Client
The democratic Republic of Zambia, a landlocked country of 21 million citizens at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, is divided into 10 provinces: Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Muchinga, Northern, North-Western, Southern, and Western. The government is led His Excellency, Hakainde Hichilema, and supported by a cabinet of 28 ministers, 50 permanent secretaries and 10 provincial ministers.
Context
Effective communication in the public sector is important in building citizen-centred and trusted governments in today’s rapidly evolving media landscape and world.
As technology transforms how people engage with information, it is crucial for government leaders to adapt, particularly in an increasingly diverse and connected population.
Recognizing the importance of communication, the Government of Zambia needed to sharpen the skills of the whole of government leadership to have an intentional, clear and coordinated communications approach to inform, engage, and influence its citizenry and stakeholders.
Programme Design
ABLA designed a closed intensive and interactive 7-module hybrid 3-months contact and virtual programme to build the capacity of government leaders, specifically, cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries and government communicators to communicate effectively and consistently with authority, clarity, and coherence the government agenda and programme programme, ensuring their messages resonate with all Zambians and stakeholders, and ultimately build a respected and trusted Zambian government brand.
The programme was delivered by subject matter faculty selected from ABLA’s network of respected practitioners, thought leaders and academics across disciplines and experience in the private and public sector and supported asynchronously through readings, case studies, role playing, activities and forums where participants can interact with each other and faculty on the ABLA e-Learning Management System (LMS) e-learning platform and access the ABLA’s digital library.
To emphasize the importance of the programme, all cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries and government communicators attended the training, which kicked off week commencing 30 September 2024 with an address by H.E. President Hakainde Hichilema and concludes with a graduation 30 January 2025.
Programme Modules
- Effective Media Engagements and Relationships
- Communicating with Gen Z
- The Technology of STORY Telling
- Strategic Government Communications in the Digital Age
- Crisis and Conflict Management and Communications
- Building Trust and Organizational Culture
- Monitoring and Evaluations
Outcomes
- Completed training for 28 cabinet ministers, 50 permanent secretaries and members of the government and Presidency communications and technical teams on Branding, Communications and Strategic Media Relations and Engagements.
- Strengthened the capacity of government to build a communications culture and enhanced the communication skills for cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries and government communicators, ensuring they can represent Zambia effectively and credibly – and communicate the government agenda and build trust.
- Improved communication skills of cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries and government communicators to engage with media and manage key issues expediently with clarity and empathy.
- Enhanced skills of cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries and government communicators to effectively engage and communicate with Gen Z, ensuring leaders connect with the younger generation.
- A cohesive, unified approach to setting and communicating Zambia’s national agenda, both locally and globally.
To qualify for an ABLA Certificate of Completion, all participants had to attend all classes and contribute and/or participate in group activities.
