Press Statement on Zambia’s Poor ranking in the 2018 African Report on Child Wellbeing

Save the Children wishes to share its concern on Zambia’s ranking in the African Report on Child Wellbeing of 2018 by the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) released on the 2nd of November 2018 by the board chair Madam Graca Machel.

Zambia is among the bottom nine “least child-friendly” countries and ranked 48th out of the 52 African countries. In 2013, Zambia ranked 36th in Child Friendliness Index and moved down 12 places over the last five years.

The report measures how child friendly African governments are using a Child-Friendliness Index (CFI), which is a rights-based statistical methodology that ACPF developed to measure, monitor and promote government performance in realising the rights and wellbeing of children. It measures state accountability to child rights, as stipulated in international and regional child rights instruments especially the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Convention on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC or ‘African Children’s Charter’). It looks at government performance in areas of nutrition, education, budgeting for children, laws and policies and protection of children especially in conflicts and crisis.

According to the report, a child-friendly government is one which is maximising efforts to meet its obligations to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights and ensure their wellbeing. This includes; efforts made to adopt, implement and enforce laws and policies for the protection of children; public expenditure committed to children’s basic needs and how effectively it achieves concrete child wellbeing outcomes; and efforts made to include children in decisions that affect their wellbeing.

The 2018 Child-friendliness Index covered all African countries except Libya, Somalia and Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Page xxiii of the report indicates that ‘the “least child-friendly” governments at the bottom of the 2018 table comprise South Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, Cameroon, Zambia, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Eritrea. The legal and policy framework and the enforcement mechanisms in most of these countries remain inadequate and weak. They also invest the least in education, health and wellbeing, despite the prevalence of multiple deprivations amongst their children.’

As the world leading independent organisation for children, Save the Children supports government and other stakeholders to prioritise the rights of children, especially their right to basic services and their right to participate in civic space. The African Report on Child Wellbeing highlights the situation faced by children in Zambia and the many challenges they continue to face.

Why is Zambia’s performance score and ranking very low?

• With regards to legal protection of children, Zambia has yet to adopt several child-related laws such as the Optional Protocol to CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution, and pornography; the Optional Protocol to CRC on insolvent of children in armed conflict; and the Optional Protocol to CRC on communications procedure.
• The minimum age of criminal responsibility is 8 years, which is below the recommended 12 years.
• Minimum age of marriage both for boys and girls is set at 16, below the endorsed age 18.
• Zambia has the 2nd lowest level of birth registration in Africa – only 11.3 percent of the children under the age of 5 registered with the civil authorities.
• Prevalence of child labour is among the ten highest in Africa – nearly 41 percent of the children aged 5-14 involved in child labour. Corporal punishment is not prohibited in the home and alternative care settings despite widespread practice of physical violence within these settings.
• Education spending is only 1.1 percent of GDP– the lowest in Africa.
• The average number of students per teacher in Zambia is 48:1, which is above the recommended level 40:1.
• The proportion of population living below 1.90 USD a day is about 58 percent – among the ten highest in Africa.
• The prevalence of chronic malnutrition (stunting) is among the ten highest in Africa – two in every five children aged below five are stunted.
• The proportion of population with access to safely managed sanitation facility stands at only 30 percent – below the African average 34 percent.

It is also worth mentioning that Zambia had made improvements in some areas:

• Under-five mortality declined significantly – from 148 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2008 to 63 deaths in 2016.
• Immunization coverage increased moderately – from 84 percent in 2005 to 93 percent in 2016.
• Access to primary education has been improved to some extent over the indicated period.
• Skilled birth attendant increased from 43 percent to more than 63 percent.
• While Save the Children commends the President’s commitment towards promoting children’s rights to participation in his inaugural speech we look forward to seeing the concrete results of this commitment. The African Report on Child Wellbeing shows that the Zambian government is not doing enough. Save the Children therefore calls upon the government to respond effectively to children’s needs and priorities by doing the following:
• Increase investment in Children especially in areas of Health and Nutrition, Protection and Education. We believe that the 2019 national budget is a missed opportunity to increase investment in children which will ultimately help improve Zambia’s child friendliness status on the continent. The debt servicing allocation in the 2019 budget is more than the combined allocation to Health, Education and Social Protection.
• Further, we ask the government to budget and expend adequate financial resources to enable children enjoy their rights in line with the international and African Child Rights frameworks the government of Zambia has committed itself to.
• The fact that the legal and policy frameworks have been cited as being weak in the least child friendly countries leads us to remind the Zambian government to expedite the enactment of the Child Code Bill. It is our considered view that Zambia’s poor ranking in the mentioned report is a compelling reason for the prompt presentation and enactment of the Children’s Code Bill without delay. The delayed enactment of the Children’s Code Bill has denied many Zambian children who would have benefited from the progressive provisions of the Children’s Code Bill in the last 12 years since the comprehensive review of all child related legislations begun.

It is our sincere hope the government will take time to review this report and develop clear commitments to create an enabling environment for children to participate in the government’s developmental agenda for Zambia. Domestication of child friendliness requires a meaningful dialogue by stakeholders, including children, appropriate legal and institutional arrangements for government local revenue management, resourcing of child-related sectors and their service delivery and a system of incentives to enforce programmes and policies that promote and protect children.

Duncan Harvey
Zambia Country Director
Save the Children

Zambia’s Ambassador to the United States His Excellency Dr. Ngosa Simbyakula says Government will soon rollout the Diaspora Policy to engage Zambians living abroad to contribute to national development.

Dr. Simbyakula says Government recognizes the diaspora as key stakeholder in accelerating efforts towards vision 2030 of developing Zambia without leaving anyone behind.

The Ambassador said this during the commemoration of Zambia’s 54th Independence anniversary organized by the Association of Zambians in the tripartite State of District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia held in Rockville, Maryland.

Dr. Simbyakula says through the Diaspora Policy, Government seeks to develop modalities on how to engage the Zambian diaspora on issues relating to dual citizenship, remittances, trade and investment, political participation and acquisition of land among others.

“And in recognizing the diaspora as key stakeholder in the country’s development, Government has developed a Diaspora Policy which will soon to be rolled-out. Some of the policies relating to this are now being actualized and Dual citizenship is a case in point,” Dr Simbyakula said.

He further called on Zambians living in the diaspora to reflect on utilizing skills they have acquired to contribute to national development and urged them to live exemplary lives as Zambia’s first line ambassadors.

Issued by
Cosmas Chileshe
First Secretary – Press & Public Relations
Embassy of the Republic of Zambia

Liuwa Plain National Park in Kalabo district in Western Province has recorded a remarkable increase in the number of key species of wild animals over the past one year.

According to findings of a recent aerial survey conducted by African Parks, the number of Wildebeests, Zebras and Red Lechwes have increased.

Park Manager Deon Joubert told ZANIS that Wildebeests have been estimated at 40,000 stock count which was surveyed across a total of 3,600 square kilometers of the upper–west Zambezi ecosystem.

Mr. Joubert explained that the huge increase from 26,000 in 2017 has been attributed to this year’s coverage of an additional 556 square kilometers of the north-west Game Management Area (GMA) of Liuwa where 10,000 Wildebeests were counted.

He expressed optimism that sustainable wildlife conservation practices in Liuwa were bearing fruit as evidenced from the remarkable increase from 15,000 wildebeests in 2003 when African Parks assumed management of the park.

Mr. Joubert said Liuwa’s carnivore population has also recovered steadily saying the increase in Wildebeests has provided a thriving prey base for carnivores such as hyenas, cheetahs and lions.

He added that Buffalo and other species re-introduced in Liuwa were doing well and their numbers increasing steadily.

Mr. Joubert observed that the re-stocking measures were helping to restore Liuwa’s ecological system to its natural conservation status.

Government has welcomed the move to have electric powered vehicles in the country.

Minister of Energy Mathew Nkhuwa said Zambia stands ready to join other developed regions that have already migrated to the era of electric vehicles.

In an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka, Mr Nkhuwa said the country has sufficient electricity to cater for all types of consumers.

He said the power utility firm, Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO), is not an issue as it is strategically positioned to fulfill its mandate in the provision of electricity.

“We welcome electric powered vehicles into the country. Therefore, people should not worry about where to find electricity to charge their vehicles. ZESCO is not an issue because we’ve got sufficient electricity in the country,” Mr Nkhuwa said.

Mr Nkhuwa assured that Zambia has got 2,900 Mega Watts (MW) of electricity and the country uses 2,200 MW at the peak.

Amilak Investments, a local based company, is expected to bring electric powered vehicles in Zambia before the end of this year from Germany.

Amilak Investments Company Chief Executive Officer Charles Kalima disclosed that his company has partnered with a Germany firm to deliver the electric powered vehicles in Zambia.

Mr Kalima said his firm will unveil four (4) models of vehicles with the cheapest car expected to cost around 15, 000 United States Dollars.

The vehicles are propelled by a fully charged battery which needs to be charged just like a mobile phone device.

And the Minister of Energy appealed to Amilak Investments authorities to make arrangements with fueling stations and people’s homes to act as charging points for electric vehicles.

Government has urged District Commissioners to take keen interest in monitoring social protection programmes and ensure that intended beneficiaries are reached.

Community development minister Olipa Phiri says this is because District Commissioners are government’s link pins in ensuring effective implementation of programmes such as social cash transfer (SCT) , among others.

“ .Effective implementation of programmes such as social cash transfer (SCT) , women empowerment and village banking need the involvement of all, “she said.

She said it is President Edgar Lungu’s vision of reducing poverty and bettering lives of the citizens needs the support of all government offices if it is to be realized.

The Minister was speaking when she called on acting Solwezi District Commissioner Anthony Fulwe in Solwezi today.

Ms Phiri said DCs should ensure that officers identify and include eligible beneficiaries on social security programmes.

And Mr Fulwe said the district needs more people to be included on social protection programmes because of the huge population.

A number of vulnerable people are not benefiting from the programmes under the ministry of community development hence the need to increase the number of beneficiaries.

This is part of government’s empowerment programmes in the country among them Social Cash Transfer Schemes,among others.

These government’s initiatives have tremendously helped the vulnerable people to sustain their lives.