Zambia's PRSP process: from exclusion to inclusion, confrontation to cooperation?

The article looks at the relationship between civil society organisations (CSOs) and the government in Zambia, which has been developing since the government invited civil society to participate in the formulation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Prior to this, NGOs and other CSOs had been operating as a separate group, largely excluded from decision-making processes. In 2000, civil society in Zambia galvanised itself into a networkùCivil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR). The article concludes that despite the limitations facing the government-civil society interactions, Zambia represents one of the best-practice cases in sub-Saharan Africa.