PROGRESS

CHALLENGES

Income and poverty

Extreme poverty in rural areas has declined from 71 per cent in 1998 to 53 per cent in 2004

 

Per capital GDP has grown from K234 933 in 1998 to K276 416 in 2004

Poverty reduction and broad-based economic growth has been prioritised in the fifth National Development Plan

To reduce the overall extreme poverty which is at 68 per cent

 

To reduce extreme poverty in urban areas, which has dropped only marginally from 36 per cent in 1998 to 34 per cent in 2004

To improve the marginal reduction rate in the proportion of stunted children: the drop from 53 per cent in 1998 to 50 per cent in 2004 means that malnutrition rates are still too high

To growing GDP consistently, at over 7 per cent for 25 years, to have a significant impact on poverty

Education

Net enrolment in primary education increased from 66 per cent in 2000 to 78 per cent in 2004

The proportion of pupils who reach Grade 7 increased from 64 per cent in 1990 to 82 per cent in 2004

To reduce youth illiteracy rate (ages 15–24) from 74,9 per cent in 1990 to 70,1 per cent in 2000

Gender equality

The percentage of women in formal employment rose from 25,2 per cent in 2002 to 27,3 per cent in 2004

The proportion of seats held by women in the national Parliament increased from 6 per cent in 1990 to 12 per cent in 2004

To improve the ratio of girls to boys in primary school. Girls’ school attendance rate dropped from 0,98 in 1990 to 0,9 in 2005

To improve the ratio of girls to boys in secondary school (figures dropped from 0,92 in 1990 to 0,83 in 2005)

Child mortality

Prevention of mother to child transmission services have been integrated into routine health services

The under-five mortality ratio decreased from 197 per 1 000 live births in 1996 to 168 in 2002

The infant mortality ratio decreased from 109 per 1 000 live births in 1996 to 95 in 2002

The child mortality ratio dropped from 98 per 1 000 live births in 1996 to 81 in 2002

To halt the trend of increases in the proportion of wasted children, which rose from 5 per cent in 1998 to 6 per cent in 2002 To reverse the trend of decreased immunisations, in which the proportion of children who were immunised against measles dropped from 91 per cent in 1998 to 86,2 per cent in 2004

To reverse the trend of decreased immunisations, in which the proportion of children who were immunised against measles dropped from 91 per cent in 1998 to 86,2 per cent in 2004

Maternal mortality

A reproductive health policy has been drafted and is under consideration

Pregnant women, as well as children and the elderly (aged 64 years and more), have been exempted from paying for medical services

The government is implementing strategies for the prevention of malaria in pregnant women

To further reduce the maternal mortality rate, which has increased from 649 in 1996 to 729 in 2002

To increase the percentage of births attended by skilled personnel, which has dropped from 51 per cent in 1992 to 45 per cent in 2002

HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Progress has been made in reversing the HIV prevalence

The cure rate for TB has been improving for all provinces except for Eastern and Southern provinces

The malaria incidence rate per 1 000 fell from 400 in 2000 to 200 in 2004

 

Unprotected sex continues to be a problem

Voluntary counselling and testing uptake is low. Only 11 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women went for VCT in 2005

The number of children orphaned by AIDS reached 1 197 867 in 2005, two thirds of the total number of orphans

The incidence rates of TB and malaria at 512 per 100 000 persons in 2000 and at 200 per 1 000 persons respectively in 2004 are too high

Water and sanitation

The percentage of people without toilet facilities decreased from 16 per cent in 1998 to 14 per cent in 2004

Progress has been made in reducing unsafe water sources

 

The percentage of people without access to safe water in the dry season remained almost stagnant at 43 per cent in 1998 and 42,8 per cent in 2004

Equity

There has been a reduction in income inequality. The Gini coefficient declined from 0,66 in 1998 to 0,57 in 2004

Whereas the lower 20 per cent of households accounted for 67,8 per cent of the total income in 1996, this dropped to 44,9 per cent in 2004

Despite improvements, income inequality remains extremely high

Economic growth in recent years has not been sufficiently broad based. This is mostly due to underperformance of the agricultural sector, which is the sector in which the majority of Zambians earn a living

Employment and sustainable livelihoods

Overall unemployment rates dropped from 12 per cent in 1998 to 9 per cent in 2004

Urban unemployment rates decreased from 27 per cent in 1998 to 21 per cent in 2004

The male unemployment rate fell from 25 per cent in 1998 to 18 per cent in 2004

To improve the rate of female urban unemployment, which dropped from 29 per cent in 1998 to 26 per cent only in 2004

Environmental sustainability

The percentage of households who had electricity rose slightly from 15 per cent in 1998 to 16,2 per cent in 2004

The Natural Resources Consultative Forum was established to facilitate dialogue on contentious environmental issues

The Environmental Council of Zambia established additional offices in the Southern and Copperbelt provinces

A large percentage of Zambia’s households (83,4 per cent in 2004) still relies on firewood and charcoal as cooking energy. This is a threat to the forests

Plant species that may hold the cures for a range of diseases are being depleted at a fast rate

Politics, governance and human rights

The 2002–2006 National Parliament was more balanced, with a sizeable number of opposition members

The Task Force on Corruption was created in 2002

A draft constitution, with more progressive provisions, was presented to the government

The number of reported incidents of gender-based violence is still very high

The process of constitutional and electoral reforms is still to be concluded

Little progress has been made on decentralisation

The justice delivery system continues to be inefficient and slow to guarantee the rights of the majority of Zambians