From 28–30 November 2025, an All-Women Self-Defence Seminar and Karate Tournament took place at NASDEC Sports Complex in Lusaka under the theme “Kick like a Girl – Punch not in anger but in confidence”. Organised by Girl Kicks Foundation, the event brought together athletes, coaches, parents, government representatives and partners. It was held during the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, placing the safety of girls and women firmly at the centre of the agenda.
Girl Kicks Foundation is a Zambian non-profit that uses karate, education and life skills to empower under-resourced girls. The organisation provides a structured training environment, academic support and a safe space for around 80 girls and young women, many of whom are exposed to risks like early pregnancy, child marriage, or substance abuse in their communities. The foundation helps the girls build confidence, discipline and leadership – protective factors that reduce vulnerability to gender-based violence and expand girls’ life choices.
NatuReS engagement on gender equality and inclusion
For NatuReS in Zambia, supporting the seminar formed part of its broader work on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI)in stewardship partnerships. Across the programme, partnership action plans increasingly consider the needs and rights of women and marginalised groups in Just Transition processes, e.g. through their participation in decision-making, access to resources and improvements to working and living conditions. The collaboration with Girl Kicks translates these principles from boardrooms to neighbourhoods: it directly supports girls’ safety, agency and visibility in a context where GBV remains one of the most widespread human rights violations in Southern Africa.
To increase the knowledge on roles, rights and needs of women and marginalised groups in Just Transition processes, NatuReS and partners in Zambia have recently rolled out training on social inclusion and gender equality. The aim is to enable stakeholders in stewardship platforms such as the Lusaka Water Security Initiative (LuWSI) to integrate GESI in their policies, projects and monitoring frameworks. Supporting Girl Kicks extends this trajectory by recognising girls themselves as key change agents within resilient communities, not only as “beneficiaries” of interventions.
The event was also attended by Ms Chipo Mary Tembo, Gender Focal Person for GIZ Zambia, signalling alignment between grassroots initiatives like Girl Kicks and GIZ’s company-wide efforts to prevent gender-based violence, strengthen women’s participation and ensure that no one is left behind. As the final medals of the tournament were handed out, the message was clear: creating safe, empowering spaces for girls – on the tatami and beyond – is an integral part of building the inclusive, resilient societies that NatuReS and its partners strive for.
In November 2025, the uMhlathuze Water Stewardship Partnership (UWASP) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a region facing increasing water insecurity, hosted the Lusaka Water Security Initiative (LuWSI) for a three-day learning exchange. The event highlighted how collaboration, good governance and community-led action lie at the heart of building long-term water resilience.
Co-hosted by the UWASP partners and the GIZ Natural Resources Stewardship Programme II (NatuReS II), the exchange convened stakeholders from government, the private sector, academia, civil society, water utilities and local communities. Held in the City of uMhlathuze – a strategic port city and vital industrial hub – the gathering centred around a shared purpose: safeguarding water for people, ecosystems and economic development.
Shared responsibility for a vital resource
Liteboho Makhele, Component Manager of NatuReS II in South Africa, opened the exchange. She welcomed all partners, thanked the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) for hosting the workshop and shared the vision that would guide the three-day exchange: “Over the next three days, we will listen, learn, walk together, and strengthen our shared mission of building resilient, inclusive, and sustainable catchment partnerships. Today, we focus on governance, institutional sustainability and practical peer learning between the UWASP and LuWSI partnerships. Tomorrow, we deepen the dialogue through innovation and tools. And on Day 3, we take these lessons into the field to witness stewardship in action.”
Her remarks set the tone for an exchange grounded in collective responsibility, a sentiment echoed by partners throughout the day. “It is our responsibility to look after water resources and ensure that all users – communities and industries alike – have equitable access”, reflected Brenda Strachan, Manager for Spatial and Environmental Planning in the City of uMhlathuze. In his keynote address, Acting Deputy City Manager Mthokozisi Mhlongo reiterated that water security sits at the centre of sustainable development. “Water affects everything – our cities, our economy, our environment and our future”, he noted. With Richards Bay port contributing close to 60% of South Africa’s exports, the reliability of water in uMhlathuze is inseparable from national economic stability. However, growing pressures from industrial discharge, agricultural runoff, invasive species, wastewater treatment failures and aging infrastructure have underscored the urgency of water stewardship efforts in the region.
The UWASP journey
UWASP as the hosts of the exchange then outlined the journey of the partnership to the guests from Zambia. Dr. Reuben Thifhulufhelwi from WWF-South Africa traced the evolution of UWASP following the 2016 drought, when dam levels dropped to just 16%, bringing economic activity in the region to the brink of collapse. What followed was an unprecedented collective response that brought upstream and downstream users together in a shared decision-making space. “There is no alternative to water. Managing it better was no longer optional, it became a necessity”, Dr. Thifhulufhelwi emphasised. Today, UWASP’s steering committee has a shared long-term vision for strengthening governance, improving data systems, and enabling more coordinated infrastructure planning in the stressed catchment.
Providing a municipal perspective, Thembekile Sithole (Operations Manager: Water and Sanitation, City of uMhlathuze) gave an overview of the City’s water supply and wastewater management system, highlighting key infrastructure, current operational realities, and ongoing initiatives to strengthen service delivery and long-term resilience.
Turning to Zambia, the Zambian delegation delivered a dynamic walk-about presentation showcasing the evolution of the LuWSI partnership. Founded in 2016 through a Memorandum of Understanding, LuWSI has grown into a multisectoral platform bringing together over 40 partners from government, private sector, civil society and academia. With strong political buy-in, the initiative has managed to expand its reach and impact. It is now guided by a 13-member steering board, supported by active partnerships with universities, robust private sector engagement and school-based environmental education programmes.
“Collaboration gave each partner the opportunity to perform better than it could alone”, said David Mwamba, Senior Technical Advisor from GIZ NatuReS Zambia, reflecting on the initiative’s resilience despite challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting donor landscapes. Today, LuWSI stands as a legally recognised coordination body and an amplifier of collective water security action. The LuWSI delegation, alongside representatives from key Zambian stakeholders, shared valuable lessons and unpacked the realities of establishing such a partnership.
Cross-country exchange on stewardship for water resilience
A panel discussion with LuWSI and UWASP partners explored the role of advocacy in driving water stewardship and how industry can be more effectively engaged for long-term commitment. Further, Sanele Vilakazi from uMngeni-uThukela Water highlighted the Amanzi Champions programme. This initiative equips young people to become citizen scientists by collecting and sharing vital water data.
A visit to Amandosi Primary School in Esikhaleni, then illustrated community-led adaptation in action. Supported by the GIZ Cities Adapt project, the school is demonstrating how communities can be engaged in co-creating solutions – from rainwater harvesting and drip irrigation to heat-resistant roofs and food gardens – showing how education, water management, climate adaptation and food security can intersect. In fact, the role of communities as active custodians of water systems was a recurring theme throughout the exchange. “When communities are empowered with skills, tools and knowledge, they move from being recipients to becoming protectors of natural resources”, participants echoed.
One of the highlights of the learning exchange was the launch of the FlowTracker Phase 2. This is a mobile monitoring application designed to strengthen catchment water management by integrating real-time monitoring tools with stakeholder-driven decision-making. Phase 1 (2022–2023) was co-funded by NatuReS. Going into Phase 2, commissioned by UWASP partners Mondi and WWF-SA and implemented by AWARD, the aim is to expand coverage and capabilities. Participants also explored advanced monitoring technologies such as GLOFAS and Digital Earth Africa, which provide real-time insights into flood risks, dam levels and historical water surface changes. Live demonstrations showcased how these tools support evidence-based action and collaborative planning. “Data is power in decision-making”, said Hugo Retief from AWARD. “The more reliable the data, the stronger and faster the response.”
The delegation also visited key water sites in the area including Lake Mzingazi, Lake Cubu and the uMhlathuze Weir and Pumpstation, gaining firsthand insights into local water systems and ongoing interventions.
As the learning exchange drew to a close, participants voiced a collective commitment to:
Strengthen partnerships
Prioritise community education and participation
Invest in sustainable infrastructure
Support data-driven decision-making
Elevate water stewardship as a shared responsibility.
As one participant summed it up: “Partnerships are not linear. They require patience, trust, learning – and action”. This learning exchange reaffirmed that when diverse stakeholders unite around transparency, collaboration and a shared vision, water becomes more than a resource – it becomes a catalyst for transformation.
In Zambia, many groups continue to face barriers that hinder their full participation in political, economic, and social life. These disadvantages are often rooted in gender, age, geographic location, occupation, race, ethnicity, religion, citizenship status, disability, and sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI), among other factors. Such social exclusion not only denies individuals dignity and security but also deprives them of the opportunity to lead improved, fulfilling lives. Without addressing the root causes of systemic exclusion and discrimination, achieving sustainable, inclusive growth and reducing poverty will remain a challenge. Exclusion is also an issue in natural resource management. It is apparent in instances such as deciding where to place a borehole in a community – usually decided at a higher level missing technical and qualitative aspects.
Therefore, from June to September 2025, the NatuReS Programme in Zambia, in collaboration with the Lusaka Water Security Initiative (LuWSI), has conducted comprehensive training workshops. They served to empower partners from civil society, the private sector, and public institutions with the knowledge and tools necessary to advance social inclusion and gender equality across their programmes. The objective was to build the partners’ capacity to meaningfully integrate principles of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), community empowerment, and accountability in their work. The trainings covered diverse thematic areas including water security, climate resilience, environmental sustainability, public health, community awareness, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH).
During the trainings participants were equipped with practical strategies to:
Understand and apply key concepts of gender equality, social inclusion, safeguarding, and empowerment within the context of WASH and natural resource stewardship programmes.
Identify barriers to inclusion and discriminatory practices that limit the participation, leadership, and wellbeing of marginalised groups.
Apply approaches that are gender-transformative and also inclusive of other marginalised groups to programme design, implementation, and monitoring to address social inequalities and promote community empowerment.
By doing so, the initiative seeks to enhance the inclusivity, impact, and sustainability of partner efforts in managing natural resources and improving community resilience.
Why Social Inclusion Matters
Social inclusion is not just a moral imperative – it is a strategic necessity for sustainable development. Ensuring the participation of marginalised and vulnerable groups in the governance and management of natural resources is crucial to achieving equitable development shaped by the diverse voices and experiences of all community members.
For the NatuReS Programme, social inclusion lies at the heart of its approach to fostering effective, collective governance through multi-stakeholder partnerships. By removing barriers to participation in decision-making, the partnerships contribute to a Just Transition and ensure that no one is left behind.
The Natural Resources Stewardship (NatuReS II) Programme was honoured to play a key role in the learning exchange visit of a Sierra Leone delegation on Circular Economy & Solid Waste Management to Addis Ababa. The pivotal event aimed at building a sustainable future through collaboration, fostering knowledge transfer on Ethiopia’s pioneering approaches to the circular economy and sustainable solid waste management. The programme provided actionable insights for the participating Sierra Leonean institutions, incl. local government and NGOs.
Exchange on stewardship partnerships for a Circular Economy
A cornerstone of the week was the knowledge-sharing workshop held on October 14, 2025, in Addis Ababa. Organised by PETCO Ethiopia, a producer responsibility organisation promoting a circular transition, the event convened a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders, including members of the Partnership for Circular Value Chains. Mr James Njeru, Implementation Manager for NatuReS Ethiopia, contributed as a panellist. He emphasised the critical role of stewardship partnerships in bringing about inclusive and sustainable change in the Circular Economy and waste management arena.
The engagement deepened on October 15, when we had the pleasure of hosting the delegation at our office for a deep dive into the NatuReS approach and our Natural Resources Risk and Action Framework (NRAF). Working across countries and in different settings from catchments to cities and industrial parks, this approach has developed over time and proven to be adaptable also beyond NatuReS. As a regional programme, learning from others’ experiences and replicating successful approaches is a core value of our work and enables us to tackle shared challenges more effectively. Thus, it was a great opportunity to share best practices, success stories, and transparently discuss the standing challenges in the sector with the Sierra Leonean colleagues.
South-South cooperation between Ethiopia and Sierra Leone
This learning exchange was a powerful example of leveraging Ethiopia’s tested approaches to accelerate Sierra Leone’s journey in building robust circular economy frameworks. The expected outcomes are to strengthen institutional partnerships and support the development of adaptation strategies tailored to Sierra Leone’s context. We extend our sincere thanks to PETCO Ethiopia for spearheading this initiative and hosting the high-level delegation.
