The Copperbelt Health Education Project (CHEP) was established and registered with the Registrar of Societies in 1988 as a Zambian non-profit Organization to help
respond to the emergent HIV/AIDS problem which was widely affecting several Zambian families. In 2009, pursuant to the requirements of the NGO act of 2009, CHEP was registered with the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health. CHEP started its operations as a community health service wing of the Kitwe Rotary Club. It started with a mandate to raise awareness, educate and support communities to prevent the spread of HIV. CHEPβs initial focus was on the Copperbelt where it has a distinctive competence in ensuring that public-private partnerships (PPPs) are harnessed.
CHEP has been implementing various programs for over 32 years in Zambia, in the field of education, health and nutrition, health education and other health development related initiatives. CHEP has been collaborating with Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of General Education (MoGE), Ministry of Community Development & Social Services (MCDSS), the private sector and other key actors to empower marginalized and disadvantaged communities in rural and peri-urban area.
CHEP is one of the very first Zambian indigenous organizations that pioneered innovative prevention, care and support activities such as drama, person to person communication, radio programmes, workplace programmes, and home-based care (HBC) and production and distribution of IEC materials. Through these strategies CHEP has reached approximately 1.2 million people with accurate information on HIV and AIDS including care and prevention services.
CHEP has assisted in the creation of over 25 Community based organizations that are now implementing innovative activities on HIV and AIDS prevention, care and support at community level. In collaboration with communities, CHEP has created and supported the running of 6 community schools that not only are providing education but are also centers for social cohesion and community mobilization. Through these schools and other education support programmes, CHEP has over the years enabled over 15,000 OVC to access primary, secondary and tertiary education. Of these children over 1,000 are now in employment leading independent and progressive lives.Β
The growing number of community-based organizations and non-Governmental organizations comes with issues of capacity to implement projects. Many of the emerging organizations are predominantly community based with minimal or no skills to take on the tasks that go with mitigating the suffering of vulnerable populations in communities. It is these gaps in institutional capacity among organizations that led CHEP to position itself as a Technical Support and Mentoring organization at National level. Through CHEPβs experience which spans over 30 years, the organization has transformed into an intermediary that helps to build organization capacities for effective programming of Health, Education and Advocacy in Development including focus on HIV/AIDS, TB, Economic strengthening and Malaria.
