What is CIGZambia?
CIGZambia provided high-quality, demand-led technical assistance to the Zambian government and private sector partners to strengthen cities and infrastructure as drivers of inclusive economic growth, climate resilience and poverty reduction. The FCDO funded programme delivered catalytic support across urban planning, water security, infrastructure and energy, including long-term assistance to Lusaka Water Security, Integrated Development Plans for municipal councils, Covid-19 health infrastructure, and the development and implementation of Zambia’s first Integrated Resource Plan. This work strengthened climate resilience, enabled renewable energy integration, improved service delivery, and embedded GEDSI considerations across Zambia’s energy transition and urban development agenda.
Our role on this project
SDDirect provided cross-cutting GEDSI advice and targeted support through flexible technical assistance to national governments and delivery partners. We collaborated with senior management and thematic leads to mainstream GEDSI across interventions, workstreams, results frameworks, and processes, maximising development outcomes for disadvantaged groups, SMEs, and the informal sector in programmes on urbanisation, transport and infrastructure, and energy access.
We conducted research and provided guidance to support GEDSI mainstreaming in the development of Zambia’s Energy Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). We developed a briefing paper on disability inclusion in social safeguards in Africa and conducted a GEDSI review to support the development of a Social Safeguard Framework (SSF) with minimum standards to be applied in all energy projects.
