The Zambia Devolution Support Programme (ZDSP) is a government-led initiative, launched in 2023 with funding of over $210 million from the World Bank, designed to accelerate Zambia’s decentralization agenda. Its main goal is to strengthen the financing, institutional performance, and accountability of Local Authorities (Town Councils) across the country.

Chikankata Town Council is one of the local authorities that received an amount of K2.7 Million, meant to fund infrastructure projects and essential service improvement, and so far, some projects have been identified and works on some have commenced.

These projects includes the rehabilatation of roads in kasengo and turnpike wards, drilling of 14 boreholes across the district

Program Development Goal is to strengthen the financing, institutional performance and accountability of Town Councils (TCs) in Zambia.

The goal will be achieved through providing of support to eligible Town Councils through capital grants and provision of support to strengthen the institutional performance of Town Councils in their core functional areas of; Public Financial Management, Inter-Governmental Fiscal relations, Performance Management, Accountability of local service delivery and Oversight and monitoring

Financing Type Two types of financing used for the project; (i) Program for Results (P4R)- Covers key result areas and disbursements are directly linked to achievement of tangible verifiable results. (ii) Investment Project Financing – will provide input-based capacity building support and project management activities Key Partners: Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Finance, Decentralization Secretariat, Zambia Public Procurement Authority, Office of the Auditor General, Office of the Accountant General and Chalimbana Local Government Training Institute. Timeline: The project will run from 2022 – 2027 Focus Area: Decentralization to strengthen governance and service delivery across the country

Financing Type Two types of financing used for the project; (i) Program for Results (P4R)- Covers key result areas and disbursements are directly linked to achievement of tangible verifiable results. (ii) Investment Project Financing – will provide input-based capacity building support and project management activities Key Partners: Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Finance, Decentralization Secretariat, Zambia Public Procurement Authority, Office of the Auditor General, Office of the Accountant General and Chalimbana Local Government Training Institute. Timeline: The project will run from 2022 – 2027 Focus Area: Decentralization to strengthen governance and service delivery across the country