Zambia

ZAMBIA at a glance

 

13m   

total population of Zambia (2010)

       

2%

of Zambia's teachers are lost to HIV/AIDS every year

70%

of Zambians are young people

  

16,000

annual teenage school pregnancies

64%

of Zambians live below the poverty line

  

150,000  

Zambians aged 15-24 are living with HIV

On the UN’s Human Development Index Zambia remains one of the least-developed countries in the world, ranked 150 out of 169 countries in 2010. It's one of just two countries (the other Zimbabwe) that regressed on the Human Development Index since its inception in 1990. Linkages to formal employment outside of the Copperbelt are limited for normal Zambians (with only 50,000 employed in mining). 64% of all Zambians, and 78% of rural Zambians, live below the poverty line, with little change over the last decade.

Accelerating rural economic development among its young population will be key to addressing poverty. Social indicators such as maternal mortality and life expectancy (at 46 years of age) continue to remain static. Its rate of economic growth cannot support rapid population growth or the strain that HIV and AIDS related issues place on the economy.

But Zambia is blessed with the fifth youngest population in the world. Zambia's young people constitute a huge, talented, ambitious, but currently overlooked resource, which can play a key role in the country's development.

Click the pins for an overview of Restless Development in Zambia.

 

 

development IN ZAMBIA

 

HIV prevalence is at 14.6%, making Zambia one of the worst affected countries in the world. Young people aged 15-24 are significantly and disproportionately affected by the HIV pandemic – with young women in particular up to three to four times more vulnerable to HIV infection. Due to early marriage and teenage pregnancy rates, poor educational attainment is more common amongst Zambian girls. In 2009 there were nearly 16,000 teenage school pregnancies amongst Zambian adolescent girls.

Development in Zambia

Over 80% of Zambians live on less than $2 day. Subsistence agriculture and insecure, short term employment are the most young people can access aged 15 years and above. The worsening economic situation has negatively affected the provision of health services, particularly in rural areas with devastating impact on child and maternal health.

But we've shown that engaging young people can transform the development of Zambia.

 

FIND OUT MORE

Zambia Strategic Plan 2011-2015

 

Download the Restless Development Zambia Strategic Plan 2011-2015 and find out more about what we will achieve in Zambia over the next five years, and how we will do it.