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engagements during this mission, plans on deepening its work in the country with a particular focus on the area of curriculum reform, which the country has identified as a high priority in its recently approved Education Sector Plan.
In Zambia, the work by the Mulumbo Early Childhood Care and Development Foundation (MECCDF) on inclusive education for children in the community ECD centre has received support from the Ministry of General Education, the Special Education Unit and the Kabwe District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) responsible for special education.
MECCDF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health officials, including local authorities, conducted a wide sensitisation and identification of children with special education needs in one of Zambia largest shanty townships. As a result, more than 66 children with developmental delays or disabilities were identified and assessed at the local health centre.
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Access to Justice and Rule of Law
Southern Africa has continued to be confronted with the challenges of increasing prison populations in facilities built before independence and are not suited for the crowds that they now hold. The profile of those incarcerated is that most of them are pre-trial detainees who, in the main, are in prison for petty offences. The biggest challenge confronting them is that they are taken into a justice system in shambles with very few or no court personnel, including judges and prosecutors. And the institution itself has very poor record keeping.
The prison clientele is itself mainly indigent and cannot afford the services of a lawyer. They, therefore, fail even to access bail. It is therefore not uncommon to find a person charged with pickpocketing spending five years in the facility. Through support to the Paralegal Alliance Network (PAN) in Zambia, and the Paralegal Advisory Service Institute (PASI) and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) in Malawi, we have assisted programmes that have helped identify people that ought not to be in jail. For instance, we had people liberated through the camps court process. We have not stopped there. We are also supporting the scrapping of petty offences that at times result in these high prison populations. Working with local partners and SALC (Southern African Litigation Centre), we have succeeded to have loitering and vagabonding scrapped from the schedule of offences in Malawi.
Human Rights
Under Human Rights, we have continued to respond to the situations of human rights defenders under attacks.
Human Rights, Access to Justice and Rule of Law
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OPEN SOCIETY INITIATIVE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA – 2017 REPORT