Zambia: An alcohol policy alliance in the making?

In his presentation at the meeting Dr John Mayaya from the Ministry of Health (picture to the right) stressed the important role of NGOs in alcohol policy discussions. He said that governments need NGOs both as watchdogs, as strong voices for public health interests and as partners in mobilizing stakeholders.

Dr Mayeya presented the new Liquor Act which had just been adopted by the Zambian parliament. This Act will be followed by a new alcohol policy which is soon to be presented and adopted. The new policy, however, has been developed without any broad participation from the civil society of Zambia. Dr. Mayeya therefore invited all the present NGOs to submit their opinions on the policy shortly after the workshop. He also welcomed the fact that a network of NGOs concerned with alcohol policies now seemed to be emerging in Zambia.

The initiative to the meeting in Lusaka, which took place at the office of Norwegian Church Aid, was taken by FORUT, a Norwegian development NGO specialized in alcohol and drug prevention. Zambia is chosen as a new partner country to FORUT’s ADD Program; Alcohol, Drugs and Development. This program links alcohol prevention to other mainstream development issues; poverty reduction, prevention of HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence etc.

Such links were appreciated by many of the NGOs present at the meeting, as many of them are NGOs with a broad development agenda. The group of participants included, among others, the following organizations: The Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council, a national network with more than hundred member organizations, YMCA, The Girl Guides Association of Zambia, The Norwegian Church Aid and The Pioneers Total Abstinence Association.  The call for a meeting on NGO involvement in alcohol prevention and policies was welcomed by the participants. They had not before experienced to be in a setting where they met other NGOs with interest in alcohol prevention. This created a very enthusiastic and positive atmosphere at the meeting.

A representative from FORUT Norway, Project Coordinator Dag Endal, had two presentations of international processes, documentation and experiences relevant for the Zambian situation. Among other things he introduced the Global and African WHO Strategies to Reduce Harmful Drinking and the international evidence base on effective alcohol prevention. He also described how multinational alcohol producers now have defined African as an emerging market for their product. Endal asked if we now see a new Scramble for Africa coming up, this time not over African land but over the purchasing power of a growing African middle class.

Many of the participants expressed that the meeting and the material presented had been an eye-opener. The was a common concern in the meeting how the cooperation among NGOs could be developed further and how alcohol prevention could be linked to mainstream development issues in Zambia (HIV/AIDS, gender, poverty etc). The group also discussed to form a national alcohol policy alliance somewhere down the line, in order to strengthen the NGOs voices.

At the end of the meeting the participants decided to form a loose network as a start, to meet again in July and that Ms. Edwidge Mutale, a program coordinator of the Norwegian Church Aid in Zambia, should serve as the national hub for the network.