This paper discusses the importance and limitations of participation of local people in development projects and programmes while making suggestions on how to enhance such participation. The paper reveals that participation resulted from the paradigm shift that emerged from the failure of 'top-down approaches' or growth models of development. It also arose due to development actors' realization that approaches to development needed to be adapted to local conditions that are shaped by different sociocultural, economical and political realities. The paper adopts a desk review, conceptual analysis of the importance and limitations of participation of local people in development projects and programmes, placing particular focus on two 1994 publications by Robert Chambers, as key sources of literature on the origins of participation. Using Sherry Arnstein's understanding of participation where she equates it with the concept of power, participation can enhance empowerment of the locals and can provide local people with the opportunity to think and develop solutions for themselves. Participation can also allow the incorporation of local knowledge, skills and resources in the design of interventions, it can ensure project/programme responsiveness to people's needs, it can enhance the goal of sustainability and assist breaking the mentality of dependency. Critics assert that participation does not lead to locals'empowerment, because participatory methodologies fail to change and challenge the bureaucratic, centralized and administrative structures that control decision-making and resource allocation. Also, through participation, what could be considered to be local knowledge might just be a construction of the planning context that cover a complex micropolitics of knowledge production and use in local communities. Domination also limit participation since participatory activities take place in groups. Particiaptory techniques conceal traditional local relationships of power and fail to deal with situations where local culture hinders participation by being European Scientific Journal February 2017 edition vol.13, No.5 ISSN: 1857 -7881 (Print) e -ISSN 1857 239 oppressive to certain people. Therefore, participation is affected by spatial, temporal, political, social and cultural contexts. Thus, to ensure successful participation, there is need to contextualize it within the existing local environment. It is important to situate efforts whose aim is to engage communities in context if they are to be successful. This is because contexts in which different development organizations and agencies operate are complex and diverse. Participation must be informed by carefully done political and social analyses. By so doing, an examination of the practices and social relationships that determine local knowledge production and use can be made. Participation should be considered as political as it is conditioned by the institutional framework and political backgrounds of the participants.

This paper describes the evolution, dynamics and challenges of SMEs in Zambia's informal economy. It also investigates the various government initiatives towards the promotion and development of Small-Scale Enterprises and their associated challenges. Additionally, it focuses on how entrepreneurs find 'room to maneuver' despite the challenges that they face while operating in the informal economy. The paper employed desk review methodology involving a review of secondary data which was qualitatively analysed. Situated within the Informalisation approach, the paper reveals that the process of informality in urban areas in Zambia was mainly driven by the implementation of Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) in the early 1990s. Thus, the changing political, economic and social arrangements following the implementation of SAPs with their associated effects such as increased poverty, destitution and reduced formal sector employment led to the growth of SMEs and the urban informal economy as people sought other sources of livelihoods. The paper also shows that informal SMEs in Zambia are heterogeneous, dealing with the production of goods and services whose prime objective is employment creation and the generation of income to individuals concerned. Though diverse, economic activities of SMEs are mainly distributed around the traditional economic sectors that rely on the use of low technology and social networks; whose orientation is towards the local and less prosperous segments of the market. Some of the challenges that SMEs in Zambia face include; financial, market and infrastructure constraints. Furthermore, SMEs also lack access to information; adequate management, entrepreneurial and technical skills. As a result, there have been government policy related efforts attempting to assist Small-Scale Enterprises such as through the Small Industries Development Act, The Commercial, Trade and Industrial Policy, Small Enterprises Development Act, and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Policy. These aim(ed) at providing infrastructure, business development support services, training, capacity building through entrepreneurship development and access to finance, markets among others. However, government efforts have been hampered by challenges that include among them; corruption, lack of coordination, poor targeting, funding instability, lack of implementation systems and political interference. Despite inadequacies in government efforts, Small-Scale Enterprises have continued to function through the use of other means such as relying on social networks, collective means through local associations and cooperation as well as through the establishment of informal networks with politicians.

With many countries experiencing high prevalence rates of HIV scaling up ART, it is vital to assess quality assurance in health facilities accredited to provide these HIV and AIDS-related services. Reviewed literature indicates that there are limited studies in Zambia on the capacity of accredited health care facilities to provide effective HIV/AIDS related services. Using data from a large ethnographic qualitative study in a resource poor rural setting in Zambia, this paper assesses quality assurance in health facilities to providing HIV/AIDS services in a remote rural setting. Findings show that although HIV and AIDS related services were available at the remote rural health facility of Chivuna, the services provided did not meet the WHO minimum guidelines/standards on the provision of such services. Therefore, there is need for such facilities to be adequately equipped in all the departments of ART delivery so as to ensure effective delivery of these services and universal access.

No abstract

Background: Sexual health interventions against sexual contraction and transmission of HIV in most developing countries such as Zambia, are often biased towards heterosexual sexual health interventions. This act tends to exclude minority sexual groups such as men who have sex with men whose existence could affect the transmission and spread of the virus. This paper therefore sought to present an analysis of the exclusion of sexual minorities in sexual health education interventions in Zambia. Methods: This paper employed a desk-based-research study and relied mainly on the review of secondary data in form of Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Aids Council (NAC) strategic documents and scholarly journals, articles and research papers relevant to the topic. Results: A knowledge gap on sexual health education exists amongst the sexual minority groups in the few studies assessed. This can be attributed to the fact that the Zambian society is believed to be heterosexual with most interventions adopting a heterosexual stance towards sexual health education. Limited thought to the sexual health concerns of men who have sex with men in Zambia can be attributed to criminal laws against acts of homosexuality, societal disdain for acts of a non-heterosexual nature, and religious teachings against acts of a non-heterosexual nature. Lack of consideration of sexual minorities and their sexual activities may have serious effects on their sexual health knowledge levels and sexual practices.