adminLUSAKA – The Zambian government has urged co-operating partners to stop funding the country’s health sector through non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Zambia Daily Mail reported last Friday.Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary David Chikamata said the government was concerned that 60 percent of funds committed by co-operating partners to the health sector go unco-ordinated for because they are channelled through NGOs.
“May I take this opportunity to remind our co-operating partners about an outstanding question that remains unanswered by our co-operating partners for the past one year. You will recall that our draft national health accounts show that an estimated 60 percent of funds from co-operating partners are being funded to the health sector through NGOs and outside the system,” he was quoted as saying by the paper during a meeting with co-operating partners.
The official challenged the co-operating partners to justify why they should continue funding the country’s health sector through NGOs when a lot of funds meant for health programmes have gone unaccounted for.
“In the interest of mutual accountability, I request that our co-operating partners provide information on how the various NGOs are receiving these funds and how they are contributing to service delivery as a gesture of mutual accountability,” he added.
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the co-operating partners, European Union (EU) head of delegation to Zambia Aad Biesebroek said the donors will continue providing technical assistance to Zambia for improvement of the health sector.
The EU envoy expressed concern that maternal deaths have remained high in Zambia, adding that there was need for close co-operation with the government to reduce the deaths. – Xinhua.
derick.khumalo