaraja.
Labels: KANNI WIGNARAJA, UN, VOTERIGGING
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Media should focus on issues, not personalities - UNDP
By Joseph Mwenda
Sat 04 Dec. 2010, 03:59 CAT
THE Zambian media should focus more on issues in its reporting rather than personalities, says UNDP resident representative Kanni Wignaraja. In an interview after she visited The Post newspapers offices in Lusaka yesterday, Wignaraja said it was difficult to pick the real issues from what was being reported because of the character assassination perpetuated by the media.
She said there was too much tension and anxiety that was being reported.
“The media has an adrenaline rush that makes a person like me who is new in the country feel scared,” Wignaraja said.
She urged journalists to utilise their intellectual capabilities by bringing out real issues from the newsmakers and consider the opinion of the readers on matters being reported especially in the run-up to next year’s general elections.
“I need to see a more balanced way of reporting. Journalists must be able to distinguish between reporting purely what has been said, reporting with their opinions or those of the newspapers they represent and reporting based on the opinion of the general public not the readers because there is a difference,” Wignaraja said.
And Post managing editor Amos Malupenga said the media was a mirror of society.
“As The Post, we try as much as possible to focus on the real issues because it’s the real issues that are going to make a difference to our country. But it should be noted that the media is merely a mirror of society. What you see in the media reflects what kind of society we have,” Malupenga said.
“Sometimes the media can be blamed when they are merely reflecting what is happening in society.”
Malupenga said there was need to look at the whole issue of media coverage in a holistic manner and ensure that all stakeholders played a positive role.
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, ANTHONY UNDI, KANNI WIGNARAJA
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UN coordinator urges accelerated economic diversification
By Florence Bupe
Tue 05 Oct. 2010, 04:00 CAT
UNITED Nations resident coordinator Kanni Wignaraja has advised government to accelerate efforts towards economic diversification as a means of achieving the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGS).
In her statement on the progress of Zambia’s achievement of the MDGs, Wignaraja said there is a need to accelerate and focus on development challenges facing the country, such as the diversification of the economy.
“Overall, Zambia’s progress towards the MDGs is commendable. However, increased action is urgently needed to scale up the attainment of the MDGs by 2015,” Wignaraja said.
“Greater efforts will be needed to further enhance environmental sustainability, reduce further maternal mortality and address gender inequalities.”
Wignaraja also called on government and other stakeholders to seriously identify ways of averting the negative effects of climate change.
She observed that the country’s key economic sectors such as agriculture and tourism were largely affected by the climate and that reluctance to tackle climate change would have disastrous effects on the growth of the economy.
“In Zambia, any change in the climate can spell disaster. With over 70 per cent of Zambians depending on agriculture, even a slight change in temperature can affect crops like maize with catastrophic consequences for livelihoods,” said Wignaraja.
“Climate change has also begun to affect Zambia’s national tourism industry.”
And foreign affairs minister Dr Kalombo Mwansa observed that cooperating partners were an integral part in the achievement of MDGs through enhanced economic growth.
“The positive economic growth that Zambia continues to enjoy has been made possible with the support of our cooperating partners…,” said Dr Mwansa.
Labels: ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION, KALOMBO MWANSA, KANNI WIGNARAJA, MDGs
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UN co-ordinator calls for social system to support the aged
By Namatama Mundia
Fri 01 Oct. 2010, 15:30 CAT
UNITED Nations resident coordinator in Zambia Kanni Wignaraja has observed that a social system to support the aged is needed to hold gains on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the country.
In a message to commemorate the International Day of Older Persons which fell yesterday under the global theme “Older persons and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals”, Wignaraja stated that efforts to reach the MDGs would be incomplete and gains will soon be rolled back unless order persons who have taken on this dual responsibility of looking after themselves and their orphaned grandchildren were included in the process.
“A universal social security scheme will help,” she stated.
Wignaraja noted that a critical factor that magnified the concerns of the aged in Zambia was the spread of HIV and AIDS.
“This has caused a significant demographic dent in the population structure of Zambia, with the dependency ratio increasing as the percentage of young and old increases in relation to the number of those in their mid-adult years,” she stated. “…two-thirds of all orphans are in the care of grandparents whose economic status is weak.”
Wignaraja said this year’s theme was meant to examine progress towards achieving the MDGs from the perspective of empowerment of older persons, giving attention to their inclusion, their participation in society and promotion of a positive image of ageing.
“This day also acknowledges older persons as an increasingly major segment of society and opens an avenue for dialogue on the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and the United Nations Principles for Older Persons,” she stated.
Wignaraja stated that the Plan of Action called on the international community to better integrate the needs of older persons, especially the poor, into economic and social planning.
Labels: KANNI WIGNARAJA, PENSIONERS
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