[{"bbox": [86, 152, 400, 183], "category": "Section-header", "text": "3.5 The Intervention Logic"}, {"bbox": [96, 198, 1137, 543], "category": "Text", "text": "The underlying intervention logic for this action is that the Government is very committed to reforms that aim for medium-term economic and societal recovery targeting long-term growth and citizens' welfare. These do not include only the stimulation of the Zambian economy, but also the consolidation of progress in terms of democratic institutions and processes and the increased investment in the country's human development and potential. However, carrying out these reforms in a context of limited fiscal space caused by economic mismanagement, culminating in the country defaulting on its debt in 2020 represents a difficult task – hence the active support of multilateral (IMF, WB, AfDB) and bilateral (EU, GIZ, USAID, etc.) cooperating partners. In this context, the EU opted for resuming its budget support operations in support of the reforms. This will allow for increased fiscal space and higher ownership of the Government of the activities and the results of the Programme. Moreover, the option of a Resilience Building Contract has been chosen given Zambia's recovery context from a multi-factor crisis (debt default, pandemic, prolonged droughts, and severe floods), thus supporting the country to advance policies and adapt institutions for solid reforms with long-lasting positive effects on the economy and the society."}, {"bbox": [96, 558, 1137, 730], "category": "Text", "text": "The first two Specific Objectives aim to support key priority reforms under the two social sectors that have the most impact at the level of the Zambian population, independently of geographical location or social status: Education and Health. The action supports the focus of the reforms to reduce inequalities in these two sectors, by improving the quality and inclusiveness of the education system and by stimulating local production of medicines and medical supplies, which will eventually translate into higher availability and affordability of medicines for all Zambians, including the most vulnerable."}, {"bbox": [96, 746, 1137, 1059], "category": "Text", "text": "Improving the quality and inclusiveness of education is the general aim of the government's Education For All reform. This specific Activity will help realize the reform objectives by contributing to increasing the quality of teaching (e.g. availability of adequate teaching space, teaching and learning materials, and teacher's accommodation) and increasing the educational opportunities for the most disadvantaged (girls, children with disabilities, poor) through the provision of adequate auxiliary infrastructure (access for disabled, WASH facilities). An increase of more than 30% of the education budget is a step forward made by the Government, but this will not avail the necessary resources for this ambitious reform. Therefore EU will join other partners that are contributing to financing this reform (e.g. World Bank, through loans), and the Budget Support operation's contribution will play an important role in its achievement, if well coordinated. The action will also be well coordinated with, and will complement the Programme on Early Childhood Development and Education under the AAP 2023."}, {"bbox": [96, 1078, 1137, 1307], "category": "Text", "text": "The component supporting ZAMRA has been proposed to be undertaken under the Budget Support Action as ZAMRA reform (including the related legislative framework) is a sine qua non condition to creating a conducive environment for the development of a local pharmaceutical industry as prioritized by the ZPMI. In the long term, this is an opportunity under the Global Gateway, as showcased by the success of the recent EU-Zambia Pharmaceutical Forum and the concretization of the first MoU between European and Zambian companies. The choice of this particular component is further motivated by the long-term investment of the EU in the Zambian Health Sector, particularly in respect to the regulatory aspects and capacity building at ZAMRA (fully equipped and new HQ built under EDF)."}, {"bbox": [96, 1323, 1137, 1465], "category": "Text", "text": "Under the third Specific Objective, the Action intends to support the Government's PFM Reform Strategy to help restore fiscal sustainability and improving efficiency and effectiveness of public resource allocation, notably in relation to public service delivery (value for money). This action will particularly focus on improving public procurement, transparency, and financial compliance in the management of public resources across the Government."}, {"bbox": [1027, 1680, 1145, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 22 of 33"}]