A Letter from Zambian Delegation

To the director
China international poverty reduction centre
From Zambian delegation
Re: Poverty Policy and Practice Workshop
5—19 July 2006
We write to express our gratitude and sincere appreciation for having invited our country Zambia to participate in the workshop. Our experiences and impressions of the workshop and China are positive and forgettable.
　　Our impression is that China is a vigorous society which harbours a certain extravagance of objectives which are achieved through its people’s willingness to work beyond the provisions of personal gratification. We so and felt a wide spread of sense of work and achievement. China has the spirit and moral fibre necessary for its advancement in social and economic development. It has an apparent inner strength which is so necessary to progress towards prosperity. The country through its resources, skills and organizing capacity continues to make constant endeavors. To not only rescue poverty levels but raise the overall quality of life of its people.
　　It is our view that the Chinese government has been far sighted by adopting an attitude of reserve towards popular and fashionable ideologies. China clearly understands that poverty and underdevelopment cannot be solved by aspirations and slogans. Neither can it be solved by purblind ideologies or by opaque ignorance masquerading as progressive politics. Poverty reduction and sustained development can only be achieved through realistic and pragmatic economic policies which harness the reservoir of its people’s faith, energy and enterprise.
　　China has attained a sustained level of increased production all round. Industrial peace and cheap labor have lead to fast economic growth which in turn has enabled the government to achieve some high level of social justice.
Specifically we are very impressed by
1) High level of decentralization
2) The availability and participation of government structures at all levels
3) The government commitment to the poverty reduction programme
4) Extensive community participation in the programmes
5) A culture of hard work through community efforts
6) A good micro-credit finance schedule which is friendly and flexible
7) Detailed data base on population and poor communities
8) Good provision for infrastructure development
9) A viable provision for marketing rural produce at fair prices
10) Well targeted programmes
11) High levels of accountability at all levels
12) Effective monitoring and evaluation systems which are result oriented
13) Good education system
14) Population control and monitoring
15) The Chinese efforts are a positive indication of their commitment to help Africa reduce its poverty levels.

Litia Charles Mutemwa