Women's Capacity building in Chadiza district: The case of Kazimule and Chagunda women's development associations

Abstract

This report is based on an attachment to women's development associations in Chadiza in January-February 1998 which was a component of the six months practical programme for the Masters degree in Communication for Development offered by the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Zambia. Sponsored by Kepa-Zambia, the attachment was based in Kazimule and Chagunda where over 200 women have formed development associations which are Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The work the women are doing and the training they are undergoing are meant to empower them in decision making and fighting against gender disparities in the country. After the training, the women are expected to identify problems and their solutions on their own, and be masters of their own destinies. This report, therefore, evaluates the effectiveness of the capacity building of the two areas which has been going on. The report examines the training programmes, the ability of the women to identify problems and their solutions and their leadership abilities to run these NGO. Suggestions and recommendations where pitfalls were identified during the attachment constitute the last chapter of this report. This student hopes the report will generate debate on issues of empowering rural women where traditional customs are deep rooted.