The Sectorplan NiZA’s aim is to strengthen civil society and democratic processes in the southern African region, in order to achieve structural poverty reduction.
NiZA has different means to further those objectives. One of them is NiZA’s membership of PSO, a organisation for Personnel Assistance financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
As a member of PSO, NiZA developed its first Sector Plan for the Media Programme in 2000. This approach was new for both NiZA and PSO.
The ways in which the Media Sector Plan utilises short-term deployment of technical assistance for capacity-building purposes is broadly regarded as unique and innovative.
It was welcomed as a new approach that promotes ownership of southern partners and stimulates regional collaboration and networks at the sector level.
Four basic assumptions of the Media Sector Plan are:
Partner-driven approach:
NiZA promotes a new form of solidarity that involves close collaboration with southern African partners at the strategy level. It is crucial that the input for all NiZA’s programme activities come from our partners in the region. The project support of NiZA is based on local partner initiatives and partners will have co-ownership of the sector plan.
Capacity building:
Capacity building is a way in which African organisations can develop their own Human Capital. NiZA can support this in many ways with funding and expertise. NiZA stimulates south-south exchanges.
Can a study undertaken in Malawi benefit a training institution in Namibia? Do trainees from South Africa work in other countries later on? Do joint efforts of several institutions around the region get off the ground?
In the Media Sector Plan, an increasing number of southern experts have been deployed over the past years: currently 70% of the experts are from SADC countries. In the long run NiZA strives to become an ‘expertise broker’ in the areas of Human Rights, Media and Socio-economic Empowerment.
Coherence:
The added value of a sector plan is that projects will no longer be measured for their output by the implementing partner alone, but also for the sector as a whole.
The set up of the sector plan is such that regional collaboration will be supported, existing networks will be reinforced and new ones stimulated. Exchange of information and experience between partners is key.
Sustainability:
The sector plan will be developed for a four-year period. The added value of the sector approach is that regional networks are expected to emerge and develop. This will contribute to the sustainability of activities.
