Cancelling Zambia's Debt: The JCTR hosts Jubilee-Zambia,- which aims at securing total debt cancellation and a just international trade system in order to facilitate poverty reduction. With signiticant debt cancellation for Zambia, our focus is now on ensuring use of freed resources for equitable poverty eradication. The campaign has strong links and networks at community, national and international levels, including a very active provincial outreach programme.

Promoting Churches' Social Teaching: Through publications and educational programmes, the JCTR builds awareness and more effective utilization of the riches of the social teaching of the church. Our aim is to link faith and justice in a way that focuses the energies of various church communities on transforming society. Through the value addded dimensionn of of equal participation, intergral development, solidarity, common good, love, justice and aspecial concern for the poor. We promote political ethics and constitutional respect for Human rights.

Partnering for Change: The JCTR manages two task forces that involve interested individuals beyond our own staff. The first addresses issues on inculturation, and the second deals with the integrity of creation/environmental issues.

Building Awareness: The JCTR presents its research and educational materials through a quarterly Bulletin, a quarterly Policy Brief, a regular updated website, special reports, wide spread media coverage in local newspapers, radio and television and articles in popular and scholarly publications.

See a list of our close partnrs benefactors

The Context in which we work

JCTR serves two African countries, Malawi and Zambia, though most of our current projects are located in Zambia. Both are peaceful countries, rich in natural and human resources and united by a strong desire to improve the living conditions of all.

However, both Malawi and Zambia are poor countries, heavily indebted and ranking low on the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

The JCTR works with other civil society groups to improve the situations in these countries by "promoting faith and justice". In doing so, we face a challenging landscape characterised by issues such as the following:

• The average "Basic Needs Basket" for a family of six Lusaka is around K1,900,000.00, but the take home pay of most teachers is between K800,000.00 and K1,400,000.00

• After Debt cancellation, the major challenge continues to be Continued borrowing from both external and local market, thus the need for legal review of the demanagement framenwork

• The literacy rate of women is much lower than that of men, and girls are more likely to drop our of school than boys.

• The social teaching of the Catholic Church is a rich resource for empowering people to work for social justice, but it still is in too many instances "our best kept secret".

• Approximately 16 - 20% of Zambians are infected by HIV/ AIDS, but 100% are affected. The rapid spread of the diseases is closely linked to the fact that more than 80% of the people live below the poverty line.

• Feeding people through the development of an agricultural sector that can sustain periodic droughts and floods is now Zambia's number one priority.

• Environmental degradation in Zambia is undermining future sustainable development, an issue that especially hurts the poor