Official vision
About ZARD
Established in 1984, the Zambia Association for Research and Development is a non-profit, member-driven gender and development organisation. Through research, advocacy, training, and collaboration, ZARD connects communities, researchers, and decision-makers.
Institutional identity
ZARD was founded on the understanding that participatory, action-oriented research can help address gender and development challenges. Its work has created channels between researchers, communities, civil society, and decision-makers.
The organisation’s gender-development legacy remains central. Today, that lens informs work spanning governance, inclusion, climate resilience, livelihoods, health, youth, and institutional strengthening.
ZARD distinguishes technical capacity from completed results: capabilities describe what the organisation can contribute, while public claims about outcomes appear only when supported by verified records.
Official vision
Official mission
Governance
ZARD’s General Assembly is the organisation’s final decision-making membership body. It elects the Board and Projects Committee. The Board provides oversight, while the Executive Director and Secretariat coordinate day-to-day management and implementation.
Membership model: ZARD draws on researchers and development practitioners from different professional fields, with the Secretariat providing coordination and technical support.
Strategic approach
This accessible pathway describes ZARD’s working logic and is not labelled as a formally approved Theory of Change.
Research, MEL, facilitation, policy engagement, and technical assistance.
Shared knowledge, practical learning, stronger systems, and informed stakeholders.
More inclusive policies, programmes, organisations, and dialogue.
Sustainable development outcomes shaped by participation and collaboration.
Financial stewardship
ZARD’s documented management arrangements include financial oversight, defined authorisation processes, record keeping, and professional accounting support. Public financial and policy documents are published only when approved records are available.
Receipting & Banking. All funds received are receipted in a seriated book and banked immediately, with separate bank accounts opened for long-term projects.
Procurement Standards. All payments are supported with three quotations and made by cheque, unless the Executive Director approves cash payment by letter.
Authorization. All payments are supported by vouchers with four signatories, with file copies kept in chronological order for easy retrieval.
Independent Audit. The books are audited by independent external auditors every year, with audit reports presented to the General Assembly.
Verified historical achievements
The achievements below are retained as part of ZARD’s institutional history. They are not represented as current programme results unless a current, verified record is added.
Strengthened partnership linkages, creating confidence in ZARD's activities among stakeholders and beneficiaries.
Established 9 women's groups in gender, human rights, and HIV/AIDS programmes in rural areas, reaching communities across five districts.
Established the Women's Information for Development Network (WIDNet), connecting women to information and resources for development.
Established the Women's Resource Centre, which provides a wide range of information on women and development in Zambia.
Contributed to the establishment of the Gender in Development Division (GIDD) at Cabinet Office, a lasting institutional legacy.
Lobbied the Government to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) in March 1985 through the Women's Rights Conference held at Mindolo, Kitwe.
Continued to work towards bridging gender gaps by bringing out information on gender and development, women's rights, human rights, culture, and the dignity of women and men.
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