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Millennium Development Goals in Zambia

Zambia MDG report launch

The Zambian government has committed itself to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Fifth National Development Plan for 2006-2011 gives reassuring priority to poverty reduction. Determined multi-sectoral initiatives seek to raise public awareness of the importance of the Goals. The task will nevertheless be formidable as Zambia has so far failed to make significant progress on the eradication of poverty and hunger (MDG 1). The majority of the population (64%) lives on less than $1 a day, and 87% have less than $2, figures that are worse than in the MDG baseline year of 1990. Although harvests have been good for the last three years, the World Food Programme describes food insecurity as widespread due to sensitivity to local rainfall patterns; food aid remains in place for 370,000 beneficiaries. There is a growing gap between the rich and the poor. The elite (in the cities) have adopted a Western standard of living and put great emphasis on material wealth.

Nevertheless, Zambia has the potential to achieve nearly all of the MDGs, according to the Progress Report published in 2005. One important exception is maternal mortality (MDG 5) which has been increasing in recent years. This worrying trend is also true of literacy rates (MDG2) which have declined since 1990. Today one third of the adult population is illiterate. However, free primary education was introduced in 2003, and 95% of children are now going to primary school.

HIV/AIDS in Zambia

Schoolchildren bury a friend in Zambia © United Nations Children's Fund

Zambia has the fourth highest adult HIV prevalence in the world; 17% of the adult population (15-49) is HIV positive or has AIDS. This rate has been stabilised but is not yet falling. Due to the pandemic, life expectancy at birth has dropped from 50 years to 40 years. An estimated 100,000 people died of AIDS in 2005 and over 600,000 Zambian children have been orphaned. This human tragedy has also acted as a constraint on the rates of economic growth in Zambia.

Despite the high levels of infection, the majority of people living with HIV/AIDS do not have access to life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART). Only an estimated 40% of those in need in 2007 actually received the treatment. Children (who represent 10% of all people living with HIV/AIDS in Zambia) have particularly limited access to treatment facilities. Zambia has put appropriate policies into place, but these have not been translated into results as yet. The main barriers to HIV/AIDS treatment are social stigma, lack of information and costs.
Health in Zambia

Community health worker in Zambia

Another barrier to HIV/AIDS treatment and health care in general is a chronic shortage of professionals in the health sector. This is greatly aggravated by emigration to better paid countries in Europe or the United States. The doctor to patient ratio in Zambia is one in 14,000, compared to about one in 600 in the UK. This shortage is a key cause of the high maternal mortality rate in Zambia – only about 5% of births are attended by skilled health personnel. It also undermines the intentions of the government which in 2006 introduced free health care for vulnerable groups living in rural areas. User fees, which had made treatment unaffordable for the majority, were abolished creating huge demand for health services which the infrastructure cannot provide.

Malaria is the major health problem in terms of the demand for hospital facilities and is the leading cause of deaths in young children. Zambia with a total population over 11 million people has an average of about 4 million cases of malaria each year, and this figure is rising rather than falling.
The Economy in Zambia

Constrained by its landlocked geography, the Zambian economy has historically been based on the copper-mining industry. The decline of world copper prices in the 1970’s led to a major loss of income for the country which generated a mushrooming burden of foreign debt.

The long road to debt relief forced the government into the arms of IMF structural adjustment. Since 1991, Zambia has liberalised its economy through privatisation of state owned companies and economic diversification (less attention to mining, more to agriculture). The effects of this reform have not yet delivered benefits to Zambians, only 400,000 of whom are engaged in the formal employment sector.

In 2005 Zambia qualified for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and, following the G8 summit in that year, gained its reward of massive debt reduction from over $7 billion to $500 million. The loan interest saved is now in theory available to the government to spend on health, education and other sectors. During this same period, copper prices have been rising sharply, bringing further potential economic benefit to Zambia, although this is limited by the tiny royalties of 0.6% that the government can claim, another legacy of structural adjustment. In addition, oil and gas reserves were discovered in 2007.

Although Zambia strives towards less dependency on foreign aid, the total amount given by aid agencies and foreign governments remains as high as $560 million per annum. Aid contributed 28% of Zambia’s budget for 2007. A growing source of support is China which is now the third largest investor in Zambia. In 2007 the Zambia-China Economic & Trade Corporation zone was established, offering tax exemptions to Chinese companies in return for $800 million of investment in manufacturing over 3 years.
Politics in Zambia

Zambia became independent in 1964 after 70 years of British colonial rule. In 1991 the one-party state progressed to multi-party elections for seats in the National Assembly - and elections for the presidency which are normally held on the same dates. The Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) won the 1991 elections and Frederick Chiluba was elected as president. Chiluba’s socialist platform was watered down by economic reform imposed by the IMF and World Bank.

President Mwanawasa © Zamnet

Chiluba’s party colleague Levy Mwanawasa was elected in 2001 despite winning only 28% of the vote. Although MMD popularity was in decline by the 2006 elections, the party again won the most seats thanks to improved economic prospects, disunity amongst the opposition, and dominant use of media time during the electoral campaign - however, the elections were declared ‘transparent, free and fair’ by international election monitors. The incumbent Mwanawasa won the presidential vote but under the current constitution will not be allowed a further term of office; a new MMD party leader is due to be elected in 2009.

Zambia is among the most corrupt countries in the world. President Mwanawasa has taken decisive measures, such as the creation of the Task Force on Corruption and his resolve that former president Chiluba should stand trial for stealing $40 million from public funds during his time in office. Although the president's priorities have been questioned by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, a Lusaka court eventually ruled in 2007 that Chiluba is to stand trial. He denies the allegations and does not acknowledge a ruling against him made in the UK High Court. The Zambian court case is still pending.

During his first term, President Mwanawasa appointed two committees to make recommendations for reforms of the electoral process and constitution. A draft constitution was presented in December 2005, the proposed changes aimed at rebalancing powers away from the president towards parliament. New electoral rules would require the successful candidate to obtain at least 50% of votes. Civil society lobbied hard for these changes to be implemented before the 2006 elections, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

Since the election, the president has established a National Constitution Conference to consider the draft during 2008 for eventual submission to parliament for approval. Although the Conference purports to represent all sectors, both the Patriot Front opposition and civil society leaders consider that it includes too many members of parliament from the ruling MMD party.

Civil society thrives: Zambia has many active non-governmental organizations and civil society groups. These bodies contributed to the Fifth National Development Plan influencing its focus on poverty reduction. However, new NGO legislation proposed in 2007 suggests that the government is uncomfortable with the criticism that it draws from civil society groups.
Human Rights in Zambia

International human rights treaties ratified by Zambia have not been integrated into national laws and Zambians have limited knowledge of their rights and how to enforce them. Creating such awareness is the role of the Human Rights Commission in Zambia but its institutional capacity to enforce international standards is weak. As a consequence, the rights of many Zambians are violated on a daily basis. Police brutality and torture to force confessions are believed to be everyday practices and prison conditions are in a terrible state. The judicial process can take long time as a result of lack of professional resources and infrastructure. The death penalty is still imposed for serious crimes, but Mwanawasa has said he will not sign execution orders during his presidency.

Annie Kaseketi Mwaba, an HIV positive pastor in Zambia © Centre for Development and Population Activities

Examples of gaps between Zambian law and international commitments include the treatment of women and refugees. Gender inequality is widespread. Zambia’s constitutional and legal systems in the last 40 years have not addressed women’s exposure to domestic violence, discrimination and lack of property rights. The government recognised these problems and created in 2000 a Division for Gender in Development within the cabinet and committed itself to mainstreaming gender in all the sectors of society.

With no fewer than seven shared national borders, Zambia is very exposed to the consequences of social instability in Africa. It currently hosts 117,000 refugees including 59,000 Congolese and 40,000 Angolans. No Zambian citizenship is offered and the UN Refugee Agency lobbies the government for new laws to meet the terms of the Geneva Convention. Meanwhile attempts are being made to repatriate all Congolese by the end of 2009.

Journalists training in Zambia © Yese Williams Bwalya

The state owns most TV stations and newspapers. Private print and electronic media are allowed but are often restricted by financial expediency, typically where the government is the major advertiser and thus the main source of income. Ministers have been known to order journalists not to be too critical.
The Environment in Zambia

Zambia is among those countries where food security is marginal and therefore highly vulnerable to climate change. The country is responsible for a miniscule 0.006% of global carbon dioxide emissions but a 2007 report by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) says that climate change will hit Zambia particularly hard. The government’s National Adaptation Programme of Action published in 2007 says that “drought and floods have increased in frequency, intensity and magnitude over the last two decades and have adversely impacted on food and water insecurity” - access to safe drinking water in rural areas is only 37%. Severe flooding at the end of 2006 and again in 2007 has been blamed by a minister on climate change.

When the USA sent genetically engineered maize as food aid in 2002, Zambia controversially refused to accept it for fear of negative impacts on health and contamination of its agricultural production and environment. This policy remains in place.



Akke Jeanne Klerk is a VSO volunteer, based in Lusaka and working as an Advocacy Officer for Zambia AIDSLaw Research and Advocacy Network (ZARAN).
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