This qualitative study was done in Livingstone, Zambia, and used focus group discussions to investigate the reasons that youths aged 15 to 24 years see as justifying, or compelling, their non-use of recommended methods for prevention of sexual transmission of HIV. It focused on four methods, namely abstinence, condom use, voluntary counseling and testing, and mutual faithfulness. The study found that non-adherence to HIV preventative methods is linked to variables in the process of adolescent growth and development, to contextual variables in society, to characteristics of products and services associated with these HIV preventative methods, and to disease characteristics of HIV itself. A key conclusion of this study is that to improve the effectiveness of HIV prevention programs among the youths it is essential that factors that hinder adherence to preventative methods are recognized and addressed. / Social Work / M.A.(Social Work)

The purpose of this dissertation was to identify factors that contribute to the sustainability of rural water supply facilities (WSFs). Twenty-four interviews were conducted: 16 from rural communities and 8 from water supply agencies. Key findings are that in order to achieve sustainability of WSFs, there is need to ensure that (1) there is an effective community organisation; (2) communities have the ability to operate and maintain WSFs; (3) communities are able to raise adequate user fees for purchasing spare parts; and (4) that there is a strong backup support at the district level to carry out major repairs. Major threats to the sustainability of WSFs include high poverty levels in communities, weak institutional framework and inability of communities to handle major breakdowns. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)

Poverty and the environment are closely linked, as people use environmental resources to support livelihoods. Illegal stone quarrying evident in Lusaka, Zambia is symbolic of the use of environmental resources by the poor. Stone crushing provides income yet it is characterized by land degradation, large-scale excavation and dumping of waste materials. This study provides an analytical account of stone crushing as a livelihood in Lusaka and makes recommendations for improving the livelihoods of stone crushers to become sustainable. Using a livelihoods approach, a qualitative study collected data from various role players in Lusaka. Assets (physical, natural, human, social and political capital) for stone crushers were assessed, revealing that stone crushers lack livelihood assets, key options and are exposed to various shocks due to seasonal shifts. Increasing access to key livelihood assets, reducing vulnerability, improving infrastructure, access to justice and tackling social exclusion and gender inequality will enhance their livelihoods. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

This dissertation explores the plight of vulnerable poor households in Sinazongwe district of Zambia. It determines nature of their vulnerability and identifies commonly used coping strategies. It also identifies different types of livelihood strategies and assets available and accessed by vulnerable poor households to create sustainable livelihoods. Study design used qualitative and participatory paradigms, involving variety of data collection techniques and tools such as key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The study identified several factors impacting on vulnerable poor households, their response strategies and perceived potential sustainable livelihoods. Drought and flash floods destroyed livelihoods of poor households from which they often failed to recover. Vulnerable poor households possessed fewer assets and less diversified sources of income and often lacked back up resources in times of hardship. Livestock rearing, fishing and irrigation-supported gardening were identified as possible sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable poor households in Sinazongwe, to recover and become resilient. / Sociology / M.A. (Development Studies)

The study was primary undertaken to critically study the nature of learner performance and teaching in public secondary schools in Zambia, with a focus on four public, co-education, day schools in the Copperbelt region for the purposes of addressing the challenge of poor performance in the Grade 12 National examinations that has characterised public secondary schools in the country. The researcher was guided by the main research question: ‘What is the nature of learner performance and teaching in public secondary schools in Zambia?’ The aim of the research was to establish the factors that negatively affected learner performance and teaching in the selected schools in order to develop effective mechanisms that would improve the education system in public secondary schools both at regional and national levels. The study was undertaken using a qualitative interpretive phenomenological approach mainly propounded by Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), for the purposes of collecting the lived experiences of the 24 purposively selected participants employed in this research: 4 head teachers, 8 teachers and 12 learners. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews among the two longest serving teachers (male and female) per school and each of the head teachers in all the four schools; and two focus group interviews (from the highest and lowest performing schools) comprising six learners per group of equal gender among the selected Grade 12 candidates from the debate club and school council. The research also included analysis of documents like: school mission statements and visions, schemes and records of work and learners’ record of performance. The gathered information was manually analysed and interpreted. The major findings from the analysed data were that public secondary schools were negatively affected by four main categories of factors: (a) socio-economic factors; (b) the nature of the teaching and learning environment; (c) personal factors relating to the learners, teachers and head teachers; and (d) policy issues relating to learner enrolment and assessment, teacher selection, recruitment and development and highly controlled bureaucratic systems. The study established that improved learner performance is crucial to national development because the quality of an education system is measured by the performance of learners, and is the major drive for many aspects of development. The study also revealed that it was possible to improve learner performance, based on a number of lessons that can be drawn from the international research findings on characteristics of high-performing schools. Finally, the study recommends that public secondary schools in Zambia should revise their approach to enrolment of learners, teacher recruitment and development, and leadership appointment, and should adopt policies that meet the needs of the Zambian context as well as investing in research. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

This dissertation explores the plight of vulnerable poor households in Sinazongwe district of Zambia. It determines nature of their vulnerability and identifies commonly used coping strategies. It also identifies different types of livelihood strategies and assets available and accessed by vulnerable poor households to create sustainable livelihoods. Study design used qualitative and participatory paradigms, involving variety of data collection techniques and tools such as key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The study identified several factors impacting on vulnerable poor households, their response strategies and perceived potential sustainable livelihoods. Drought and flash floods destroyed livelihoods of poor households from which they often failed to recover. Vulnerable poor households possessed fewer assets and less diversified sources of income and often lacked back up resources in times of hardship. Livestock rearing, fishing and irrigation-supported gardening were identified as possible sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable poor households in Sinazongwe, to recover and become resilient. / Sociology / M.A. (Development Studies)

Poverty and the environment are closely linked, as people use environmental resources to support livelihoods. Illegal stone quarrying evident in Lusaka, Zambia is symbolic of the use of environmental resources by the poor. Stone crushing provides income yet it is characterized by land degradation, large-scale excavation and dumping of waste materials. This study provides an analytical account of stone crushing as a livelihood in Lusaka and makes recommendations for improving the livelihoods of stone crushers to become sustainable. Using a livelihoods approach, a qualitative study collected data from various role players in Lusaka. Assets (physical, natural, human, social and political capital) for stone crushers were assessed, revealing that stone crushers lack livelihood assets, key options and are exposed to various shocks due to seasonal shifts. Increasing access to key livelihood assets, reducing vulnerability, improving infrastructure, access to justice and tackling social exclusion and gender inequality will enhance their livelihoods. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

no abstract available / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

This study focuses on the teaching of RE in Zambian multireligious secondary schools. The problem faced in secondary schools is that currently RE is being taught with a single religious approach by the RE teachers instead of using a multireligious perspective as directed by the Ministry of Education (MoE). The aim of this study, therefore, was to find out why RE teachers tend to be reluctant to respond to the MoE directive in applying a multireligious approach to the subject. In order to achieve this aim, an empirical investigation was necessary. A quantitative and qualitative survey through self-administered questionnaires and in-depth interviews were undertaken by the 194 teachers teaching RE in selected secondary schools in the Copperbelt Province. The research reveals that the RE teachers' reluctance to respond to the Ministry's directive is a result of their different perceptions which are mostly influenced by their religious affiliations and the syllabuses they use. For example, the majority of the RE teachers involved in the teaching of RE in secondary schools are Christians, therefore, they are reluctant to teach RE that also includes non-Christian religions because they feel it would compromise their consciences and their own faiths. As a result, they prefer to teach the subject from a Christian standpoint. This approach differs from the MoE directive to teach RE from a multireligious perspective. In the light of the different perceptions concerning the problem of teaching RE in Zambian multireligious secondary schools, the following recommendations have been made: (i) Since the Zambian secondary schools have become multireligious, RE teaching should take a multireligious perspective if it is to be relevant to the needs of pupils of diverse religious backgrounds; (ii) The current RE syllabuses (2044 and 2046) require a critical evaluation and revision in order to ensure that they adapt to a multireligious tradition. Finally, the results of this study concludes that the teaching of RE should be firmly placed in an educational context by making no assumptions or preconditions from the personal commitment of RE teachers. The role of RE teachers is that of educators. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Didactics)

The thesis is divided into three parts. Part I is an introduction to the field of study and comprises only one chapter. This chapter includes short accounts of the geographical positions and the inhabitants of Zambia and Malawi. Part II deals with the constitutional history of the two countries from the introduction of European administration in the last decade of the nineteenth century to their attainment of independence in 1964--a period of seventy years. Zambia and Malawi are new states and a study of their Constitutions would not be properly appreciated if it were not to cover fairly fully the past that bore the present. Part III, which is the main section of the study, deals with the provisions of the present Constitutions of the two countries. It is divided into sixteen chapters. / Public, Constitutional, & International Law / LLD (Constitutional Law, Public International Law and Labour Law)