Gender audit of member Churches of Council of Churches in Zambia

Background:
This report highlights the findings of the Gender Audit that was commissioned by the Gender Department of the
Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ).

The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) is an ecumenical umbrella organization of Christian churches that
seeks to promote cooperation and fellowship between Christian churches and organizations in the Nation. 
The current membership stands at 24 member churches and 18 associate member organizations. The CCZ,
therefore, seeks to bring together its membership and stakeholders for consultation and discussion in an effort to
help form an enlightened Christian opinion on all issues affecting the spiritual, social and physical well being of Zambians.

Purpose/ Objective:
 The aim of the Gender Audit was to establish to what extent CCZ member churches’ policies and practices have
 constrained or promoted gender justice in their churches.

Methodology:
Seventeen member churches were assessed during the Audit which began from 11th February 2008 to 30th April 2008. Each member church assessed was unique in itself.

A semi-structured questionnaire with both open-ended and closed-ended questions was   administered in order to
collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The respondents included Leaders of the churches or representatives who had the authority to speak on behalf of the churches.Since the administration of the questionnaire allowed for both administrative staff and clergy as respondents simultaneously, the processes embraced both, clarity of questions and further discourse where necessary, thereby give a wealth of qualitative information.
Focus group discussions were also used where it was necessary to meet a number of people at the same time. 
Additionally, literature review was also undertaken both prior to the Gender Audit and after, to allow for the collection of secondary data for enrichment of the Audit.

Key Findings: 
Structures, Mechanisms, Systems and Procedures: The churches have well defined structures which are supposed to
use Christian principles in terms of gender justice but very gender insensitive.

Church Leadership and Power Sharing: The churches leadership is very patriarchal in nature and there is gender
imbalance in power sharing. The roles are usually based on gender division of labour and very stereo typed.

 It was found that there was a gap between the doctrines or theory and the current practices which in some cases
are quite gender responsive.

Recommendation:
The review was to establish the position of men and women in CCZ member churches. In order to
redress the gender imbalances it is being recommended that gender sensitive policies and guidelines be developed and churches be committed to implementing them.

Comments from Norwegian Church Aid (if any):
NCA has used these findings to consolidate the gender and governance project which is part of the strategic plan for
NCA for 2009-2011. Undertaking this specific evaluation will make it easier to make follow up interventions on gender,
gender based violence and good governance within the churches.