Civil–Military Relations in Zambia

This report provides policy recommendations from a workshop on civil-military relations in Zambia. Key suggestions include limiting military involvement in internal disturbances to avoid excessive force, ensuring transparency in defence budgeting, and sharing the responsibility for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) across multiple ministries. It also addresses the need for legal protections for refugees and Zambian women who marry refugees, while calling for the UNHCR to assume more responsibility for the financial burden of refugee care.

• Workshop participants recommended that the military should rarely be used for internal disturbances, as the police should be the primary force for this purpose to avoid the use of excessive force and negative perceptions from civil society.
• The document suggests that defence and security agencies must serve national interests according to the constitution, and that the executive and legislators should budget for a force of appropriate size with a budget open to stakeholder scrutiny and transparency.
• Regarding Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), the participants recommended that the burden be budgeted for and shared across all relevant ministries rather than being the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Defence, noting that social workers are central to the integration phase.
• The report notes that Zambia and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) provide care for refugees from neighbouring states. It recommends legal protection and rights training for Zambian women who marry refugees, legal protection for refugees' children until maturity, and allowing refugees who wish to reside in Zambia to do so.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Civil–Military Relations in Zambia. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CIVILRECOMMEND.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Civil–Military Relations in Zambia. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CIVILRECOMMEND.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Civil–Military Relations in Zambia |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CIVILRECOMMEND.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndcivilmilitary, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Civil–Military Relations in Zambia}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CIVILRECOMMEND.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }