Country profile

Zambia      New Zealand Capital Lusaka Wellington Population 11.7 million 4.1 million Official language/s English English and Maori Per capita income US$490 US$27,250 NZ$1=US$0.70 NZ$669 NZ$38,928 Life expectancy 38 years 80 years Under 5 mortality rate 182/1000 5/1000 Adult literacy 68% 99% (Source: UNICEF The State of the World's Children 2008)

People
Each of Zambia’s 70 tribes has its own language, but English is widely spoken even in rural areas. More than 30 per cent of the population lives in cities, especially in the mining region known as the Copperbelt.

More than 75 per cent of the population is Christian, with Islam and Hinduism the next most common religions. Many Zambians combine traditional animist practices with these faiths.

Geography
Zambia was named after the Zambezi River. It is landlocked and bordered by eight other countries. In the east and northeast the country is mostly highland plateau. The climate is moderate due to the high altitude. There are three main seasons in Zambia – a cool dry period from May to August, a hot dry season from September to November and a rainy season from December to April.

History
In the 1850s, David Livingstone travelled up the Zambezi River into Zambia. After gaining independence from Britain in 1964, the nation was ruled by Kenneth Kaunda for 27 years, during which time economic and social indicators went backwards. Multi-party elections were held for the first time in 1991.

Economy
In the early twentieth century, copper was discovered in the north-central area (now known as the Copperbelt) and large-scale mining began. When the price of copper fell in the 1970s, Zambia was forced to borrow money internationally. The country has received significant debt relief and relies heavily on aid.

Despite the fall in export prices, mining continues to provide most of the country’s income. Tourism is a growing industry.

Agriculture employs 85 per cent of the labour force. However, most farmers have only small plots and produce barely enough to feed their own families, especially under recurring drought conditions. Per capita income has fallen by 50 per cent since independence and 75 per cent of the population live on less than US$1 per day.

Education
In 2002, the Zambian Government made primary schooling free in a bid to improve education. Classrooms are often dilapidated and overcrowded, and there is increasing teacher absence and attrition due to HIV and AIDS.

The enrolment age for primary school is 7, but many children do not start at this age due to financial constraints or distance from home to school. Primary schooling lasts for seven years. Basic schools also offer two additional years of intermediate-level education. Pass marks to get into secondary school are set high and places are limited.

HIV and AIDS
The adult HIV-prevalence rate remains high, but stable, at 16 per cent. At least 600,000 Zambian children have been orphaned as a result of AIDS. The effects of HIV and AIDS are felt throughout the country.

In 2004, the Government began to invest more resources in combating HIV and AIDS and committed to provide anti-retroviral medication to 100,000 people.

Health
Zambia’s health indicators, such as maternal mortality rate (750 per 100,000 births), have become steadily worse. Contributing to this, along with extreme poverty and the increasing effects of HIV and AIDS, are contaminated water and chronic food shortages. Malaria, malnutrition, anaemia, cholera, diarrhoea and respiratory infections are common. The Government aims to reduce malaria by 75 per cent by 2011.

The country has a shortage of trained medical staff, equipment and medicines. In rural areas transporting a sick person to the nearest health centre is both difficult and costly, so many people consult local healers instead.

Jump to the Top of the Page

Zambia COUNTRY UPDATE

FIGHTING HIV

“The challenge of working in partnership against HIV and AIDS means we must reach out to all those involved in the response, including those working at the grassroots who bear the brunt of the epidemic. …In communities across the world, leadership, courage and resilience are shaping the response to the epidemic."
Kemal Dervis, Administrator of the UNDP, on World AIDS Day, December 2005.”

HIV and AIDS is one of the biggest development challenges facing Zambia. It has become the major cause of illness and death among young and middle-aged people there. Zambia also has one of the highest incidences of poverty in the world with 68 per cent of the population living below the national poverty line. HIV and AIDS is making it much more difficult for Zambia to fight these high levels of poverty. It deprives families and communities of people of working age, meaning they lose their income. The disease has the potential to reverse the social and economic gains the country is striving to make.

The Zambian Government takes HIV and AIDS very seriously, and has labeled it a national emergency. Since the first case of HIV was identified in Zambia in the 1980s, the country has done much to combat it. In fact, many of the initiatives now practiced throughout the developing world began in Zambia, such as home-based care, tackling the psychosocial impact of HIV and AIDS and the public declaration of people living with HIV and AIDS to fight stigma.

Yet the fact remains that around 17 per cent of the Zambian population between the ages of 15-49 is HIV positive. UNDP’s 2007 Zambia Human Development Report says the key in responding to this challenge is to place the household at the centre of Zambia's HIV and AIDS response. The households of HIV positive people feel the immediate impacts of the disease and carry the greatest burden, but are also the primary unit for coping with it.

World Vision has many strategies for combating HIV. First, an Area Development Programme raises awareness about HIV and AIDS and educates the community, so that the facts about transmission, prevention, care and treatment are known. Campaigns about HIV prevention make people aware of what sort of behaviour puts them at risk and the steps they can take to protect themselves from infection.

Voluntary counselling and testing services are put in place and psychosocial counsellors are trained in palliative care. Support groups for people living with HIV are set up. World Vision also helps people access antiretroviral therapy.

As a child-focused organisation, World Vision pays particular attention to the children who are left behind when family members die of AIDS. The ADP ensures that orphans and vulnerable children receive the support they need – be it school fees, stationery, food or shelter. In the long term, World Vision aims to make education about HIV the norm. In Nakonde ADP, which began in 1995 and is closing this year, HIV and AIDS education has been integrated into the school syllabus.

UNDP Human Development Report 2007/2008