CTPD Executive Director Isaac Mwaipopo is greatly concerned with the rising unemployment in the country.

Mr. Mwaipopo noted that Zambia has an estimated total labor force of 3.4 million people of which about 427,000 people are unemployed.

He said it is important to note that about 36.7 percent of the total national population are youths and that the youth have peculiarities which make them more vulnerable to being unemployed.

Mr. Mwaipopo said youth unemployment in Zambia is estimated at about 10.5%, which is higher than the national average unemployment of about 7.4%.

“When Zambia Army advertised for 1,500 positions in 2016, more than 168,000 people applied. In 2018, Zambia Police was looking for 1,000 constables, an overwhelming 57,601 application were sent. This is worrying, it requires urgent attention from the powers that be”, Mr. Mwaipopo said.

He said it is important for government to reflect and highlight what has been done to create a conducive environment for young people to grow and thrive.

Mr. Mwaipopo said strategic documents such as the 2015 National Youth Policy spell out intentions that seeks to provide equal access to opportunities while the National Action Plan for Youth Empowerment and Employment targets to create 200,000 jobs annually of which 40% should be for the youths.

He regretted that there is a huge gap and mismatch between the targets in the Action Plan and the annual budgetary allocations meant for youth employment creation and promotion of children’s rights.

“We have observed that Zambia is increasingly dedicating more resources towards debt servicing and thus leaving the government with limited ability to stimulate the economy for higher employment for the nation at larger and young people in particular”, he added.

Mr. Mwaipopo said CTPD is further concerned that social sector spending has been reducing as demonstrated by the relative low funding to tertiary education compared to primary and secondary education.

He has since urged government to join hands with young people in finding lasting solutions to the challenges they are facing.

Mr. Mwaipopo said there is great need to move away from the old tradition of always addressing young people and start finding time to listen to them.

Zambia has urged women, particularly in developing nations to actively engage in the political governance and bridge the global gender, social and economic gap if sustainable economic progression among nations is to be achieved.

Zambia’s Minister of Gender Elizabeth Phiri has told the United Nations that educated women in Zambia, as in many other countries are shunning politics because its male-dominated landscape has often been hostile and unpleasant to the female gender.

Mrs. Phiri has however said the Government of Zambia has continued to create an enabling environment for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls through a range of innovative policies meant to close the gender social, economic and political disparities.

Speaking when she opened the 63rd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women side event, Mrs. Phiri noted that the competition in elective political positions of leadership in many countries is often too aggressive for the full participation of educated women, hence creating gender inequalities.

The theme for the 63rd CSW is: “Promoting Rights-based Social Protection Policies for Gender Equality, a prerequisite for Social Justice and Sustainable Development.”

The side event was organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in conjunction with Zambia, Women in Informal Employment Globalising Organising, Africa Platform for Social Protection and Africa Labour Network.

“In Zambia, like many other countries, particularly in developing nations, for women to get to high elective political positions, they have to defeat men and it is not an easy undertaking. Educated women are shunning politics because the male-dominated political sphere has remained aggressive. But women have to actively engage in the political governance of countries if the social and economic gender gap has to be closed for sustainable development,” Mrs. Phiri said.

She stated that Zambia remains committed to enhance gender mainstreaming through the development of policies and programmes that would be able to reduce poverty and vulnerability among women and girls.

Mrs. Phiri explained that with the National Social Protection Policy, Zambia has seen the enactment of the National Health Insurance and the approval of an integrated framework which aim at ensuring overall coherence and maximization of development impacts of investment in social protection.

She said that Zambia’s implementation of the Social Cash Transfer Scheme has so far improved nutrition levels among vulnerable rural households who can now access to adequate food.

Mrs. Phiri stated that the Government of Zambia is implementing the Food Security Programme, which is aimed at enhancing food security at household level through crop divarication, conservation farming as well as the promotion of alternative livelihoods among communities.

“The role of the Social Protection System is not only reducing poverty but also for achieving human development outcomes such as nutrition, health and education and tackling social inequality. Social protection programmes have the ability to tackle social constraints such as lack of income or income-generating capacity,” She added.

The 63rd Commission on the Status of Women was also attended by Zambia’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Dr. Auxillia Ponga, Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe, Ms Helen Mudora, a civil rights activist from Kenya and Dr Laura Alfers of Women in Informal Employment Globalising and Organising in South Africa.

This is contained in a statement issued by First Secretary for Press at Zambia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations Wallen Simwaka.

The Zambia National Students Union (ZANASU) has said journalists in Zambia and globally need protection not just from governments but more so from bad media owners who abuse these journalists by forcing them to be unethical or replace qualified reporters with mediocre ones who can do their bidding.

In a statement released to the media by ZANASU president Misheck Kakonde, ZANASU called for the media to exercise the highest responsibility in fair and accurate coverage of news especially that the media has always championed self-regulation against statutory regulation.

ZANASU said that it understood the noble task that the media has to the country and also appreciate the commitment, pressures and challenges that individual journalists have to subject themselves to keeping the public well-informed. For this very reason, the student body stood firm in calling for protecting of journalists against media owners who are driven by desires to make profits than the primary responsibility the media houses have to their countries and the public.

ZANASU said that it will always stand firm in protecting of press freedom but called upon media owners to pay serious attention to improving the conditions of service for professional journalists who stake their souls, happiness and liberties to keep the nation accurately informed.

Coupled with constant training and re-training of journalists, ZANASU said that it believed that it is time media owners end the ill-treatment and poor working conditions among journalists, and the offering of slave wages to professionals who belong to the noble profession of journalism. Government must take interest in the conditions of service for most of our professional men and women responsible for protecting our democracy through their tireless efforts on gathering and disseminating accurate information.

Pambashe Member of Parliament Ronald Chitotela has dissolved the selection committee responsible for identifying vulnerable children for the education scholarship programme in his constituency.

Mr. Chitotela has since replaced the selection committee with the Social Welfare office, which he says will henceforth take charge of identifying vulnerable children to benefit from the initiative.

He says it is not fair that the intended beneficiaries, who are supposed to be those from poor families have not been given priority.

Mr. Chitotela stated that strict measures will be put in place to ensure the education scheme only benefits the vulnerable.

He however disclosed that the number of beneficiaries has been increased to 76 this year, from the previous 70, with 35 thousand kwacha to be paid for children in various schools.

Mr. Chitotela was speaking to journalists at Mushota primary school soon after giving out scholarships to 76 school goers.

President Edgar Lungu has directed Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo to ensure no violence is recorded whenever elections are taking place. President Lungu has also cautioned youths to stop being used as tools of violence.

The President said this through his Spokesperson, Amos Chanda. President Lungu has also urged youths in the country to reflect and maximize the opportunities that Government has continued to avail to them.

He said Youths are critical to the country’s development and must be given the opportunity to excel and contribute to the economy.

Earlier, President Lungu led Defence Chiefs, Cabinet Ministers, senior government officials, the Diplomatic Corp, in laying wreaths at the Freedom statue in Lusaka.

This is in remembrance of the contribution of young people to political independence in Zambia.

And in his homily, Zambia Army Director Religious and Moral Services, Lieutenant-Colonel Shadreck Mwale challenged the older generations to ensure they nurture the young people to be responsible citizens.

Colonel Mwale said the country has a responsibility to prepare young people for tomorrow’s challenges. He also challenged the youth to use their energy for national development purposes.

And Zambia Air Force -ZAF- Livingstone Chaplain Isaac Chipapala has said that there is a level playing field for youths to excel in Zambia. Reverend Chipapala said that the youths must be innovative and contribute to the well-being of humanity.

He said this when giving a homily during the laying of wreaths at the cenotaph located at the prisons grounds in Livingstone to mark youth day celebrations.

Reverend Chipapala said it is the youths of yesterday that contributed to the well-being of the youths of today.

The Reverend said there can never be a better tomorrow and a prosperous Zambia if the youths of today are not focused and determined.

And Acting Livingstone District Commissioner Harriet Kawina led various government officials in laying wreaths at the prison grounds cenotaph.

The celebrations were attended by scores of youths and political parties including the Patriotic Front, Rainbow Party and the Felix Mutati led MMD while the United Party for National Development stayed away from the event.

Today, young people in the country are commemorating the Youth Day, under the theme Zambian Youth – Generation Unlimited.

Lusaka Mayor, Miles Sampa has given another 60 days period to allow the company build a suitable stand for the chicken outside the round-about.

Lusaka residents had taken to social media to oppose and protest the intended move to remove the apparently beloved but awkward statute.

They said the statute represented a well-known feature of Lusaka and that the action gave moral support to a resilient local company that has survived stiff foreign competition .

Below is the letter by the His Worship Miles Sampa;

“Good Day and Happy Chicken Day.”

“Having heard all concerns and submissions pro and con from Hybrid management and the general public, I am inclined to extend the time for the Chicken to cross the inner circle road by another 60 Days.

“This is to give Hybrid more time to build a new Chicken statue outside the roundabout as I am told the current one cannot be craned out without destroying it.

“I envisage it will be possible by the end of the 60 days to vision two big chickens there one inside and another outside the circle.

“Thereon, we can “kill” the inner circle chicken but still remain with one across the road towards Hybrid.

“Hybrid would still have rights to maintain the entire roundabout. I will also ensure they get a written contract unlike at the moment where they have non for some reason.

“With this approach, I reckon we would have struck a Win Win for LCC, Hybrid Chickens and the general public”.