Zambia Overview
Zimbabwe
Camfed has worked in Zimbabwe since 1992. In Zimbabwe, Camfed focusses on girls' education, health education and HIV/AIDS prevention, post-school opportunities including business training and micro-finance, and leadership training.
Zambia
Camfed has worked in Zambia since 2001. In Zambia, Camfed focusses on girls' education, health education and HIV/AIDS prevention, post-school opportunities including business training and micro-finance, and leadership training.
Tanzania
Camfed has worked in Tanzania since 2005. In Tanzania, Camfed focusses on girls' education, health education and HIV/AIDS prevention, post-school opportunities including business training and micro-finance, and leadership training.
Ghana
Camfed has worked in Ghana since 1996. In Ghana, Camfed focusses on girls' education, health education and HIV/AIDS prevention, post-school opportunities including business training and micro-finance, and leadership training.
Zambia is a land-locked country in sub-Saharan Africa, which covers 752,614 sq km (290,586 sq miles). It is sparsely populated, with a population of 11.5 million people (World Bank, 2005). It borders seven other African states: Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lusaka is its capital city.
Once the world’s biggest copper producer, Zambia became one of the poorest countries in Africa during the 1990s due to poor economic management, oil price shocks, and rising debt. It has depended heavily on international aid. Since 2005, a large percentage of its foreign debt has been written off by the World Bank, the IMF, and the G8 meeting in Gleneagles after it was agreed that Zambia has reached the completion point under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. This has allowed Zambia to concentrate on economic growth strategies.
Yet, poverty levels are still high. 87.4% of the population lives on less than US$2 a day (UNAIDS, 2007). High HIV/AIDS rates further exacerbate these conditions, with 17% of adults between 15 and 49 years infected (UNDP, 2005). Currently, an estimated 1.1 million children are orphaned (UNICEF, 2007). The most common diseases killing children are, however, poverty-related: about 50 per cent of children under 5 are affected by under-nutrition. Anaemia, measles, and vitamin A deficiency are widespread.
While policies at the national level promote girls’ equal access to education, there are very real economic barriers on the ground to achieving this goal. The abolition of basic school fees in Zambia has resulted in gender parity in primary school, with 80% enrollment of both genders in 2006 (UNESCO, 2007). However, the gap between boys and girls widens in secondary school, where net enrollment rates for girls in 2006 were 21% compared with 27% for boys (UNESCO, 2007).
Classroom performance and participation similarly reflect a gender bias. Girls often shoulder household duties that are time consuming and over burdening, a major cause of lateness and absenteeism from school. Parents, particularly those with less education and living in rural areas, continue to prioritize investments in boys’ education. Educational inequalities in Zambia are most prevalent in rural areas with the highest levels of poverty. Western, Luapula and Northern rural provinces fare less well than other provinces in government assessments of income levels, education and ownership of assets, and thus are the focus of Camfed’s programs in Zambia.
Read about Camfed’s response to the situation in Zambia.
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