Cathryn Kadimba-Mwanamwambwa, CARE Zambia. © CARE

Cathryn Kadimba-Mwanamwambwa, from CARE International in Zambia, discusses the difference that aid makes in her community, and the importance of the UK elections.

"My name is Cathryn Kadimba-Mwanamwambwa and I’m the Northern Regional Program Director for CARE in Zambia. My role is wide-reaching (and very busy!). I oversee projects, liase with donors, monitor progress, and develop new project proposals. I also assess the gaps in services in the community and feed this back into proposals and policy decisions.

Here in Zambia, we really see the impact of overseas aid on the lives of poor and marginalised people. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) has invested in infrastructure projects, ensuring that communities have clean water, and that they maintain control over management of their water supply.

This has increased access to local supplies of clean water, reduced health problems, increased household income as less is spent on buying water elsewhere and saved the time of women who do not have to travel far to collect water.

Aid is important for countries where governments do not have the capacity or finances to reach out to the poorest of the poor due to the scale of need – it helps developing country governments to focus on and reach out to the most vulnerable groups.

Voting is important because it gives voice to people to choose their leader. But you need to do more than vote; you need to hold those leaders accountable to their promises."