In a new blog series focusing on CollaborateUp’s local development practitioners, Imakando Sinyama, a Learning and Development Specialist with CollaborateUp, explores the importance of being able to make a difference in his home country Zambia and regionally in South Africa.

Tell us a little bit about the work you do as a Learning and Development Specialist for CollaborateUp.
As a Learning and Development Specialist at CollaborateUp based in Southern Africa, I focus on human and institutional capacity building, designing and facilitating multi-stakeholder workshops, and learning events on various sustainable development topics such as climate change, biodiversity, education, entrepreneur development, and combating wildlife crime.

Why is it important to you to work in your own country/region?
Southern Africa is currently grappling with the effects of climate change that have devastated the economies of many Southern African states, including Zambia, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, and South Africa. This leads countries to look for collective solutions to these problems. Working with CollaborateUp has allowed me to tackle these issues at home and gain a sense of ownership and responsibility for the outcomes. I think local actors being part of the solution empowers people and communities and helps the solutions lead to more sustainable and long-term impacts. In my work with CollaborateUp, we brought together donors, private sector actors, government officials, and local and International NGOs to co-create and co-design strategies to solve some of the impacts associated with climate change. Some of these programs include an entrepreneurship mentoring initiative for youth and women in Botswana, a Climate Finance Learning Event in Zambia, and an inclusive program to combat wildlife crime in Southern Africa, among others.

How is CollaborateUp supporting you to make a difference in your country/region?
CollaborateUp’s work in Southern Africa has had a significant impact in the 5 years I have been with the firm. Their work from the US provides me with the support I need to bring my local knowledge, context, and expertise to problems we are facing in my own country and the region. We work closely together on these issues, each bringing value to the relationship. This includes being part of the solution to the effects of climate change facing Zambia, which are threatening the livelihoods of more than 6 million people. As part of the CollaborateUp team, I worked to design and facilitate a climate finance event that brought together finance institutions, government, donors and implementing partners to discuss and share lessons on how best to address the challenges to accessing climate finance for small and medium enterprises.

Working with support from the CollaborateUp team, we planned and executed both online and in-person learning events, some of which informed the development of the SADC – Law Enforcement and Anti-Poaching Strategy (LEAP) in 2023. Through a combating wildlife crime program in Southern Africa, I co-design an online wildlife training course that successfully built the capacity of more than 150 magistrates and prosecutors on wildlife crimes.