About Us
The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection is a research, education and advocacy team that promotes study and action on issues linking Christian Faith and social justice in Zambia and Malawi. The JCTR began in 1988 as a project of the Zambia-Malawi Province of the Society of Jesus and is similar in orientation and activities with other Jesuit social centres around the world.

Mission Statement
We aim to foster, from a theological perspective based on a faith-inspired reflection, a critical understanding of current issues that will generate action for positive change. Our mission is to promote an inculturated faith (making our faith both more genuinely Christian and more authentically African), integral human development, gender equity, and empowerment of local communities in the work of justice and peace, and the integrity of creation (ecological respect and environmental justice).

What do  we do?
The Centre engages in research on key social issues like cost of living, social implications of debt servicing, accessibility of healthcare and education, and integrity of local democracy. We put forward our findings in publications, workshops and conferences, and media presentations. We join in advocacy campaigns by mobilising the public through local-based teams around Zambia and by cooperating with other civil society groups like the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace. Out current projects include:

  • Meeting Basic Needs: For several years, JCTR has carried out in Lusaka a monthly survey of prices of basic family necessities (e.g. food housing, etc.) comparing the finding with take-home wages. This "Basic Needs Basket" is widely used by civil society organisations, labour unions, etc., to promote better living conditions. We have also done studies on the working conditions of teachers, cost sharing in education and accessibility of health services.

  • Cancelling Zambia's Debt: The JCTR hosts the Jubilee-Zambia campaign, which aims to secure the effective and equitable relief of the tremendous external debt burden. Through an advocacy programme based on in-depth research, popular mobilisation and international cooperation, we have advocated cancellation of external debt and direction of the saved funds to poverty eradication.

  • Promoting Poverty Eradication: Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) is a coordinating group of civil society organisations based at the JCTR. CSPR members work together to design, implement and monitor government programmes that address the serious situation of widespread poverty in Zambia.

  • Promoting Churches' Social Teaching: Through publications, workshops, courses and writing, the JCTR works to build awareness and more effective utilisation of the riches of the social teaching of the churches. Our aim is to link faith and justice in a way that focuses the energies of various church communities on transforming society.

  • Partnering the 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 or creation.

  • Building Awareness: The JCTR presents our 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.

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 K1,000,000.00 (US$ 200), but the take home pay of most teachers is about K500,000.00 (US$ 100)

  • The external debt of Zambia is close to US$7 billion, and during the 1990's the country spent 20% of its GDP on debt servicing and only 2-3% on health and education services.

  • The literacy rate of women is much lower than that is 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 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
Meet the wonderful staff at JCTR!

HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED?

You already are involved, by bringing up on the Internet our Web Site. If you have suggestions for improving the Web Site, please contact us at: socialjctr@zamnet.zm

On this Web Site, we are happy to share with you our recent publications and reports on our projects and activities. We also offer you links with our key partners, such as Catholic Centre for Justice, Development and Peace (Zambia) and the International Jesuit Network for Development

You can be involved by getting back to us with your comments and suggestions about how we can better fulfil our mission statement, how we can cooperate with your own efforts for faith and justice, how we can serve the local church, and how we can improve our research and publications. We look forward to hearing from you! (See our addresses below.)

If you would like to be on our mailing list to receive our quarterly JCTR Bulletin, please let us know. The subscription donation is K20,000 for inside Zambia, and US$ 15.00 for airmail outside Zambia.

 

How to contact us:

Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection
P.O. Box 37774   10101 Lusaka Zambia
Luwisha House
5880 Great East Road
Opposite University of Zambia
Telephone: 260 1 290410
Fax: 260 1 290759

 E-mail Addresses
Administration: jctr@zamnet.zm
Director: phenriot@zamnet.zm
Debt Project: debtjctr@zamnet.zm
Social Project: socialjctr@zamnet.zm
Finance Office: agrippa@zamnet.zm