The Centre for Environment Justice (CEJ), with support from the Carter Centre Foundation, has introduced the community empowerment component under the Resilient Women for Climate Action and Environmental Justice (RW4CAEJ) project in Lufwanyama District.
Speaking in Lufwanyama, CEJ Programme Coordinator Climate Change and Energy, Dalitso Mvula, said the initiative is designed to empower women environmental rights defenders, strengthen climate resilience, and promote inclusive environmental governance.
She explained that the component will run from 2025 to 2026, aiming to promote alternative sources of livelihoods among Women Environmental Rights Defenders (WERDs), advance inclusive climate governance, and support gender-responsive frameworks for climate adaptation, land governance, and resource management.
Mvula noted that the initiative is particularly significant because women, girls, and persons with disabilities in rural Copperbelt communities face disproportionate impacts of climate change, including floods, water scarcity, and displacement.
The CEJ official stressed that the component ensures women are not merely beneficiaries but leaders shaping Zambia’s climate resilience agenda.
She added that the initiative builds on CEJ’s earlier efforts such as the SheRise Campaign and Environmental Protection Dialogue.
Mvula explained that the community empowerment component follows consultations that revealed the need for livelihood alternatives to strengthen environmental protection.
“We concluded that savings groups, popularly known as SILC, can work well in this area. Today’s training focuses on savings groups, as many community members expressed interest in learning how they function,” she said.
She emphasised that financial empowerment is essential for households to meet basic needs such as food, education, health, and transport, with women being active participants in business and community life.
In her training, CEJ Staffer Memory Mfungo guided participants on how savings groups operate, highlighting the importance of transparency, collective accountability, and record-keeping.
Mfungo explained that savings groups require open meetings where members declare their contributions and repayments publicly to prevent malpractice.
“Savings groups are not permanent; they have a cycle in which members loan, repay, and eventually share the savings,” she said.
This is contained in a statement issued by the CEJ communications unit.
