Zambia has reaffirmed its commitment to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisations (UNESCO) mission of global peace, stability and shared prosperity.
Zambia has also called for stronger support to National Commissions that translate UNESCO’s ideals into action, ensuring its visibility on the ground and enhancing member states’ visibility within the organisation.
Speaking during the General Policy Debate at the ongoing 43rd Session of the UNESCO General Conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Permanent Secretary for Educational Services at the Ministry of Education, Kelvin Mambwe, reiterated government’s commitment to enhancing the visibility of UNESCO’s participation programme.
The participation programme is a mechanism through which UNESCO partners with its member states and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to fund developmental projects proposed by them.
This is according to a statement made available to media today by First Secretary for Press at the Zambian Embassy in France, Naomi Mweemba.
Dr Mambwe said Zambia`s new national education policy titled “Shaping Tomorrow’s Future,” guarantees free education up to secondary level.
“Through it, over two million learners have returned to school. President Hakainde Hichilema’s intention to enshrine the free education policy into law will reinforce access to education as a permanent right, not subject to political changes,” Dr Mambwe added.
He explained that aligned with the Transforming Education Summit outcomes, Zambia has adopted a competency-based curriculum.
Dr Mambwe has also underscored the centrality of science and technology in national development saying Zambia launched a new Science, Technology and Innovation Policy in 2025, backed by $115 million to advance research, innovation, and infrastructure.
And the Permanent Secretary has called for strengthened partnerships to expand the Kafue Flats Biosphere Reserve into a regional model for sustainable ecosystem management under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme.
He also appealed for continued cooperation with UNESCO to enhance groundwater management and ensure equitable access to clean water through the International Hydrological Programme at Mansa Resettlement Scheme.
Dr Mambwe further reaffirmed Zambia’s commitment to culture, which he said is a pillar of sustainable development, highlighting the new National Arts Policy and the inscription of the Mangwengwe dance on UNESCO’s representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity-Zambia’s sixth entry.
He has since thanked UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity for supporting the review of Zambia’s key creative sector laws to strengthen culture and the arts as drivers of economic growth.
The Permanent Secretary also thanked UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme for supporting the ongoing preservation of more than 55,000 hours of analogue audiovisual archives at the national broadcaster, which are at risk due to deterioration and technological obsolescence.
