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Zambia - Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under Article 44 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child: Initial reports of States parties due in 1994: Addendum [2002] UNCRCSPR 21; CRC/C/11/Add.25 (19 November 2002)
UNITED NATIONS
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CRC
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/11/Add.25 19 November
2002
Original: ENGLISH
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COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER
ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION
Initial reports of States parties due in 1994
ZAMBIA
[29
November 2001]
GE.02-45857
(E) 211202
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
List of abbreviations
3
Executive summary 5
Map of Zambia 11
Introduction
1 - 21 12
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION 22 -
75 14
II. DEFINITION OF A CHILD 76 - 107 25
III. GENERAL
PRINCIPLES 108 - 156 28
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS 157 -
200 34
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE
CARE 201 -
247 41
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE 248 -
328 47
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL
ACTIVITIES 329 -
484 59
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES 485 -
583 88
IX. CONCLUSION 584 - 594 102
List of abbreviations
AfDB African Development Bank
BESSIP Basic
Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme
CBO Community-Based
Organizations
CDD Control of Diarrhoeal Diseases
CIDA Canadian
International Development Agency
CHH Chainama Hills
Hospital
CHIN Children in Need Network
CRC Convention on the Rights of
the Child
CYC Community Youth Concern
DETVET Department of Technical
Education and Vocational Training
DANIDA Danish International Development
Agency
DFTD Department for International Development
(British)
ECCED Early Childhood Care Education and
Development
ECS Education Cost Scheme
EPI Expanded Programme on
Immunization
EU European Union
FAMR Finnish Association on Mental
Retardation
FINNIDA Finnish International Development Agency
FNP Food
Nutrition Policy
GRZ Government of the Republic of Zambia
HCC Health
Care Cost Scheme
IDA Iron Deficiency Anaemia
IDD Iodine Deficiency
Disorders
IEP Individualized Education Programme
ILO International
Labour Organization
IMCI Integrated Management of Childhood
Illnesses
JICA Japanese International Cooperation Agency
LUCOTEHA Lusaka
College for Teachers of the Handicapped
MHA Ministry of Home
Affairs
MCDSS Ministry of Community Development and Social
Services
MCH Maternal and Child Health
MOE Ministry of
Education
MOH Ministry of Health
NAC National Arts
Council
NID National Immunization Days
NORAD Now known as Norwegian
Embassy Royal and NORAD
NPA National Programme of Action
OPEC Oil
Petroleum Exporting Countries
ORS Oral Rehydration Salts
PAGE Programme
for the Advancement of Girls’ Education
PWAS Public Welfare Assistance
Schemes
SEN Special Educational Needs
SIDA Swedish International
Development Agency
SSN Social Safety Net
STD Sexually-Transmitted
Diseases
TGR Total Goitre Rate
UCI Universal Child
Immunization
UNFPA United Nations Population fund
UNDP United Nations
Development Programme
UNICEF United Nations Children’s
Fund
USAID United States International Development Agency
UTH University
Teaching Hospital
VAD Vitamin A Deficiency
VSU Victim Support
Unit
VVF Vesicle Vaginal Fistula
WHO World Health
Organization
YMCA Young Men’s Christian Association
ZDHS Zambia
Demographic and Health Surveys
ZPAN Zambia Plan of Action on
Nutrition
ZAMISE Zambia Institute of Special Education
ZCH Zambia Council
for the Handicapped
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization
UNHCR Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees
YWCA Young Women’s Christian Association
Executive summary
Zambia signed the Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) in September 1990 and ratified it on 6 December 1991. In the 10
ensuing
years since ratification, some of the national laws and policies have
been brought into line with the principles of the Convention.
This report
reviews the progress Zambia has made in implementing the
Convention.
This is Zambia’s initial and first report. It
comprehensively captures the events and trends that have taken place since CRC
was signed and ratified. The report is divided into nine chapters,
preceded by an introduction to the country.
Chapter I - General measures of implementation
This chapter gives an overview of the actions
taken by Zambia to implement CRC. Although the Convention has not been fully
domesticated,
there are a number of constitutional and legislative provisions,
which cover everyone and, therefore, protect the rights of children.
The
Constitution encompasses a Bill of Rights that protects a number of fundamental
rights and freedoms of the individual.
In addition to constitutional and
legislative protection, there are national policies aimed at improving the
welfare and quality
of life of children in Zambia. The National Child Policy,
National Youth Policy and National Programme of Action form core guidelines
for
implementing CRC initiatives.
Since ratifying CRC, Zambia has made
progress in the following areas:
(a) There is widespread information
dissemination and increased awareness of CRC among the general
public;
(b) Support provided to gender and development activities to
combat discriminatory practices arising from gender bias;
(c) Government
and civil society have made a commitment to eradicate violence against women and
children;
(d) Government and civil society have recognized orphans and
other vulnerable children as an emergency issue and are committed to
assisting
children in need.
There are challenges and constraints to supporting
implementation of child rights endeavours. For example, a significant
proportion
of the existing legislation reflects built-in biases from the pre-CRC
period. This is manifested in language, e.g. “illegitimate
child”
and, sometimes, usage, e.g. the limitations of statutory law to protect females
from child marriages.
Way forward
Priority will be given to increasing efforts to
ensure compliance with the provisions of the Convention. This exercise will
involve
continuing to identify legislation that requires amendment or repeal to
ensure the protection of children’s rights. The exercise
of identifying
legislation requiring action is well under way.
Chapter II - Definition of a child
Article 1 of the CRC recognizes a child to be a
person under 18 years. However, Zambian legislation and social and economic
policies
are less definitive. The definition of a child is relative and
dependent on context, specific piece of legislation, legal system
(customary and
statutory) and purpose. The Constitution as the supreme law of the land does
not define a child.
There has been little progress in harmonizing laws
and practice although efforts are being made to develop a common
definition.
Way forward
The State party is working towards harmonizing
different pieces of legislation into a comprehensive body of child-related laws,
which
will be in conformity with the CRC.
Chapter III - General principles
There are three main general principles:
non-discrimination, best interest of the child and respect for the views of the
child.
Children are protected by the Constitution and various legislation from
specific acts of discrimination. However, in practice, traditional norms and
values intervene and facilitate
acts of bias. The most notable form of
discrimination is gender bias.
Several articles of Zambian legislation
provide protection to children’s rights by advocating the “best
interest”
principle. However, monitoring and enforcement mechanisms are
weak and what actually transpires may not be in the best interest
of a
child.
Respect for children’s views may be one of the more
difficult principles to comply with. Children are heard in various forums,
but
their views may not always receive the degree of serious consideration they
deserve. Zambia is still a society in which elders
are perceived as being
always wise and children as immature and sometimes foolish. Such perceptions
are major challenges to the
implementation of the principle.
Way forward
(a) To ensure realization of enacted
legislation and government policies to implement the provisions of CRC, the
monitoring and enforcement
system will require strengthening;
(b) The
environment in which CRC is implemented is negatively affected by the high level
of poverty currently experienced by many
Zambian households. A national poverty
reduction strategy is in place, and strategies to intensify interventions in the
social sector
have been prioritized.
Chapter IV - Civil rights and freedoms
Protection of a child’s name and identity
are basic rights, which often provide the key to accessing goods and services in
society. The basic right of citizenship, for example, is premised on identity.
Other rights discussed in this chapter are freedom
of expression, access to
information, freedom of thought, freedom of association and assembly, protection
of privacy and freedom
from torture and degrading treatment.
Challenges
to the enforcement of the civil rights and freedoms advocated in CRC are: the
difficulties faced by some parents in registering
their children in accordance
with the requirements of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, the fees
charged for registration,
and the desire on the part of parents to control their
children’s access to information and religious choices.
Way forward
(a) The need to decentralize some of the
Registry’s functions and to computerize its processes has been recognized
as a priority;
(b) Representation will be made to the Government to
consider suspending the requirement of fees for registration of births and
deaths;
(c) Advocacy and information, communication and education
activities on CRC require intensification to bring about awareness and
compliance;
(d) Efforts will be made to domesticate the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment.
Chapter V - Family environment and alternative care
A relatively large number of children lack
access to parental guidance and support because of illness or death of parents,
or the
preoccupation of parents with earning a living. The extended family has
been the traditional social safety net in the midst of hardship
and family
problems. However, the increasing burdens of poverty and HIV/AIDS are straining
the family network and making it less
effective in responding to the challenges
of child-rearing in today’s socio-economic climate.
There are
various legislative and policy measures in place to assist families to fulfil
their parenting responsibilities. Unfortunately,
these measures are modest and
insufficient. Protective measures exist to ensure children’s rights are
not violated when separation
from parents is necessary.
Challenges to
the enforcement of CRC provisions include lack of disaggregated data on the
number of children living in difficult
circumstances, and the exact nature of
the problems they are encountering. A major problem overriding these challenges
is the lack
of a specific body of Zambian child laws to guide a coordinated
response to problems faced by vulnerable children.
Way forward
(a) Capacity-building of human resources in
government departments to implement and monitor legislation and policies
designed to
improve family and child welfare.
Chapter VI - Basic health and welfare
This chapter considers
the health and welfare rights of children, including children with disabilities.
Children under 18 years constitute
nearly 50 per cent of the population and are
the primary users of health and welfare services.
The health reforms of
1991 introduced a package of essential services that address the needs of
children as well as other service
users. The Integrated Management of Childhood
Illnesses Programme is aimed at improving care provided to children under 5 in a
holistic
manner.
Adolescent reproductive health services, targeting
youth between the ages of 10 and 19 have become priorities in the health and
welfare
sectors. Efforts are being made to protect young people from early
pregnancies and exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, including
HIV infection.
In spite of efforts to improve health and welfare
services, considerable challenges remain. In the early stages of the health
reforms,
attention was focused on administrative and management issues,
particularly setting up a restructured service delivery system. Insufficient
attention was devoted to the ability of service delivery points to actually
provide quality services. In addition, there has been
considerable confusion
about userfee exemptions in terms of entitlements and conditions for accessing
the exemptions.
The Government has introduced various social safety net
measures in response to the increasing inability of families to cope with
poverty, disease and the impact of national debtservicing efforts. Currently,
the level of provisions are modest and there are problems
in dispersing
available funds.
Way forward
(a) In order to decongest clinics in urban
areas, adequate resources should be provided to build new clinics;
(b) Efforts should be made to improve the conditions of service for health
personnel to curtail the brain drain of Zambian doctors
and nurses to developed
countries;
(c) The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Child Development,
which presently coordinates NGO youth programmes, should play a more active
role
in providing services to youth.
Chapter VII - Education, leisure and cultural
activities
Education is not a social right and, therefore,
not compulsory. During the past decade, enrolment in basic education has been
declining.
The current socio-economic environment has had a negative impact on
educational demand.
The education sector has been undergoing
restructuring to improve quality, access and participation. Particular efforts
have been
made to improve the participation of girls and to ensure that they
stay in school. Children and youths with special education needs
are considered
in the report, as well as the right of disabled children to basic
education.
Children’s rights to leisure and to a cultural identity
are also addressed. Children have the right to rest as well as to
engage in
play and recreational activities.
Way forward
(a) The State party acknowledges that, in spite
of efforts taken to achieve reforms in the education sector, there is need to
prioritize
interventions to safeguard and retain the number of pupils in school.
Efforts will be made to improve access to education by the
most vulnerable
groups;
(b) The challenge of preserving one’s cultural identity
whilst adjusting to changes locally, nationally and globally are issues
to be
addressed. Access to and mastering technological innovations are critical to
Zambia’s survival. Yet, maintaining our
cultural heritage is equally
important. The State party wishes to acknowledge that efforts will be devoted
to achieving a harmonious
balance.
Chapter VIII - Special protection measures
This chapter covers children in difficult
circumstances, for instance, children who are refugees or children accused or
convicted
of criminal activities, and victims of abuse.
A major
challenge is the general lack of information about children in difficult
circumstances. Little effort has been devoted to
documenting cases of
exploitation and abuse. Consequently, public awareness of the problems faced by
children in difficult circumstances
is poor.
Way forward
(a) Review legislation on
refugees;
(b) Establish separate detention centres at police stations so
that children are separated from adults when they have to be
detained;
(c) Review and amend the Acts dealing with dangerous
drugs;
(d) Increase budgetary allocations to activities designed to
enhance drug awareness.
The State party concludes that the process of
reviewing the implementation of CRC underscores a renewed commitment by Zambia
to advance
the vision of children’s rights in the country.
A list
of references used in the preparation of the report is
attached.[*]
Map of Zambia
Introduction
ZAMBIA: THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
- Zambia
is a landlocked country covering an area of 752,612 square kilometres
and consisting of about 2.5 per cent of the area of Africa.
It shares
borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania in the north;
Malawi and Mozambique in the east; Zimbabwe and
Botswana in the south; Namibia
in the south-west; and Angola in the west.
- Zambia
has good water resources with the following main rivers: the Zambezi, Kafue,
Luangwa and Luapula. The major lakes of the
country are: the Tanganyika,
Mweru, Bangweulu and the man-made Kariba Dam. Zambia has fairly good rainfall
with the northern part
of the country receiving the highest precipitation,
averaging between 1,100 mm to over 1,400 mm annually. The southern and eastern
parts of the country have less rainfall, ranging
from 600 to 1,100 mm annually, which often results in
drought.
- The
country has a tropical climate and vegetation with three distinct seasons: the
cool dry winter from May to August, a hot dry
season during September and
October and a warm rainy season from November to April.
- The
total population in 2001 was 10.2
million.[1] In 1998, 4.8
million people were under 18 years and 1.5 million were under 5 years.
Women constitute 51 per cent of the population
creating a ratio of 100 women for
every 96 men. The population growth rate is presently 2.4 per cent, and has
been decreasing as
a result of high HIV/AIDS-related deaths and increased
poverty levels.
- Zambia
has an adult literacy rate of 86 per cent for males and 71 per cent for females.
The gross primary school enrolment ratio is
92 per cent for males and 86 per
cent for females. The secondary school gross enrolment ratio was 34 per cent
for males and 21 per
cent for females in 1998.
- In
1998, the under-5 mortality rate was 202 per 1,000 live births. Infant
mortality rate, i.e. children below 1 year, was 112 per
1,000 live births.
Life expectancy at birth has now dropped to 40 years. Thirty-eight per cent of
the Zambian population has access
to safe water and 71 per cent has access to
adequate sanitation. Ninety-one per cent of children under 5 have vitamin A
supplementation
and 78 per cent of households are consuming iodized
salt.
- Thirteen
per cent of infants have low birth weight. Twenty-four per cent are moderately
or severely underweight, while 42 per cent
are moderately or severely stunted
with 4 per cent wasting (UNDP, 1998).
- The
gross national product (GNP) per capita was estimated at US$ 370 in 1998,
and GNP per capita average annual growth rate was -0.9
with an annual rate
of inflation of 72 per cent. Eighty-five per cent of the population are poor and
live on less than US$ 1 per
day. In 1998, 10 per cent of government
expenditure was allocated to health and 18 per cent to education. Overseas
development assistance
inflow was US$ 618 million, representing 19 per cent
of GNP. Debt servicing was 19 per cent.
Culture and religion
- Zambian
society is characterized by ethnic diversity with 73 tribal groups. However,
few cultural differences exist. The differences
that exist are in terms of
kinship systems or forms of social organizations, for example, matrilineal or
patrilineal systems of lineage.
The majority of ethnic groups are matrilineal.
There are seven major languages spoken in Zambia, which are: Bemba, Kaonde,
Lozi,
Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja and Tonga. The official language of Zambia is
English.
- In
the preamble to the Republican Constitution, chapter 1 of the Laws of
Zambia,[2]
it is
stated that the country is a Christian nation. However, other religions such as
Baha’i, Greek Orthodox, Hinduism, and
Islam are respected and given
equal importance and are practised freely in Zambia.
The political and economic system in Zambia
- A
peaceful and historic transition to a multi-party system of government was
achieved in 1991. The Government has continued to work
towards entrenching
democracy and independence of the judiciary and upholding the rule of law, human
rights and fundamental freedoms.
In addition, the country has very recently
embarked on a programme of good governance, which is intended to build national
capacity
in the public sector.
- Since
1991, the Government has undertaken a series of measures that are meant to
restructure and liberalize the economy. These include
subsidy removal,
liberalization of interest rates, exchange rates and prices, trade
liberalization, tight money supply policy, and
tax reforms. A cash-based
expenditure system was introduced as the cornerstone of fiscal
policy.
- Zambia
faces a real development challenge. The overall level of human development
appears to be receding. Poverty, as indicated
by the head count index,
intensity and poverty gap, increased during the 1990s.
- In
the educational sphere, net enrolment rates in primary schools are declining and
the quality of overall education has deteriorated.
Also, the health sector has
not been spared. Infant and under-5 mortality rates have risen and are
worsening, especially, in urban
areas. The main contributing cause is the
HIV/AIDS pandemic.
- The
Zambian economy has not been able to generate economic growth on a sustained
basis. Positive growth rates that occurred in the
early 1990s were sandwiched
by the negative growth rates in the preceding and subsequent years.
Underpinning this very difficult
situation are three major and viciously
interactive forces, namely: debilitating debt, HIV/AIDS and poverty and
deprivation. They
constitute a tripod of barriers to Zambia’s social and
economic development.
- Zambia’s
debt burden has been a major problem for many years and will remain a vexing one
for some time to come. Zambia belongs
to the category of the Heavily Indebted
Poor Countries. The burden of servicing a huge external debt has taken a heavy
toll on the
national
budget, and severely shrunk resources available for development.
Consequently, prospects for growth have been reduced. In the last
two decades,
Zambia has witnessed declining trends in expenditure on social sectors such as
education and health, as debt-servicing
obligations have taken first priority.
There has been a sharp fall in living standards.
- HIV/AIDS
is now the leading killer disease in Zambia although the burden of ailments such
as malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory tract
infections continue to be very
serious. HIV prevalence is estimated to be one in five adults between ages
15 and 49 years. The
Central Statistical Office (CSO) estimated life expectancy
at birth at over 52 years in 1980. In 1999, life expectancy at birth
had
dropped to 37 years (MOH/CBOH, 1999). Every Zambian child born today has a
significant chance of contracting HIV and dying of
AIDS unless effective
interventions are put into place, both by the Government and the international
community. HIV/AIDS in Zambia
is a national emergency that needs to be addressed
with the highest level of political commitment, resources and coordinated
action.
- As
pointed out earlier, poverty levels are high and are manifested as hunger,
disease and deprivation. Between 1991 and 1998, there
was an increase in
overall poverty, particularly in urban areas. Poverty causes reduced access to
nutrition, income and health services.
Poor people become more vulnerable to
disease. Poverty has also generated high-risk sexual behaviour, especially
among young girls
and women.
- The
prevailing environment of poverty and disease has had devastating consequences
on the well-being of children. Children need health
care, education, good
nutrition and a safe and hygienic environment.
- In
spite of the grave picture, the Zambian Government is determined to find a way
of putting children first by investing in them and
putting into place programmes
that will address their needs. The Government is taking steps to revitalize the
provision of basic
social services. In the 2000 budget, the Government
increased allocations to health and education sectors by over 20 per cent
of
the national budget, thereby demonstrating political will to invest in
children.
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that in its presentation, all efforts
have been made to be open, honest and as factually
correct as possible. This is
due to the Government’s conviction that it is in the country’s and
children’s best
interest to present the real situation of children in
Zambia.
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
- Zambia
signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 30 September 1990 and
ratified it on 6 December 1991 without any reservations.
- The
Convention has only been partially incorporated into domestic law.
International instruments ratified or acceded to are not self-executing,
but
require enabling legislation to become enforceable.
PROVISIONS ADDRESSING THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN
The Constitution
- The
Constitution is the supreme law in Zambia. Part III of the Constitution
provides a Bill of Rights, which is justiciable, i.e. liable to trial in a court
of justice.[3] The rights of
children are protected in the following ways:
(a) Article 11
provides for the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of an
individual;
(b) Article 12 provides for the protection of the right to
life. Article 12 (1)
expressly prohibits a person from depriving an unborn
child of life by termination of pregnancy except in accordance with the
conditions
explicitly stated in an Act of Parliament;
(c) Article 6 (1)
upholds the need to preserve a child’s nationality and
identity;
(d) Article 125 establishes the Human Rights Commission, whose
functions
include investigation of human rights abuses against
children.
Legislation
- In
addition to protections contained in the Constitution, a number of statutes
contain provisions specifically directed at protecting the rights of
children.[4]
- The
Adoption Act, chapter 54, provides for:
(a) The creation and
registration of adoption orders;
(b) The registration and control of
adoption societies;
(c) The regulation of arrangements made by adoption
societies and other persons to adopt children;
(d) The supervision of
adopted children by the Commissioner for Juvenile Welfare;
(e) The
protection of the rights of children by the court by ensuring that any adoption
order made is in favour of the child.
- The
Juveniles Act, chapter 53, provides for care and protection of children and
juveniles; custody and protection of juveniles in
need of care; a system of
adjudication for juveniles who are in conflict with the law; correction and
rehabilitation of juveniles
who are in trouble or in conflict with the law; and
the establishment of children’s institutions such as orphanages and foster
care homes.
- The
Affiliation and Maintenance of Children Act, chapter 64, provides for court
orders where paternity is contested, and consolidates
the law relating to
maintenance of children. The Act brings Zambian law into conformity with CRC in
terms of affiliation and maintenance
of children.
- The
Employment of Young Persons and Children Act, chapter 274, regulates employment
of young persons and children.
- The
Penal Code, chapter 87, establishes the code of criminal law and has provisions
for the protection of children’s rights.
- The
Wills and Administration of Testate Estate Act, chapter 60, provides for the
administration of estates of persons, who made a
valid will before dying. The
Act also provides for adequate financial and other provisions to be made to
dependants in a will.
The Act permits the Court to vary provisions of a will if
it determines that the estate is unreasonably distributed and would result
in
detriment to the children of the deceased.
- The
Intestate Succession Act, chapter 59, provides a uniform intestate succession
law that is applicable throughout the country to
cover a situation where a
person dies without having made a will. It makes adequate financial and other
provisions for the surviving
spouse, children, dependants and other relatives of
an intestate. The essence of this Act is to protect children against property
grabbing and, therefore, preserve sufficient resources for their survival.
Children born out of wedlock are recognized for purposes
of
succession.
- The
Zambia Police Act - (Amendment) Act No. 14 of 1999 amended the Zambia Police
Act, chapter 107, to establish the Police Complaints
Authority. The Authority
is responsible for disciplinary aspects of the Police Services so as to ensure
transparency and accountability
to the public. The Act also establishes the
Victim Support Unit, which handles all types of abuse, including child abuse,
violence
against women, property grabbing and victimization of the
elderly.
- The
Defence Act, chapter 106, section 14 (2), provides guidelines on the age at
which a person can be recruited into the defence forces.
- The
Births and Deaths Registration Act, chapter 51, provides a uniform law for the
registration of all births and deaths in Zambia, without distinction of origin
or descent.
- The
Day Nurseries Act, chapter 313, provides for registration and regulation of day
nurseries.
- The
Probation of Offenders Act, chapter 93, provides for the correction and
rehabilitation of juveniles in conflict with the law,
and probation of
offenders. The Act is also responsible for the establishment of probation
hostels and prescribes the activities
of these hostels.
Policy framework
- Three
specific policy instruments were developed to promote child welfare in the
country. In August 1994, Cabinet Office adopted
the National Child Policy, the
National Plan of Action and the National Youth
Policy.[5] These policy
frameworks constitute core guidelines for improving the welfare and quality of
life of children as well as for protecting
their survival and developmental
rights.
- One
of the aims of the National Child Policy is to provide guidelines for improving
the welfare and quality of life of children by
consolidating all existing and
proposed legislation pertaining to children into one easily accessible and
comprehensive statute.
Another aim is to update laws to incorporate provisions
of CRC.
- The
National Youth Policy covers children and young
persons,[6] and is administered
by the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Child Development.
- The
National Plan of Action (NPA) provides guidelines for achieving total
development of children through various survival, developmental
and protective
rights.
- A
National HIV/AIDS Policy was drafted this year and is currently under review by
government departments and NGOs for revisions and
approval. The draft policy
has provisions for the care and support of orphans and vulnerable
children.
Sector ministries
- In
addition to the existence of national overarching policies, individual
government ministries have formulated sector policies that
have child welfare
implications. The Government considers the protection of children to be a
cross-cutting issue and various sector
ministries have specific mandates to
protect the child. The following is a list of ministries and their
responsibilities:
(a) Ministry of Youth, Sports and Child
Development promotes child development;
(b) Ministry of Labour and Social
Security regulates employment of young persons and social security
matters;
(c) Ministry of Community Development and Social Services
protects families through protection of social welfare and promotion of
social
environments conducive to development. The ministry also oversees the
protection and promotion of cultural traditions;
(d) Ministry of Health
promotes health care through provision of services and information on food and
nutrition, and regulates drug
supply and availability;
(e) Ministry of
Education provides educational services;
(f) Ministry of Local
Government and Housing is responsible for local government, regulation of
housing standards, water supply and
sanitation;
(g) Ministry of Legal
Affairs ensures that children’s rights are translated into laws.
- Streamlining
and coordinating child-centred activities for the purpose of promoting
efficiency in service delivery and monitoring
impact are priorities. In 1994,
the Government embarked on the Public Sector Reform Programme, designed to make
the civil service
more effective and efficient. Child welfare programmes,
inclusive of the promotion of children’s rights, are expected to benefit
from the reforms through rationalization of ministerial portfolios and
functions.
Judicial decisions in line with the Convention
- A
number of decisions have been made by the Zambian courts that are in line with
the provisions of CRC. Amongst the most notable
decisions is the John Banda
(HPA/6/1998) case, which provided a landmark decision for protecting children
from corporal punishment.
Civil society
- NGOs
and CBOs focusing on child rights and protection issues have proliferated widely
during the past few years. A driving force
in their creation is the need to
respond to the evergrowing number of orphans and vulnerable children as a result
of the HIV/AIDS
epidemic. Historic NGOs, such as Child Care and Adoption
Society, which were created in the 1960s to protect and promote the welfare
of
children in need of care, are being overwhelmed by the HIV/AIDS crisis. Below
is an illustrative list of NGOs and CBOs that are
responding to the needs of
children:
(a) Salvation Army Community-Based Orphan Support
Programme (Chikankata);
(b) Bwafwano Home-Based Care and Community Health
Care Project;
(c) Red Cross Drop-in Centre in Garden
Compound;
(d) City of Hope for Girls in Makeni
township;
(e) Fountain of Hope in Kamwala township;
(f) St.
Lawrence Home for Street Kids;
(g) Anglican Street Kids Centre at
Waddington Centre;
(h) Bauleni Street Kids Training
Centre;
(i) Children’s Village (SOS) on the outskirts of Mandevu
township;
(j) Development of People to People Programme (DAPP)
Children’s Town;
(k) Livingstone Street Kids Association in Linda
township;
(l) Association for Restoration of Orphans
(AROS);
(m) Copperbelt Health Education Programme.
International Conventions
- Zambia
has ratified the following international human rights
instruments:
(a) International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights;
(b) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights;
(c) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination;
(d) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women;
(e) Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
(f) African Charter
on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
- The
following child-related conventions and instruments have been signed by
Zambia:
(a) African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child;
(b) Stockholm Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Child
Sexual Abuse;
(c) ILO Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Child
Abuse.
MECHANISMS AT NATIONAL, PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL LEVELS FOR
COORDINATING POLICIES RELATING TO CHILDREN AND FOR MONITORING THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE CONVENTION
- The
State party wishes to report that it has taken all measures to ensure that
implementation at all levels is achieved, using maximum
available resources to
realize the economic, social and cultural rights of children in
Zambia.
- A
partnership between the Government and civil society has evolved through various
efforts to protect the rights of children and promote
their general welfare.
Both government and civil society have independent coordinating mechanisms to
promote policies and programmes
in the interest of children. In addition, there
are forums in which government and civil society work together.
- CRC/NPA
District Committees have been established as a means of accelerating
sensitization programmes and coordinating CRC initiatives
at district
level.
- An
umbrella body for NGOs working in the field of children’s rights and
welfare has been established. The organization is known
as Children in Need
Network (CHIN).
- There
is a strong collaboration with cooperating partners, particularly the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in the
implementation of the National
Plan of Action for Children in Zambia.
PROPORTION OF THE BUDGET DEVOTED TO SOCIAL EXPENDITURES FOR
CHILDREN
- Since
the last quarter of 1991, the Government has implemented a number of major
economic policy changes (see paragraph 12 above).
The Government aims to
revitalize the economy through these policies and achieve economic, social and
cultural rights of children
through more investment in the health, education,
water and sanitation sectors.
- Trends
in the macroeconomic policy performance since 1991 are shown in Table
1.
Table 1
Selected indicators of macroeconomic performance,
1991-1999
|
Real GDP growth rate (%)
|
Inflation rate (%)
|
Budget deficit (% GDP)
|
Current account balance (million $)
|
Exchange rate (K/$)
|
1991
|
-0.4
|
|
93.0
|
|
6.1
|
|
-447.7
|
|
64.63
|
|
1992
|
-1.7
|
|
197.4
|
|
3.5
|
|
-154.6
|
|
172.21
|
|
1993
|
6.8
|
|
189.0
|
|
2.5
|
|
-96.8
|
|
452.7
|
|
1994
|
-8.6
|
|
55.6
|
|
|
|
-118.2
|
|
670.0
|
|
1995
|
-4.3
|
|
34.9
|
|
|
|
-140.6
|
|
864.6
|
|
1996
|
6.4
|
|
43.5
|
|
-1.0
|
|
-200.1
|
|
1 213.6
|
|
1997
|
3.5
|
|
24.8
|
|
-1.2
|
|
-437.0
|
|
1 321.3
|
|
1998
|
-2.0
|
|
27.0
|
|
|
|
-516.0
|
|
2 343.0
|
|
1999
|
2.4
|
|
20.6
|
|
-0.01
|
|
-500.0
|
|
2 688.0
|
|
Source: Zambia Human Development Report, 1998.
- The
average growth rate during the period 1991-1999 was modestly positive. In 1997,
the growth rate was 3.3 per cent, in 1998 it
was -2 per cent, while in 1999 it
was 2 per cent.
- The
State party wishes to report that during the period 1992-1998, 18 per cent of
the national budget was allocated to the education
sector and 10 per cent to the
health sector. Although these allocations are not child-specific, a significant
proportion of the
service users are children.
- In
1998, the estimated total for Overseas Development Assistance was US$ 618
million for the entire budgetary expenditures. The State
party defers
discussions on the proportion of development assistance allocated to health and
education sectors to chapter VI of the
present report.
MEASURES TO LIMIT DISPARITIES BETWEEN DIFFERENT GROUPS OF
CHILDREN
- The
Public Welfare Assistance Scheme (PWAS) was established to protect disadvantaged
groups from adverse effects of economic policies
in the country, and is
administered by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services. The
scheme provides limited financial
support, basic food, exemption from fees for
education and health services, and repatriation of vulnerable persons to their
homes.
- Priority
beneficiaries are street children, orphans, children in protective care, old
people and young people in rehabilitation/correctional
institutions. PWAS
financial allocations are meagre. In 1999, only K2.8 billion out of a K4
trillion Kwacha budget was allocated.
The number of applications for assistance
has been growing over the years and overburdening the scheme.
- The
healthcare sector has a safety net system for four categories of users.
Exemptions from user fees are given to children below
age 5 and to adults aged
65 years and above. All antenatal and post-natal care, as well as treatments
for chronic illness such as
tuberculosis, sexuallytransmitted diseases and
HIV/AIDS, are exempted from user fees.
MEASURES TAKEN TO MAKE THE PRINCIPLES AND PROVISIONS OF THE
CONVENTION WIDELY KNOWN
- Since
ratifying CRC on 6 December 1991, Zambia has been going through the process of
making the principles and provisions of the Convention
widely known to adults
and children. This has taken place in a variety of ways and with varying
intensity.
- The
following measures have been taken to inform adults and children about the
Convention:
(a) Since 1994, regular broadcasts on Zambia
National Broadcasting Corporation radio and television station have been
conducted to
raise awareness about children’s rights, and a weekly
programme on Radio Phoenix is devoted to children’s
issues;
(b) Celebration of the International Children’s Day of
Broadcasting in December is an annual event with sufficient television
and radio
coverage provided to mark the day. The focus of the Day’s celebrations is
CRC;
(c) Periodically, articles focusing on children’s rights
appear in the print media;
(d) Several workshops and seminars have been
organized on the rights of the child with participants drawn from government and
civil
society organizations that work on the protection of the rights of
children;
(e) CRC has been integrated into the general framework of human
rights awareness in school curricula and parents’ educational
campaigns;
(f) The Government has adopted the Capacity Building Programme
for Good Governance, which has a comprehensive approach to human rights
education, inclusive of CRC, and is aimed at building the capacity of public
service workers to appreciate human rights issues.
Public officials such as
teachers, medical personnel, police, judges and social workers, are targeted by
the programme.
- A
popularized version of CRC has been translated into seven major local languages.
Zambia has 73 languages, which makes the process
of translation a serious
challenge that requires a systematic approach over a period of time. English is
the official language,
and a simplified version of the Convention in English has
been produced and widely circulated. It is the intention of the Government
to
ensure that the report is widely available in the country’s main
languages.
- The
process of translating the Convention into languages spoken by refugee and
immigrant groups in the country and making it available
to them has not yet been
initiated.
MEASURES ADOPTED TO ENSURE WIDE DISSEMINATION AND CONSIDERATION
OF THE SUMMARY RECORDS
- A
study was conducted in 1997 in Lusaka, Livingstone and Solwezi to ascertain the
extent of awareness of children’s rights in
Zambia. Of the 745
respondents sampled, only 19 per cent were aware of
CRC.[7]
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that the reporting process started in
July 1997, and was preceded by the formation
of an Inter-ministerial
Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Reporting.
- The
President of the Republic of Zambia formally launched the Inter-Ministerial
Committee in September 1997, and this launched the
formal commencement of CRC
report preparation process.
- The
reporting process involved compiling data and information, legislation and
services for the care and protection of children.
Consultations were held with
children, adults and various service providers in both urban and rural areas.
The objective was to
compile stories, issues and concerns of everyone living in
Zambia for inclusion in the report.
- Unfortunately,
the report was not finalized at the time the initial report was due because of
numerous constraints encountered during
the period. Although the first State
party report was due in 2000, it, too, was not finalized in time. Hence, the
State party decided
to submit a consolidated initial and first report.
- Because
this is Zambia’s initial and first report on CRC, it is foreseen that wide
dissemination and consideration of the summary
records and the concluding
observations adopted by the Committee will be given media
coverage.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- The
State party wishes to report that during the period under review, the following
achievements in the realization of children’s
rights were
made:
(a) Development of a National Child Policy and the
approval of the National Plan of Action by the Cabinet;
(b) The President
declared 1992 as the Year of the Zambian Child;
(c) The Day of the
African Child has been regularized into an annual event;
(d) The Head of
State has formally committed himself to the formation of a Young People’s
Parliament;
(e) A National HIV/AIDS Council has been established and
contains a strong component on children;
(f) In 1999, Zambia signed the
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Declaration on Gender and
Development and its Addendum
on the Prevention and Eradication of Violence
against Women and Children. In order to implement the programme the Government
appointed
a technical committee to review all matters pertaining to violence
against women and children and to make recommendations on all
measures necessary
to address the problem, including proposing new legislation;
(g) A
National Steering Committee on Child Labour was appointed and a Child Labour
Unit established in the Ministry for Labour and
Social
Security;
(h) Zambia ratified ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms
of Child Labour, and joined the International Programme on the Elimination
of
Child Labour (IPEC);
(i) The Medical Examination of Young Persons
(Underground) Act, chapter 216, was enacted. The Act provides for ascertainment
of the
physical fitness of young persons seeking employment in
mines;
(j) Legislation that provides alternative sentencing and community
service for mothers was enacted to provide alternatives to custodial
sentencing
so that mothers will not be separated from their young
children;
(k) Establishment by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) of
the National Education Campaign Division as a department to initiate
and
implement drug awareness programmes in secondary and basic schools, colleges,
universities, workplaces and the general community.
CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
- During
the reporting process, the State party identified the following constraints and
challenges in the existing legislation:
(a) The Legitimacy Act,
chapter 52, uses the term “illegitimate child” for children born out
of wedlock, thereby attaching
a stigma to children in this
situation;
(b) The Marriage Act, chapter 50, does not cover marriages
contracted under customary law. The latter permits child marriages and,
thus,
circumvents the protective provisions of the Marriage Act;
(c) The
Criminal Procedure Code, chapter 88, makes it a requirement that a child’s
evidence is corroborated. This is a constraint
to prosecuting offenders,
particularly in cases of child abuse;
(d) The Liquor Licensing Act,
chapter 167, provides for the regulation of the sale and supply of intoxicating
liquors. However, the
provisions are inadequate, and contain discrepancies in
terms of age categorization.
- A
number of other challenges affecting the rights of children have been
identified, and these include:
(a) Unregulated children’s
centres or homes, particularly those providing services to orphans, vulnerable
children and those
in difficult circumstances. The difficulty is how to monitor
the activities of these homes;
(b) The exponential growth of street
children is proving to be a great challenge to the Government;
(c) As the
numbers of street children increase, sodomy committed by older boys on younger
boys is manifesting itself as one of the
worst forms of child
abuse;
(d) Increase in drug abuse, particularly among
juveniles;
(e) There is no legislation dealing specifically with
HIV/AIDS. The issue of a person infected with HIV/AIDS intentionally
contaminating
another person is seriously being considered for legislative
action.
WAY FORWARD
- Priority
will be given to increasing efforts to ensure compliance with the provisions of
the Convention. This exercise will include
continuing to identify legislation
that requires amendment or repeal to ensure the protection of children’s
rights. The exercise
of identifying legislation requiring action is well under
way.
II. DEFINITION OF A CHILD
- The
Constitution does not provide a definition of a “child”. Age of
majority is subject to various interpretations, depending upon the
specific law
under application. Gender differences in the definition of a child do not
exist. However, application of the definition
may create disparities in social
practice.[8]
- Customary
law recognizes a child as a person who has not yet reached
puberty.
Citizenship, national registration and the right to
vote
- Article
6, paragraph 1, of the Constitution entitles any person who has attained the
age of 21 years and meets all other requirements to apply for
citizenship.
- Section
3 of the National Registration Act, chapter 126, stipulates that a person is
entitled to receive a national registration card upon attaining the age of 16
years.
- Under
article 75, paragraph 1, of the Constitution, every Zambian who has attained the
age of 18 years is entitled to vote.
Criminal responsibility, punishment and deprivation of
liberty
- The
Juveniles Act, chapter 53, provides definitions for “child”,
“juvenile” and “young person”.
“A child means a
person who has not attained the age of 16 years. A juvenile means a person who
has not yet attained age
19 years, and a young person means a person who has
attained age 16 years but has not attained age 19 years.”
- According
to the Penal Code, chapter 87, a child below 8 years is not criminally
responsible for his or her actions. The criterion
of puberty is not used in
criminal law.
- Depriving
a child of liberty can only be done under very restricted circumstances.
Children are protected from imprisonment or detention
under the Juveniles
Act.
- Section
25 (2) of the Penal Code, chapter 87, prohibits the death sentence against a
person under the age of 18 and provides that
“... in lieu thereof the
court shall sentence him to be detained during [sic] the President’s
pleasure and when so sentenced
he shall be liable to be detained in such a place
and under such conditions as the President may direct”.
Legal and medical services
- Although
there is no minimum legal age for consent in practice, no medical treatment or
surgery can be done on a person below age
21 unless a parent or guardian has
given written consent.
- The
rationale for the practice is that any person below 21 years is considered to be
a minor. A minor is defined as a person who
cannot exercise or undertake
certain legal action
without the guidance or consent of either parents or guardian. However, the
State party wishes to indicate that this is an area in
which medical ethics and
practice are biased towards protection of the child. Therefore, parental
consent can be dispensed with
if, in the opinion of the medical practitioner,
this is in the best interest of the child.
- There
is no minimum legal age for consent to legal or medical counselling, but
practice recognizes age 21 to be so in the absence
of consent by a parent or
guardian.
Education
- There
is no provision in the law for compulsory education in Zambia. However, it is
government policy under the Basic Education Sub-sector
Investment Programme
(BESSIP) that nine years of basic education should be
mandatory.
Admission to employment
- The
Employment of Young Persons and Children Act, chapter 274, prohibits employment
of children below age 14, unless the employment
is an enterprise where members
are of the same family.
- The
Apprenticeship Act provides for engagement of a person between ages 16
and 21 years, provided the person is under the tutorship
of an
adult.
Consent to marriage
- The
Marriage Act, chapter 50, stipulates that any person below 21 years requires
written consent of a parent or guardian before a
marriage is contracted.
However, customary law allows the contracting of marriage after attainment of
puberty subject to parental
consent.
Sexual consent
- There
is no express provision for age of sexual consent. However, section 138 of the
Penal Code, chapter 87, prohibits defilement
of girls below age 16 years. Based
on this law, the minimum age for sexual consent is assumed to be 16
years.[9]
Age for military service
- The
Defence Act, chapter 106, stipulates that a person under the apparent age of 18
years cannot be recruited into the defence forces
unless written consent is
given by a parent or guardian, or the District Secretary in the district in
which the person resides.
There is no provision for
conscription.
- Legally,
a child cannot participate in hostilities and the problem of child soldiers does
not exist in Zambia.
Giving testimony in court
- Acceptance
of a child’s testimony in court in civil and criminal cases is dependent
upon the judge’s assessment of the
child’s competence. The Judges
Rules require that the court be satisfied that a child understands the meaning
of truth. Once
this is established, the child’s evidence is admissible in
both criminal and civil cases.
Lodging of complaints or redress before the
court
- The
Rules of the English Supreme Court are used in Zambia regarding children lodging
complaints or seeking redress. Anyone below
the age of 18 years lodging a
complaint or seeking redress must commence proceedings through a “next of
friend”, who
is understood to be a parent, a guardian or a court-appointed
trustee.
Participation in administrative and judicial
procedures
- Participation
in administrative and judicial procedures by a person below age 18 is normally
done through a next of friend. However,
the court has discretion to hear the
testimony of the child. This discretion is exercised if it is determined to be
in the child’s
interest.
Identity change and modification of family
relations
- A
child’s name and guardianship can be changed within the context of
specific laws. (For further details, see chapters III
and V.)
- The
legal change of a child’s name can only be made with the consent of the
parent or
guardian.[10]
- Adoption
or legal guardianship is regulated by section 4 (1) of the Adoption Act,
chapter 54.
Capacity to inherit and conduct property transactions
- The
Wills and Administration of Testate Estates Act, chapter 60, and the Intestate
Succession Act, chapter 59, define a minor as a person who has not attained the
age of 18 years.
However, a minor can inherit property, but not have legal
capacity to conduct property transactions until attainment of 21 years,
as
provided by the Trust Restriction Act, chapter 63.
Formation of an association
- The
Societies Act requires that a person should not be less than 21 years of age
before forming an association. However, a child
is free to join associations as
long as he or she meets the requirements for membership.
Religious choice
- The
Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience, thought and religious worship
irrespective of age. (For details on freedom of thought, conscience
and
religion, see chapter IV.)
Consumption of alcohol
- Under
the Liquor Licensing Act, chapter 167, the sale of alcohol to a person below
age 18 is prohibited.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- The
State party hopes to make achievements in harmonizing definitions of the child
and will record this in its next periodic report.
CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
- The
State party wishes to acknowledge that in the Zambian context the definition of
a “child” is problematic because it
is dependent upon specific
circumstances and situations. The problem is particularly manifested in the
customary law system where
the age of maturity is the attainment of puberty.
This type of definition actually results in child marriages where a girl
of 14
years can legally marry under customary law. However, the State
party wishes to affirm that there is no difference between Zambia’s
statutory legislation and the Convention on the definition of a
child.
WAY FORWARD
- The
State party is working towards harmonizing different pieces of legislation into
a comprehensive body of child-related laws, which
will be in conformity with
CRC.
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Non-discrimination
- The
principle of non-discrimination is a binding principle which is contained in
article 23 of the Constitution, and possible grounds for discrimination set
forth in article 2 of the Convention are prohibited. Although specific
reference to
children is not made, the absolute prohibition against
discrimination contained therein is of fundamental importance and provides
protection to children’s rights. Non-nationals, refugees and
asylum-seekers are protected by the same prohibition.
- Gender
bias is a widespread social practice in Zambia in spite of the constitutional
provision against discrimination. A National
Gender Policy was formulated to
address the problem. The policy provides guidelines and targets for government
departments and NGOs
in the promotion of gender equality.
- Specific
measures have been taken to eliminate discrimination against girls. Education
of the girl-child has become a national priority
(see chapter VII).
- Severe
economic shocks combined with rapid social change has severely curtailed the
ability of the Government to address economic,
social and geographical
disparities affecting the most disadvantaged groups of children in society, e.g.
children with disabilities,
children of migrants, displaced people, refugees,
asylum-seekers and children who are living or working on the streets.
Consequently,
only modest measures have been taken to reduce such
disparities.
- Comprehensive
disaggregated data on disadvantaged and vulnerable children is not available.
However, at the time of compiling this
report a national census was completed,
enumerating orphans and vulnerable children. This information should become
available after
completion of data analysis.
BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD
- The
principle of best interests of the child is not expressly stated in the
Constitution. However, a number of statutory provisions exist, which are
manifestly in the best interest of the child (for further details, see
chapters
I and II).
Children and the justice system
- Children
in conflict with the law are protected through legislative provisions, such as
the Juveniles Act and Penal Code. Cases involving
juveniles are held in camera
and the children’s names are withheld from the public.
- A
regulatory framework is in place to guide administration of the juvenile justice
system, and the placement and care of children
in institutions. Zambia’s
system of juvenile justice is in the process of review to bring it in compliance
with the provisions
of the Convention. This will undoubtedly enhance the
protection of children’s rights.
- When
a marriage is dissolved by the court, the judge’s decision to award
custody of a child to either parent is based on the
principle of best interests
of the child. A social worker is assigned to investigate and make
recommendations on a course of action
that would promote the welfare of the
child.
Child abuse and neglect
- Protection
of children from sexual abuse and exploitation is provided by 24 separate pieces
of statutory legislation. However, in
practice such cases, particularly incest,
are rarely reported to the police because of fear of witchcraft or
embarrassment.
- Although
the Victim Support Unit of the Police Service is increasingly accepted and
utilized by the general public, the police appear
to be ill-equipped to deal
with cases involving sexual abuse of children (YWCA, 1999).
- Further
complicating the situation is the presence of a dual system of law, e.g.
statutory and customary laws. Customary law allows
parents or guardians to
obtain financial compensation from the perpetrator through payment of a fine.
Cases that have the potential
to be settled in this manner generally are not
reported to police or are withdrawn, once an agreement between the parent or
guardian
and the perpetrator has been achieved. Cruelty to children by parents
or guardians is prohibited under Section 46 of the Juvenile
Act. Section 48
criminalizes the act of custodians allowing persons under the age of 16 years to
be in brothels.
Family life and adoption
- Zambia
has a very strong and functional extended family system, but increased levels of
poverty and the growing numbers of orphans
present very serious problems to
families and compromise their ability to care for and protect their children. A
negative consequence
is the growing number of street children, some of whom have
been abandoned by their families.
- Children
have the legal right to maintenance from their parents, and it is socially
acceptable in Zambia that parents or guardians
have a moral obligation to care
and provide for their children. In preserving the best interests of the child,
the Affiliation and
Maintenance of Children Act, chapter 64, provides for court
orders concerning paternity and consolidates the law relating to the
maintenance
of children for the protection of their rights. The Act also brings Zambian law
into conformity with CRC regarding affiliation
and maintenance of
children.
- The
Intestate Succession Act, chapter 59, makes adequate financial and other
provisions for the surviving spouse(s), children, dependants
and other relatives
of the intestate and provides for the administration of the estates of persons
who have died before making a
will.
- Section
34 of the Intestate Succession Act protects beneficiaries of an estate. Under
Section 35, it is an offence for an administrator
or guardian to wrongfully
deprive a minor of property or a share in property to which the minor is
entitled. The administrator or
guardian is not allowed to derive any pecuniary
benefit from his or her office.
- During
adoption proceedings, and when considering placement of children into foster
care, the overriding consideration is the best
interest of the
child.
Other legislation to promote the best interests of
children
- The
Employment of Young Persons and Children’s Act, chapter 274, seeks to
prevent the exposure of children to harsh working
conditions by establishing a
minimum contractual age for employment.
- The
Apprenticeship Act, chapter 275, section 9 (1), empowers the Controller of
Apprenticeship, who is a public officer, to grant written
permission to a person
wishing to employ a minor in a designated trade. This measure is meant to
protect the interest of minors.
- The
Liquor Licensing Act, chapter 167, prohibits employment of persons under the age
of 18 years in bars and other places where liquor
is sold.
- The
Day Nurseries Act, chapter 393, and the Public Health Act, chapter 295,
establish appropriate standards for all public and private
institutions,
services and facilities responsible for the care and protection of children.
These are to ensure conformity with acceptable
standards of care, particularly
in the areas of health, safety, number of children served and suitability of
their staff to provide
competent supervision.
RIGHT TO LIFE
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that the right to life is guaranteed
by the Constitution. Article 12 (1) stipulates the conditions under which a
person can be legally deprived of life, and article 12 (2) protects the
life of
an unborn child except under conditions in which termination of pregnancy is
legal. Section 203 of the Penal Code, chapter
87, protects children from
infanticide.
- Although
the Constitution guarantees the right to life, it does not fully protect the
life of unborn physically and/or mentally disabled children. The Termination
of
Pregnancy Act, chapter 304, makes a provision for abortion on the grounds that
the unborn child “would suffer from mental
abnormalities or be seriously
handicapped”. The concurring opinion of three doctors, who have been
designated to make such
a decision, is necessary before termination can be
effected.
Right to survival and development
- Survival
and development of children are major objectives of the National Child Policy,
which aims to reduce moderate and severe malnutrition
in children, and to expand
early childhood care and development programmes throughout the country to
promote the healthy development
of children.
- “Health
for All” is the theme of the National Health Strategy, one aim of which is
to reduce infant mortality rate from
108/1000 to 65/1000 live
births.
- Measures
taken to reduce childhood morbidity and mortality include a national campaign to
control diarrhoeal diseases, and the establishment
of an integrated system for
management of childhood illnesses. Additional details will be provided in
chapter VI (Basic Health and
Welfare).
- Survival
and development of unborn children are promoted through provision of maternal
healthcare services, which are antenatal care
during labour and delivery,
post-natal care of the newborn and essential obstetric care.
- The
formal and informal education systems are largely responsible for fostering
mental, spiritual, moral and psychological development
of children. The
Ministry of Education assists this process by training pre-school and primary
schoolteachers in how to facilitate
the holistic development of a child. (For
additional information on education, see chapter VII.)
- The
State party recognizes that socialization of children begins from the time of
birth. Children are moulded by the cultural values
and norms of the environment
in which they develop and mature. Children’s participation in religious
and traditional ceremonies
is encouraged by parents and the community to build a
strong character.
- Reduction
in risk to adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, drug abuse and
delinquency is coordinated by the Ministry
of Youth, Sports and Child
Development. The ministry works in close collaboration with NGOs, such as
Planned Parenthood Association
of Zambia, Family Life Movement, Society for
Family Health, Community Youth Concern and Young Women’s Christian
Association.
Government collaborators include the Ministry of Health, the
Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, the Ministry
of Home
Affairs and the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Health provides
technical leadership for youth programmes of this
nature.
Registration of death of children
- Section
4 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, chapter 51, provides a uniform law
for registration of all births and deaths in the country, without distinction of
origin or descent.
- The
State Party wishes to report that cases of suicide committed by children do
occur in Zambia, but that there is no disaggregated
data on their number and
causes.
RESPECT FOR THE VIEWS OF THE CHILD
- The
State party wishes to report that freedom of expression is protected under
article 20, paragraph 1, of the Constitution. Details of the article are
provided in chapter IV of the present report.
- The
State party wishes to acknowledge that prevailing cultural norms and social
practices seriously curtail the right of children
to express themselves freely.
Unfortunately, it is still true that children are seen and rarely
heard.
- Female
children are more adversely affected than males although this situation is
changing due to the influence of formal education
and exposure to enlightened
adults, who encourage children to express their views more
openly.
In school
- The
formal educational setting offers many opportunities for children to participate
in decision-making and assume leadership roles,
such as serving as prefects,
monitors or class captains, taking part in disciplinary hearings and making
recommendations to teachers
on the provision of text books, desks or chairs.
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that classroom education in Zambia is
examination-oriented; hence, there is considerable
interaction between teachers
and pupils. During the interaction, pupils are encouraged to participate and
express their views in
order to optimize their performance in
examinations.
Asylum-seeking procedures
- Whether
accompanied or unaccompanied by their family, children are given an opportunity
to make submissions before the government
body that determines eligibility and
official refugee status. The child’s submission can be made in his or her
native language.
Interpreters are provided to translate into English
(Communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Office of the Commission for
Refugees).
In adoption matters
- The
Adoption Act, chapter 54, provides for the court’s satisfaction that the
child’s views are expressed regarding placement
for adoption or
institutional care.
Measures taken to raise awareness of families and the
general public
- The
State party wishes to report that it has consistently used the opportunities
provided by annual celebrations of Youth Day, the
International Children’s
Day of Broadcasting, and the Children’s Summit to sensitize parents and
the general public to
the need for children to express their views and concerns.
During these occasions, child representatives are given an opportunity
to have
direct contact with national leaders and decision makers, who listen to their
submissions.
- The
training curricula for judges, probation officers, police officers, social
workers, teachers and nurses include child development
and psychology courses.
This encourages a holistic approach to matters relating to children.
Professional service providers are
encouraged to interact with children in a
manner that promotes a free dialogue and communication.
- Courses
on CRC are offered on an annual basis at the University of Zambia as part of the
postgraduate diploma in human rights law.
The Zambia Institute of Advanced
Legal Education offers a similar postgraduate diploma.
- The
State party wishes to advise the Committee that the process of enacting new
legislation begins with assimilating public opinion,
which includes the views of
children, consultations and an assessment of complaints. The State party also
wishes to bring to the
Committee’s attention that children were consulted
and their views were sought in the process of preparing the present
report.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- During
the period under the review, the following achievements in the realization of
children’s rights were recorded:
(a) The Ministry of
Education launched the Programme for the Advancement of Girl Child Education
(PAGE). The programme is now fully
operational;
(b) An umbrella NGOs’ network, Children in Need Network (CHIN), was
created to coordinate NGO efforts at improving the welfare
of orphans and
vulnerable children;
(c) There are 11 drop-in centres for homeless
children situated throughout the country;
(d) An Adolescent Reproductive
Health Consortium to coordinate adolescent reproductive health interventions in
the country was formed;
(e) Youth Day and the Children’s Summit
have become annual events that provide a forum for publicizing CRC and
Zambia’s
progress in implementing the Convention;
(f) Professional
service providers, particularly those engaged in services where children are the
prime beneficiaries, are trained
to work more effectively with children and to
respect children’s views regarding care and support
services;
(g) CRC is integrated into select tertiary training
programmes, i.e. postgraduate
diploma programme at the University of
Zambia.
CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
- Traditional
norms and values operate against children effectively participating in
decision-making processes and having their ideas
and opinions seriously
considered.
- Gender
bias continues to be widespread in spite of the development of a National Gender
Policy to rectify situations and circumstances
that give rise to
discrimination.
- Various
government policies and legislation enacted to promote the best interests of the
child have not been implemented effectively
due to insufficient resources and
infrastructure.
WAY FORWARD
- To
ensure implementation of enacted legislation and government policies designed to
give effect to the provisions of CRC, the monitoring
and enforcement system
needs to be strengthened.
- The
environment in which CRC is implemented is negatively affected by the high level
of poverty currently experienced by many Zambian
households. The State party
wishes to inform the Committee that a national poverty reduction strategy is in
place, and that strategies
to intensify interventions in the social sector are
prioritized.
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that it has measures in place to
ensure that the civil rights and freedoms of children
set forth in the
Convention are recognized by law and implemented in practice.
NAME AND NATIONALITY
- Every
child in Zambia has a right to a name and it is, generally, believed that a
child should be named within the first week of birth.
A child may be named
after an ancestor, who is living or dead, and may be given both traditional and
non-traditional names. The
majority of Zambian traditional names have a meaning
and are used to enhance the child’s identity.
- In
recognition of a child’s right to a name, birth registration procedures
require a child’s forename and surname. Although
it is possible to
register a child before a name is given, the parents or guardian have two years
in which to register the child’s
name.
- The
law permits natural or adoptive parents or a legal guardian to change a
child’s name. An adopted child may change his or
her name to that of the
adoptive parents or may retain his or her original name after the adoption
order. These procedures are done
in accordance with the English Rules of the
Supreme Court (White Book,
1998).[11]
- The
Births and Deaths Registration Act, chapter 51, provides for compulsory
registration of all children born in Zambia, without distinction of origin or
descent. This
registration is free if done within the prescribed period of one
month after the birth of the child. Registration after a period
of more than 12
months after the child’s birth requires the written approval of the
Registrar-General.
- The
law requires that the birth of a child must first be registered in the district
where the child is born before the information
is entered into the central
register. Zambia has 72 registration districts, which are identical to the
current administrative districts
identified in the Provincial and District
Boundaries Act, chapter 286. All District Secretaries can act as Registrars of
Births and Deaths in their respective districts.
- Children
born in camps or settlements as refugees or asylum-seekers are registered and
issued birth certificates immediately after
birth.
- Parents
have the primary responsibility for informing the appropriate authorities of the
birth of a child. If the mother or father
fails to carry out this
responsibility, the duty is placed upon a prescribed list of others. The father
of a child born out of wedlock
is under no obligation to give notice of the
birth of the child.
- It
is an offence to fail to give notice of a child’s birth. This is
punishable by a penalty of 200 penalty units and/or one
month’s
imprisonment with or without hard labour. However, a person will be excused if
the circumstances of the case made
it unreasonable or impracticable to give such
notice.
- Failure
to give notice will also be excused in situations where the parents, guardians
or other responsible persons could not reasonably
be expected to have sufficient
knowledge of this obligation because of educational status, general knowledge
and understanding of
laws, or the social environment in which he or she resides.
This provision acknowledges that in rural areas of the country facilities
are
not readily available and, also, the level of education of the people is
relatively low, to such an extent that they may not
be aware of their
obligations.
- Efforts
have been made to improve record-keeping in rural areas. Mothers and
traditional birth attendants are being taught about
the importance of recording
the birth of children. In addition, the registration process has been
quasi-decentralized to make it
possible to notify authorities about births and
later forward the information to the national registration
office.
- Measures
to ensure that non-registration of births is avoided include requirements of
birth registration information upon first attendance
in the under-5 clinic and
when registering a child for first grade in school. Additionally, it is hoped
that hospitals will insist
on verifying when a birth notice is
given.
- The
number of people filing a notice of birth has substantially increased in recent
years. However, the level of registration nationwide
is still unacceptably
low. This matter has not received the amount of attention required. The
Department of National Registration
does not have a public relations unit to
sensitize and mobilize public opinion regarding the need for birth registration.
Also, there
is a need to be more innovative in the way that registration of
births is done, especially to improve access by rural areas to the
registration
process.
- Logistical
problems faced by the Department of National Registration need to be addressed.
There is a critical shortage of human
resources, particularly, trained officers,
to assist informants with the registration of births. The need to computerize
the Registry
has been recognized as a priority so that vital information is not
lost. Presently, it is very difficult to get information from
some of the
registers.
- Very
detailed information is required on a birth registry form. This information can
be used to assist a child who does not know
his or her parents or natal family
to identify them.
THE CHILD’S RIGHT TO ACQUIRE A NATIONALITY
- The
Constitution confers citizenship upon every child born to a Zambian
mother
or father who is a citizen at the time of the child’s
birth, regardless of the child’s
place of birth. This applies to all
children whether born in or out of wedlock.
- A
child born in Zambia before 1 April 1986, and whose father was an established
resident at the time of the child’s birth, is
a citizen from the time of
birth until he or she attains 21 years of age. Thereafter, he or she is
required to apply to the Citizenship
Board for confirmation of citizenship. It
may be possible for a child of one Zambian parent and one foreign parent to have
dual
nationality during the age of minority, depending on the laws of the
country of the non-Zambian parent.
- A
child who has association with Zambia through descent, residence or other means,
but is not of full age, can become a citizen through
registration on the
satisfaction of the Citizenship Board, provided he or she meets all legal
requirements. Upon application of
the parent or guardian, the Citizenship Board
can register a child as a citizen.
- There
are no specific provisions dealing with the nationality of children who would
otherwise be stateless. The President of the
Republic of Zambia has the power
to cause persons who are not entitled to or not eligible for citizenship to be
registered as citizens.
This is a possible action that could enable a stateless
child to obtain citizenship status.
PRESERVATION OF IDENTITY
- Preservation
of a child’s identity is guaranteed under the Births and Deaths
Registration Act, chapter 51. The State party wishes to inform the Committee
that it is not aware of the practice of illegal deprivation of some
or all of
the elements of a child’s identity.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
- Protection
of the right to express one’s views and obtain information is provided by
article 20 of the Constitution, as cited in paragraph 183 below. Freedom of
expression is not a right specific to children but is extended to all groups of
society,
including children. The right to freedom of expression is
justiciable.
- Article
20, paragraph 3 of the Constitution imposes conditions on an individual’s
right to freedom of expression. The public interest takes precedence over
individual
rights when it involves public safety, public order, morality and
health, as cited in paragraph 183 below.
ACCESS TO APPROPRIATE INFORMATION
- The
State party wishes to report that article 20 of the Constitution provides
protection for the right to information.
- Children
enjoy the right to accessing information through educative and entertaining
programmes on both radio and television. There
are also books written and sold
in various outlets specifically for children. Regrettably, general reading of
magazines, newspapers
and other literature are not widespread in rural areas due
to a shortage of materials. In many government schools, 10 pupils share
one
book because of inadequate public investment in the education
sector.
- Nevertheless,
the mass media plays an important role in ensuring that children are not denied
the right to appropriate information.
Reading materials and radio programmes
are translated into vernacular languages to meet the various needs of different
children.
- As
a measure to improve freedom of expression, the Information and Broadcasting
Policy of 1996 has made provisions for private sector
investment and
participation in the mass media industry. During the period under review, there
are nine privately owned radio stations
and three television stations providing
information. These include Radio Phoenix, Multichoice Television Network, Casat
Television
Technologies, Trinity Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Ichengelo and
Radio Christian Voice.
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, CONSCIENCE AND RELIGION
- Article
19 of the Constitution provides protection for the right to freedom of
conscience, inclusive of freedom of thought and religion, freedom to change
one’s
religion or belief, either alone or in community with others and
both in public and in private to manifest and propagate one’s
religion or
belief in worship teaching, practice and observance. Article 19, paragraph 2,
protects a minor from receiving religious
instructions that may be in conflict
with his or her personal beliefs and choice of worship.
- There
are implied limitations to a child’s rights if certain religious beliefs
are perceived to be dangerous to the well-being
of the child. Parents or
guardians are responsible for guiding minors in matters of religion, and are
expected to act in a manner
consistent with the interest of public safety and
order.
FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY
- Article
21 (1) of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of association and
assembly. Although the Constitution does not specifically refer to children, it
can be presumed that this protection includes children because it refers to all
persons
in Zambia.
- The
Family Life Educational Programme, which is being introduced in some schools,
teaches children to be assertive and encourages
free expression between
themselves, their teachers and parents. Also, children are taught about their
human rights in schools.
Through the introduction of CRC Advocacy Programme, a
large number of children are now aware of their rights and are forming
associations
such as the Radio Four Fan Club, Boy and Girl Scouts, Boy and Girl
Guides, and Boy and Girls Brigades.
PROTECTION OF PRIVACY
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that measures exist to protect a
person’s privacy. Article 17 of the Constitution provides to everyone
protection of privacy and prohibits any arbitrary or unlawful interference with
a person’s family, home
or correspondence, as well as any attack on his or
her honour and reputation.
- However,
search and seizure may be carried out with a person’s consent when it is
in the interest of national defence, public
safety, public order, public
morality, public health, and public interests (see chapter I for additional
discussion on respect for
privacy of children placed in institutions for
treatment, care or protection).
TORTURE AND DEGRADING TREATMENT
- Article
15 of the Constitution prohibits a person from being subjected to torture,
inhuman or degrading punishment, or other like treatment. Freedom from torture
and degrading treatment is absolute and cannot in any circumstances, such as
war, be tolerated. However, torture has not been criminalized
under Zambian
law.
- A
child can obtain or seek redress from the courts of law in the form of damages
from the State if torture is committed. Procedures
for seeking redress involve
petitioning the High Court of Zambia or lodging a complaint with the Permanent
Human Rights Commission
or the Police Complaints Authority. In addition, a
person can bring a complaint before the Human Rights Committee under the
Optional
Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
and before the Committee against Torture under the Convention
against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Awareness-raising campaigns and other
interventions
- The
Permanent Human Rights Commission has been conducting awareness-raising
campaigns, and is developing educative and training activities.
- Civil
society has been actively involved in awareness-raising campaigns for the
prevention of torture. Human rights law is now included
in the curricula for
law enforcement agents and schoolchildren. The State party wishes to inform the
Committee that it has submitted
its initial report on the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and has
since
disseminated it countrywide in an effort to raise awareness about the
prohibition of torture.
- The
Inquiries Act, chapter 41, provides for the creation of commissions and the
appointment of commissioners to inquire into and report on matters
referred to
them. A Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate allegations of
torture against detainees accused of the
1997 attempted coup. The Commission of
Inquiry has since completed its investigations and submitted its report to the
Government
for action.
- There
have been no reports on child victims of torture.
- The
Permanent Human Rights Commission serves as an independent monitor for cases of
torture and degrading acts in Zambia.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- The
following achievements were made during the reporting
period:
(a) NGOs are supplementing the Government’s
efforts to sensitize women in rural areas to the importance of registering their
children’s birth;
(b) Increasingly, children are becoming aware of
their rights and how to seek redress when their rights are infringed
upon;
(c) An enabling environment exists that encourages freedom of
association and assembly. Discerning children are taking advantage
of this to
form associations;
(d) There is increased awareness of the right to
privacy. As a result, information advocating this right is readily
available;
(e) The overall social environment accepts the right to
information, which is manifested by the growth in private mass media
organizations;
(f) Establishment of the Permanent Human Rights
Commission;
(g) Introduction of a bill in Parliament that obliges
lawyers to accept two cases per year on a pro bono basis as a condition for
issuance of a practising licence. This will assist detainees and children in
trouble with the justice system, who cannot afford
litigation fees, to obtain
legal representation.
CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
- The
following constraints and challenges were identified:
(a) The
registration process for births and deaths is cumbersome and highly
centralized;
(b) Registration is done for a fee and many parents cannot
afford to register their children;
(c) Sensitization and
awareness-raising programmes conducted by NGOs are urbanbiased, thus limiting
information available to rural
children;
(d) Parents continue to unduly
influence their children in the choice of religion;
(e) There is a
degree of interference in the registration of youth associations because
of
attitudes that elders should be responsible for governance
issues;
(f) The right to privacy is difficult to protect because it
contradicts prevailing
cultural beliefs;
(g) In publicizing
children’s rights through the media, some journalists are violating those
rights by publicizing private
information about children whose rights have been
violated. This is particularly disturbing in cases of sexual abuse.
WAY FORWARD
- The
need to decentralize some of the Registry’s functions and to computerize
its processes has been recognized as a priority.
- Advocacy
and information, communication and education activities on CRC require
intensification to bring about awareness and compliance.
- Efforts
will be made to domesticate the international human rights instruments to which
Zambia is a party.
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
PARENTAL GUIDANCE
- The
State party wishes to state that it recognizes and respects the family as the
basic social unit that provides for the care, protection
and welfare of a
child.
- The
nuclear and extended family systems are the two main family structures in
Zambian society. The nuclear family is more pronounced
in urban areas and the
extended family tends to be stronger in rural areas.
- There
are many types of household structures in Zambia, ranging from single-headed
households to multi-generational families living
together in the same household
and sharing meals together. The common feature in the vast majority of these
households is that they
are adult-headed.
- As
HIV/AIDS epidemic matures into its second decade in Zambia, child-headed
households are rapidly emerging. In these households,
the oldest child assumes
responsibility for the care of younger siblings after the death of parents.
Children in such households
are at economic and social risks because they lack
adult supervision, guidance and support.
- Respect
for the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents, the extended family and
community is deeply rooted in Zambian tradition,
culture and family values.
There exists an inherent and strong sense of responsibility towards the children
and their welfare.
- The
State party acknowledges that the provision of formal family counselling
services and parental education programmes is a new phenomenon
in Zambia.
Historically and traditionally, these functions were the exclusive domain of the
elderly people in the community, e.g.
the matriarchs and
patriarchs.
- It
is the opinion of the State party that the elders in society possess compelling
knowledge and information about child development
and the evolving capacities of
the child and, therefore, are in a good position to teach
others.
- The
Government provides parental counselling services through the Ministry of
Health; the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Child Development;
the Ministry of
Community Development and Social Services; and the Victim Support Unit under the
Zambia Police Service.
- Churches
and NGOs, such as Family Life Movement, Family Health Trust, Planned Parenthood
Association of Zambia (PPAZ), Young Men’s
Christian Association (YMCA),
Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), Community Youth Concern and
Kara Counselling provide
similar services. In addition, counselling
services are conducted through traditional institutions and
ceremonies.
PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES
- The
Constitution, the Penal Code, the Adoption Act, and the Affiliation and
Maintenance of Children Act address issues of parental responsibilities
regarding care, protection and welfare of children.
- The
principle of investing in a child’s welfare is very strong in Zambia.
Under customary law, parents are obliged to provide
for their children.
Traditional norms and values emphasize the importance of looking after children
in a manner compatible with
community standards.
- The
capacity of parents to provide for their children has been negatively affected
by poverty and an adverse economic environment.
To offset this situation, the
Government has introduced PWAS. In 1999, 59,423 (25,201 males and 34,222
females) received some form
of assistance from the scheme (MCDSS,
1999).
- The
Zambian Education Capacity Building Programme (ZECAB) is an initiative to help
parents educate their children. So far more than
19,243 vulnerable children
have benefited from ZECAB scholarships.
- Community-based
initiatives to assist family incomes, such as microfinance, food for work and
relief programmes, are encouraged (Department
of Social Welfare,
1999).
SEPARATION FROM PARENTS
- The
Juveniles Act and the Adoption Act outline the conditions under which children
can be separated from their parents. Separation
is undertaken only in extreme
circumstances, and is done when it becomes evident that it is not in the best
interests of the child
to continue living with his or her parents or guardian,
for instance, in cases of neglect or abuse as defined by the Juveniles Act
and
the Adoption Act.
- When
separation is necessary, custodial care by a member of the extended family is
assumed to be the preferable option. Institutionalization
of children, even in
temporary shelters, is a last resort.
- Children
are given an opportunity to participate in any proceedings involving legal
separation from parents, and to make their views
known (see chapters III
and IV).
- The
Juveniles Act, the Affiliation and Maintenance of Children Act and the Probation
of Offenders Act support the right of children
who are separated from one or
both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents
on a regular basis.
In 1999, home contacts were made for 240 juveniles in
Nakambala and Katombora correctional institutions. Through these contacts,
correctional officers counselled parents and guardians on how to help their
children or dependants to prepare for eventual reintegration
into the community
(ibid.).
FAMILY REUNIFICATION
- The
Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of movement. Therefore, the right
of a person to enter or leave the country is protected.
- There
are no restrictions on family movements by either parents or children. Once a
travel document is issued to a citizen, that
citizen is free to go and come as
he or she chooses. Consequently, situations of family reunification will
inevitably be dealt with
in a positive, humane and expeditious
manner.
- When
both parents of a child reside in different countries, there are no legal
barriers that interfere with a child’s right
to maintain personal
relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis. There are no
exceptions in this regard.
ILLICIT TRANSFER AND
NON-RETURN
- The
State party wishes to advise the Committee that the practice of illicit transfer
and non-return of children abroad has not occurred
to any national, to date.
Although there are no known cases, remedies exist in the criminal domain and
would extend to extradition
agreements where these exist between
States.
RECOVERY OF MAINTENANCE FOR THE CHILD
- The
Affiliation and Maintenance of Children Act, the Penal Code and the Juveniles
Act compel a parent or parents to maintain children
to the best of their
ability. For parents living abroad, jurisdictional issues would influence the
determination of parental obligations.
CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF
THEIR FAMILY ENVIRONMENT
- The
extended family has provided a traditional safety net, and has cushioned
children from suffering the full impact of social, economic
or physical
deprivation of their environment, particularly when biological parents are
absent or unavailable to provide care and
support. HIV/AIDS has weakened the
extended family system as the burden of care for survivors, including orphans,
has become intolerable
for many families (UNICEF, 2000). This has resulted in
increased numbers of orphans and vulnerable children. Projections by the
Ministry of Health/Central Board of Health indicate that there are more than
600,000 AIDS orphans in the country. The number of
vulnerable children, because
of HIV/AIDS, is unknown (MOH, 2000).
- Fostercare
services are regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Juveniles Act,
chapter 53. The Department of Social Welfare
supervises and monitors the
situation of children placed in alternative care. Before alternative care is
considered, social inquiries
are made concerning the child’s cultural,
social and religious background. The law specifically requires that this be
taken
into account and that children be placed in a setting as close to their
normal living environment as possible.
ADOPTION
- Although
the Adoption Act was enacted in 1958, before Zambia attained independence, to
some extent, it conforms to the requirements
of CRC.
- The
child under this Act is referred to as an infant, and is defined as “a
person who has not yet attained the age of 21 years,
but does not include a
person who is or has been married”.
The adoption
process and measures to ensure the best interests of the child
- Adoption
of a child is effected by the High Court or, if the applicant so requests, by
any Subordinate Court of the First Class within
the jurisdiction in which either
the applicant or the infant resides at the date of application for the adoption
order. In practice
the Subordinate Court of the First Class handles most
adoption cases.
- An
adoption may be made jointly by the two spouses, or by the mother or father of
the child either alone or jointly with the spouse.
Only spouses can jointly
adopt a child. The following are some of the conditions for
adoption:
(a) In the case of a joint application, one of the
applicants must have attained the age of 25 years and must be at least
21 years
older than the child;
(b) Where the applicant is a
relative of the child, the applicant must have attained the age of 21 years
unless the applicant is
the mother or father of the child;
(c) A single
male cannot adopt a female child unless special circumstances can be
demonstrated to justify the order.
- An
adoption order cannot be made unless the applicant and the child reside in
Zambia, and the child has been continuously in the care
of and possession of the
applicant at least three consecutive months before the date of the adoption
order. The applicant is required,
during the same period, to notify the
Commissioner of Juvenile Welfare of his or her intention to adopt the
child.
- The
law requires the consent of parents, guardian or anyone legally responsible for
the child before an adoption can be effected.
The wishes of the child must be
given consideration if he or she is of an age to understand the adoption
order.
- The
court has the power to dispense with any necessary consent where the parent or
guardian or anyone else having legal responsibility
for the child has abandoned
or neglected or persistently ill-treated the child.
- In
making the adoption order, the court must be satisfied that the parents or
guardian understand and consent to the adoption. In
other words, that the
parents or guardian understand that the adoption order is irrevocable; that the
adoption is in the best interests
of the child, and that the child’s
opinion has been given due consideration.
- All
documents filed in an adoption petition are confidential and kept secret by the
court, and every application is heard and determined
in camera. The child may
retain his or her previous name after the adoption order. As a general rule,
one may not advertise that
he or she is wishing to put a child up for adoption
or to adopt a child.
- The
Commissioner for Juvenile Welfare supervises the adoption process where a child
has not attained the age of 16 years.
- The
law regulates payments made during the adoption process. It is an offence for a
parent or guardian or adopter or any person involved
in the adoption process to
receive any payment that is not sanctioned by the Adoption Act or the
court.
Inter-country adoption
- The
Adoption Act provides guidelines for inter-country adoption. The Commissioner
of Juvenile Welfare oversees the process and ensures
that the best interests of
the child are maintained.
PERIODIC REVIEW OF
PLACEMENTS
- Procedures
exist for periodic review of cases involving children placed in care. The
reviews help analyse the general circumstances
of the child, foster parents and
the community with the view of reintegrating the child into mainstream
society.
- Circumstances
taken into account when deciding placements of children include abandonment,
neglect, abuse, including sexual abuse,
death of parents or guardians and
juvenile delinquency.
ABUSE AND NEGLECT, INCLUDING PHYSICAL
AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RECOVERY AND SOCIAL REINTEGRATION
- The
Constitution prohibits abuse and neglect of children, and the Juveniles Act, the
Adoption Act and the Penal Code contain provisions to protect
children from
abuse.
- Although
Zambian legislation prohibits all forms of physical and mental violence,
corporal punishment still exists in the Statutes.
Several judicial decisions
have been categorical in stating that corporal punishment is inhuman and
degrading and should be outlawed
(see the section on judicial decisions
discussed in chapter I above).
- Children
can lodge complaints directly or through a representative in cases involving
mental or physical violence. In addition, procedures
exist to protect children
from any form of violence, abuse or neglect.
- The
YWCA of Zambia is the lead organization in awareness-raising campaigns to
prevent situations of violence, abuse or neglect and
to strengthen the system
for child protection. YWCA is also providing psychosocial counselling to
victims of child abuse and educating
families on children’s rights. Churches and non-governmental
organizations are providing awareness campaigns to communities
in local
languages on the provisions of CRC and child abuse
matters.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- During
the reporting period, the following achievements were
made:
(a) Establishment of the Victim Support
Unit;
(b) Formation of the Zambia Counselling Council and the
professionalization of counselling in Zambia;
(c) Ongoing review of the
Juveniles Act;
(d) Continued observance of the Year of the
Family;
(e) Some refugee children were reunited with their
families.
CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
- The
following constraints and challenges were noted:
(a) A lack of
disaggregated data by gender;
(b) A lack of specific provision for
Zambian family law to provide guidelines on implementation of article
19;
(c) Inadequate monitoring of children in foster
care;
(d) HIV/AIDS has increased the vulnerability of children owing to
the premature loss of parental guidance;
(e) Little is known about
adoption by the general public;
(f) Most Zambians assume guardianship
without officially adopting or fostering the child;
(g) There is no
monitoring mechanism to ascertain the extent of abuse and neglect.
WAY
FORWARD
- To
move forward, the Government will prioritize the capacity-building of human
resources in departments implementing CRC so that officers
can vigorously
monitor the implementation of policies and legislation incorporating CRC
provisions.
- Community
awareness programmes should be embarked upon to educate the public on the
advantages of adoption. This would help to provide
protection to orphans who
are being informally fostered in the extended family and give them rights in
accordance with articles 5
and 18, paragraphs 1 and 2, of
CRC.
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
DISABLED CHILDREN
- The
State party wishes to confirm that it recognizes that a mentally or physically
disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life
in conditions that ensure
dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active
participation in the community.
Measures taken to promote the
welfare of disabled children
- The
National Child Policy identifies special education as a right for children with
disabilities and introduces guidelines for raising
public awareness of the
educational and other specialized services available to the disabled child. It
is the policy of the State
party to help families improve their capacity to
identify developmental disabilities in their children at an early stage for the
purpose of finding an early remedy.
- Disability
cuts across all sectors. The Ministry of Community Development and Social
Services and the Ministry of Education are entrusted
with the responsibility for
addressing the problems of people living with physical handicaps, hearing and/or
speech impediments and
blindness. The Ministry of Education has policy
guidelines for educating children with disabilities and a special unit to train
teachers of disabled children. The Ministry of Community Development and Social
Services has a specific department that provides
services to people with
disabilities and intervenes on their behalf.
Measures taken
to protect the rights of disabled children
- Section
19 (1) of the Persons with Disabilities Act, chapter 65, prohibits
discrimination, which is defined as follows:
(a) Treating a
person with a disability less favourably than a person without a
disability;
(b) Discrimination between two or more persons living with a
disability;
(c) Requiring a person with a disability to comply with a
requirement or condition, thereby favouring persons without
disabilities;
(d) Not providing different services or conditions
required for that disability.
- A
learning institution is guilty of discriminating against a person with a
disability if it:
(a) Refuses or fails to accept or admit
such a person on the grounds of his or her disability;
(b) Lays down
terms and conditions under which it is prepared to admit such a person because
of his or her disability;
(c) Denies or limits any person with a
disability access to any benefits provided by that
institution;
(d) Expels a student or pupil on the grounds of his or her
disability;
(e) Discriminates against a person in any other way on the
grounds of that person’s disability.
Measures taken to ensure
effective evaluation of the situation of disabled children
- From
a false sense of shame or embarrassment, many parents do not divulge information
about their disabled children with the result
that their children’s
problems remain unknown and untreated. This situation is compounded by the
absence of a system of identification
of disabilities.
- Reliable
statistical information on disabilities in Zambia is not readily available. The
major causes of disabilities in the country
and its distribution have not been
formally documented. A national campaign to reach children with disabilities
was conducted during
the period 19801985. Analysis of 7,382 registered
children with disabilities indicated that 41 per cent of the children
were physically
disabled, 25 per cent were visually impaired, about 23 per cent
had hearing or speech impediments and 11 per cent had multiple learning/mental
disabilities (MOH, 2000).
- According
to the National Campaign on Disabilities Report there are
approximately 40,000 children with disabilities, most of whom are not
registered with the appropriate authorities for assistance
and support. The
rate of disability in rural areas is significantly higher than in urban areas,
with the highest rate being in the
more remote areas of Luapula, north western
and western provinces. The majority of children with disabilities are not
attending
ordinary schools or receiving special education, treatment or other
rehabilitative support (ibid.).
Measures taken to ensure
adequate training
- Depending
on the extent of the disability, education and special training facilities are
available for children with disabilities.
- Specialized
training is available for professional service providers who work with disabled
children, such as teachers, psychiatric
nurses and clinical officers,
tuberculosis/leprosy clinical officers, physiotherapists and neurologists.
- Integration
of disabled children with those without disabilities depends on the type of
disability. Special schools and other training
facilities are available on a
limited basis for children unable to integrate owing to the severity of their
disability.
- The
State party has created the Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities under
the Persons with Disabilities Act. The Agency plans,
promotes and administers
services for persons with disabilities.
- The
core funding of the Agency is directly appropriated from Parliament, making more
secure the sustaining of the Agency’s operations.
In addition, the Agency
may receive donations and collect fees for the services
provided.
- Zambia’s
Education Policy recognizes the rights of children with special educational
needs based on the principle that every
individual has an equal right to
education. The guiding principle is that children with special educational
needs should be integrated
as far as possible into programmes that are offered
in ordinary classrooms.
- Children
with special educational needs are classified as exceptional. The exceptional
child or individual is defined as “one
who differs from others in mental,
physical or social characteristics to such an extent that, for the full
development of inherent
potential, he or she needs a modification of school,
college or university provision and practice, or special educational
services”.
- It
is estimated that 10 to 15 per cent of children in Zambia are exceptional
and require active intervention and specialized services.
These figures do not
include maladjusted or emotionally disturbed children or children who are
exceptionally gifted or talented
(MOE, 2000).
- In
1995, there were 31 special education institutions, of which 28 at primary, 1 at
secondary and 2 at tertiary level. There were
also 80 special education units
in regular schools, of which 51 were at primary and 29 at secondary school
levels. During the period
1996-1997, there were 25 governmentsupported
residential schools with enrolments of 1,708 in 1996 and 2,436 in 1997
(MOE, 1999).
- The
Ministry of Science and Technology in liaison with its implementing agency, the
Department of Technical Education and Vocational
Training now DTVET and the
Finnish Association on Mental Retardation (FAMR), have been offering since 1994
a number of programmes
to children with intellectual disabilities (mental
retardation).
- The
Social Safety Net and Public Welfare Assistance Schemes under the Department of
Social Welfare in the Ministry of Community Development
and Social Welfare
provide financial assistance to disabled children whose parents cannot afford to
pay for school requirements.
- A
very small percentage of physically or mentally impaired children are catered
for in schools. The reasons for this situation are
that most ordinary schools
do not have the facilities to teach disabled children and most teachers are not
trained to adapt teaching
methods to meet their needs. Another reason is that
systems for identifying and contacting children with special needs are not well
developed.
- The
management and supervision of special education is overcentralized and
understaffed. There are no special education inspectors
in other parts of the
country, making it virtually impossible to monitor and supervise programmes in
special schools and units.
HEALTH AND HEALTH
SERVICES
- The
State party wishes to report that children under the age of 5 years make
up 20 per cent of the Zambian population, and of this
number
92 per cent have access to medical assistance and primary
healthcare services.
- According
to the Living Conditions Monitoring Report, 1998 published in Zambia, the
proportion of the population aged between 1 and 14 years was estimated at
45 per cent, with adolescents
aged between 10 and 19 years
comprising 26 per cent of the total population. Of this number, about
65 per cent had access to medical
assistance and health
care.
- There
are disparities in the provision of medical assistance and healthcare services
between urban and rural areas. Children in urban
areas have access to better
medical services than their counterparts in rural areas. Ninety-nine
per cent of urban households live
within 5 km of a health facility compared
to only 50 per cent of rural households.
The health
dimensions of child survival and development
- According
to the 1992 and 1996 Zambia Demographic and Health Surveys (ZDHS), child
survival in Zambia is less probable today than
it was 10 years ago. In the
period between 1987 and 1991, nearly one in every five children died
before their fifth birthday. Child
mortality rate (ages 1 to 4 years) was
as high as that of infant mortality.
- Studies
show that children living in rural areas have a higher risk of dying before the
age of five than urban children, and marked
differences exist in mortality rates
between provinces.
- Differences
in early childhood mortality are due to the mother’s age, her educational
level and her access to health care, i.e.
antenatal care, assisted delivery by a
skilled birth attendant and postnatal care.
- The
first one month of life is a high-risk period for newborn babies. During
infancy, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases
and malaria account
for almost one third of deaths.
- HIV/AIDS
is a significant cause of morbidity. Perinatal transmission accounts
for 75 per cent of all paediatric AIDS cases.
- Major
causes of morbidity and mortality for children between ages 1 and 5 years are
malnutrition, diarrhoeal diseases, malaria and
acute respiratory infections
(MOH, 2000).
Measures taken to diminish infant and child mortality
- The
National Programme of Action for Children (NPA) has the following healthrelated
goals:
(a) To reduce maternal mortality rate by 50 per cent by
2000, from the current level of 202 per 100,000 live births;
(b) To
reduce the total fertility rate from 6.5 to 5.4 by 2000 and to 4.0 by
2015;
(c) To reduce moderate and severe malnutrition by 25 per cent by
2000;
(d) To reduce infant mortality rate from 108 per 1,000 live births
to 65 and the under5 mortality rate from 192 per 1,000 live births
to 100 by
2000;
(e) To provide access to clean water and sanitary means of excreta
disposal for 50 per cent of rural households and 100 per cent
of
urban households by 2000.
- The
mid-decade (1995-2000) goals of NPA for maternal and child health had the
following goals:
(a) To reduce mortality from acute respiratory
infections by 50 per cent in children under five by 2000;
(b) To reduce
diarrhoeal deaths of children under five from 10 to 8 per cent by
1995;
(c) To reduce diarrhoeal deaths in hospitals by 80 per cent from
2,000 to 400 per year by 1995;
(d) To reduce annual diarrhoeal episodes
in children under five from 5.1 to 4.0 episodes per child by
1995;
(e) To reduce measles cases by 90 per cent compared with
pre-immunization era level;
(f) To achieve an overall coverage of 85 per
cent for BCG, DPT 3, OPV 3 and measles immunizations by 1995;
(g) To
reduce morbidity and mortality from malaria by 50 per cent by 2000 through
improved environmental care;
(h) To achieve exclusive breastfeeding for
the first four months by 90 per cent of mothers by 2000;
(i) To
eradicate polio by 2000 and to eliminate neonatal tetanus by
1995;
(j) To achieve tetanus toxoid 5 vaccination coverage of 50 per
cent among pregnant women by 1996;
(k) To make family planning services
available, accessible and affordable to at least 30 per cent of all adults
in need of such services
by 2000.
Promoting child health
- Child
health is one of the State party’s priority areas in an essential health
package. Other priorities include nutrition,
maternal health and child health,
part of which has a component on child health and HIV/AIDS.
- Since
child health is a broad categorization, healthcare interventions are effected by
different players and at different stages of
the child’s
development.
- The
State party has adopted the goal of universal child immunization as a promotive
health intervention. All children below 5 years
should receive antigens against
six immunizable diseases, namely tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough,
tetanus, poliomyelitis
and measles.
- The
unborn child can be protected against neonatal tetanus if the mother is
vaccinated with two doses of tetanus toxoid. All pregnant
women who attend
antenatal clinics are provided with tetanus toxoid vaccines free of charge.
- It
is a requirement that all children should receive all doses of the antigens
before their first birthday. Immunization is integrated
with other primary
healthcare services, such as growth monitoring and promotion, health education
with counselling, micronutrient
supplementation and family
planning.
- The
general target group for immunizations comprise children aged up to
24 months, pregnant women, women of childbearing age, 15 to
45yearolds and
schoolchildren in Grades 1 and 7 (MOH, 2000).
- Zambia
has been implementing National Immunization Days (NID) as one of the four
recommended strategies to achieve the goal of polio
eradication. In 1996, NID
aimed at eradicating polio by the year 2000 and the Integrated Management of
Childhood Illnesses were
adopted. Polio immunization coverage for both 1996 and
1997 NID rounds was above 85 per cent (ibid.).
- Diarrhoeal
diseases have been and still are a major cause of child morbidity and mortality
in Zambia. The policy, strategies and
targets of the National Control of
Diarrhoeal Diseases were outlined in the State party’s Fourth National
Development Plan
for the period 19891993 and remain the guidelines for combating
diarrhoeal diseases.
- The
strategy for reducing morbidity and mortality associated with diarrhoea among
children under 5 years entails improving the supply
and availability of Oral
Rehydration Salts (ORS) through health facilities, private practitioners,
pharmacies and community health
workers, as well as training health workers in
the management of diarrhoeal diseases in children. Mothers and caretakers are
educated
on how to provide oral rehydration therapy and continued nourishment to
children with diarrhoeal disease. As part of the Control
of Diarrhoeal Diseases
national policy, two sachets of ORS are given to every child with diarrhoea who
shows no signs of dehydration.
Each health institution maintains an oral
rehydration therapy corner where mothers can rehydrate sick children
under the supervision of healthcare providers.
- In
order to reduce the current high levels of infant and child morbidity and
mortality, the Government, in conjunction with collaborating
partners, is
addressing the situation through the Integrated Management of Childhood
Illnesses programmes. This involves screening,
counselling and treatment of
illnesses at first contact with the health practitioner. Healthcare providers
at healthcare centres
are being trained to improve case management of sick
under5 children in a holistic manner (MOH, 2000).
- The
provision and use of safe drinking water, improved sanitation, food security and
health education towards better personal and
environmental hygiene will make
infectious waterrelated diseases, especially diarrhoeal diseases, less
frequent.
- In
order to ensure preparedness for epidemics and effective control of disease
outbreaks, the Ministry of Health is training healthcare
providers and senior
health managers at central, provincial and district levels to prepare and equip
them for effective, prompt response
to epidemics.
- The
nutrition status of many children in Zambia is poor. Protein-energy
malnutrition is a widespread public health problem. Children
under 5 years,
pregnant women and lactating mothers are most at risk. The major causes are
inadequate dietary intake, frequent illnesses
and inadequate
care.
- Half
of the children below 5 years are malnourished and stunted, and 25 per cent
are underweight; 12 per cent of babies are born with
low birth weight and 4 per
cent of children under five are wasted (low weight for height), resulting in
recent illnesses or severe
food shortage.
- Malnutrition
in infancy is strongly associated with early introduction (that is in a baby
less than 6 months old) of non-breast foods,
deficiencies in weaning diet
and constant illnesses, especially diarrhoea. It is estimated that
69 per cent of all children, 47
per cent of pregnant women and
38 per cent of women who are not pregnant are deficient in iron.
Malnutrition accounts for 20 to
30 percent of hospital admissions and 40
per cent of all deaths in children under 14 years.
- Another
major health problem is micronutrient deficiencies that affect mainly children
and women. The deficiencies include iron deficiency
anaemia, iodine deficiency
disorders and vitamin A deficiency. Sixty-six per cent of children are vitamin
A deficient.
- Iodine
deficiency also appears to affect a large proportion of the population as
manifested by goitre. A survey conducted among primary
schoolchildren in 1993
revealed that the total goitre rate was 31.6 per cent and median urine iodine
was 6.0 ug/dl. The goitre rate
ranged between 9.0 to 82 per cent in the
districts covered (MOH, 2000).
- The
State party wishes to report that Zambia has adopted the Declaration on the
Elimination of Micronutrient Malnutrition through
Food Fortification and
Micronutrient Supplementation and Food Diversification at the World Summit for
Children.
- The
goals set out are the elimination of vitamin A deficiency and iodine deficiency
and the reduction of iron deficiency among women
by one third.
Breastfeeding
- Exclusive
breastfeeding is defined as the feeding of a baby only breast milk and nothing
else, unless it is medically advised. Zambia
has adopted the Innocenti
Declaration on the Protection, Promotion and Support of Breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding at the workplace
is being encouraged. The government policy on
breastfeeding emphasizes exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.
Thereafter,
it should be continued in addition to nutritious complementary foods
well into the second year of life or beyond. About 26 per cent
of children
under 4 months of age are exclusively breastfed.
Adolescent
sexuality and reproductive health
- Adolescent
sexuality and reproductive health have been a high priority for the State party
since the adoption of the Programme of
Action of the International Conference on
Population and Development.
- Precocious,
unprotected and premarital sexual activities, early pregnancies, illegally
induced abortions, sexually transmitted diseases
and HIV infections are some of
the results of the new patterns of adolescent sexual behaviour. Parents,
teachers and health providers
tend to underestimate the level of adolescent
sexual activity although reports from various surveys show
otherwise.
- According
to the 1996 ZDHS data, adolescents in Zambia begin childbearing early. About
half the teenage population already had a
child or were pregnant with their
first child. Among the 550 Grade 4 to 12 pupils surveyed in Lusaka and Southern
and Western Provinces
of Zambia, 40 per cent already had a regular sex partner
and 30 per cent of the boys and 15 per cent of the girls had used
a condom
at some point in time. However, the regular use of a condom was very
low (CARE, 1998). In a separate study in Lusaka, 20 per cent
of girls below age
19 were infected with HIV (MOH/CBOH, 1999).
- In
spite of the early age at which the first sexual intercourse takes place and
early pregnancies, Zambia lacks adequate support for
adolescent mothers. Young
people lack adequate and appropriate information about sexuality and sexual
relationships. Often they
are excluded from the mainstream service delivery
system, which places them at a greater risk of reproductive health
problems.
- Unsafe
abortions are a major cause of maternal mortality and morbidity, but hospital
records under-report the magnitude of the problem
because most deaths occur
outside healthcare facilities. In 1993, in Lusaka’s University Teaching
Hospital, about 80 per cent
of women who were admitted with complications
of illegally induced abortions were younger than 19 years.
- Since
1972, it has been possible to have a legal abortion in Zambia under the
Termination of Pregnancy Act, chapter 304. However,
safe abortion is not easily
available to most women, especially teenage girls. The procedure for legal
abortion requires that a
woman or girl obtain the signatures of
three doctors, including a psychiatrist. Most people, including some
healthcare providers,
are not aware of the provisions of this
Act.
- A
draft National Adolescent/Youth Health Policy has been formulated and will
address issues of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted
pregnancies. The
policy was developed by the Ministry of Health/Central Board of Health in
collaboration with stakeholders in the
adolescent health field.
- Counselling
of young adolescents under 16 years of age is a priority. The female population
and young adults, as priority groups,
are given information, education and
communication messages regarding prevention and protection against unwanted
pregnancies, sexually
transmitted diseases and HIV infection.
- The
Ministry of Education is in the process of strengthening school health services
to provide appropriate information and education
regarding sexuality. The
information provided will include prevention of unwanted pregnancies, sexually
transmitted diseases and
HIV infection.
- The
Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia traditionally offers family planning
and reproductive health services and counselling
to adults. Interventions are
now also aimed at providing reproductive and sexual health care to adolescents.
The core programmes
include communitybased distribution, incomegeneration
activities for young people, peer education projects and developing a national
peer education curriculum for adolescents, and special clinic services for young
people.
- CARE
International supports reproductive health services, including family planning,
in some Ministry of Health clinics. CARE implements
adolescent reproductive
health services in Lusaka, Ndola and Livingstone, offering young people friendly
services, peer counselling
services and setting up youth corners within
established health facilities.
- A
pilot project is currently operational in three health centres (Kalingalinga,
Chawama and Chilenje) in Lusaka where sexual and reproductive
health services
are offered to youths by youths. The programme began in 1994, following the
formation of the Adolescent Health Task
Force under the Ministry of Health,
Child and Reproductive Health Unit. The National Programme for Youth and Youth
Friendly Services
Committee was elaborated in collaboration with the Lusaka
Urban District Council, youths, selected government ministries and NGOs,
and
with the support of UNICEF.
- The
youth-to-youth services conducted by peer educators cover topics such as
sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, fertility,
gender, drugs,
child rights, family life, education, negotiation skills and basic counselling
skills, childtoparent communication,
condoms and referrals, and address problems
faced by adolescents.
- The
lessons learnt from youth-to-youth interventions are as follows: young people
feel more comfortable discussing sex with peers;
participatory methods help
youths to discover more about their reproductive needs; youth will attend
clinics if they feel that they
are welcome; youth act as a bridge between other
youth and healthcare facilities; with support and full involvement in the youth
programmes, adolescents can develop confidence to adopt safer sex behaviours,
e.g. delaying or postponing sex.
Traditional practices prejudicial to the health of
children
- Male
circumcisions in unhygienic conditions are a problem, particularly in rural
areas. Forced marriages and early pregnancies are
common and are the major
cause of school dropouts for girls. Early pregnancy in a girl who is not
physically and mentally ready
results in a number of complications, such as
vesicle vaginal fistula (VVF).
Water sanitation and environmental pollution
- There
is considerable social and economic inequality in access to safe drinking water.
In 1998, about 90 per cent of urban households
and 35 per cent of the rural
population had access to safe drinking water. About one-half of all water
sources are not functioning
owing to breakdowns and a lack of maintenance,
neglect or drying up, as occurred in the 1992 drought areas
(MOH, 2000).
- Although
90 per cent of urban dwellers have access to piped water, widespread water
shortages negate the advantages of piped water.
The existing situation is one
of inadequate water production combined with high losses, inadequate
distribution system and intermittent
operations. Moreover, urban areas are
expanding, without corresponding expansion of water supply systems. This
results in a smaller
proportion of urban dwellers being covered by the water
reticulation system.
- In
an attempt to give sanitation a higher profile, a Working Group on Sanitation
was set up in February 1997. The working group produced
a report in December
1997, entitled “National Environmental Sanitation Strategy for Rural and
Peri-urban Areas”. The
report serves as a useful guideline in developing
strategies aimed at improving sanitation in the country.
International cooperation
- Some
of the activities and programmes cited above are supported financially through
bilateral and international cooperation. For
instance, family planning
activities are supported by UNFPA and DFID. WHO and UNICEF are supporting child
health activities and
programmes. UNICEF and WHO are supporting maternal health
activities and programmes. Nutrition activities and programmes are supported
by
UNICEF, WHO, USAID and JICA.
Social security and childcare services
- The
State party wishes to report that in 1993 it introduced Health Care Cost Scheme
(HCCS) and Education Cost Scheme (ECS) to protect
vulnerable groups, including
children, exempted by the Government from paying healthcare services at
designated health institutions.
So far, 15,589 (7,073 males and 8,516 females)
have benefited from HCCS while 7,718 children (4,132 males and 3,586 females),
benefited
from ECS. HCCS and ECS have been fused into the mainstream
PWAS.
- The
Department of Social Welfare is cooperating with the Central Board of Health
and UNICEF to pilot a new scheme of exemptions from
healthcare charges for
youths between 6 and 16 years old under the Youth Health Care Cost
Scheme (YHCCS).
- The
new scheme will provide orphans and vulnerable children with exemptions from
paying health centre and hospital charges (MCDSS,
1999).
- YHCCS
will be administered through the redesigned PWAS, which is empowering
communities to allocate welfare resources within their
locality. In partnership
with grassroot organizations, NGOs and churches, as well as other government
departments, notably health,
communities are being sensitized to welfare issues.
The redesigned PWAS is working in nine districts and YHCCS will be piloted over
a period of two years in six of these districts.
Standard of living
- One
of the basic causes of malnutrition is poverty. Although the Government has
shown commitment to alleviating food and nutrition
problems in the country by
establishing the National Food Nutrition Council in 1967, until recently, it has
not developed a food
and nutrition policy to guide nutrition programme
formulation and implementation. Zambia is currently taking initiatives to
develop
a food and nutrition policy and to formulate the Zambia Plan of Action
on Nutrition (ZPAN).
ACHIEVEMENTS
- Since
1991, the health system in Zambia has undergone a number of reforms with the
view to providing equal access to quality health
services for all communities.
Below are some of the achievements.
(a) Increased coverage of
childhood immunizations;
(b) Zambia has successfully implemented sugar
fortification with vitamin A and consumption of iodized salt. This fulfils
Statutory
Instrument No. 155 of 1998 on Sugar Fortification and Statutory
Instrument No. 97 of 1999 on Salt Iodination;
(c) Adoption of the
Declaration on the Elimination of Micronutrient Malnutrition through Food
Fortification and Micronutrient Supplementation
and Food
Diversification;
(d) Basic healthcare packages have been defined for
each level of healthcare delivery;
(e) Review of the mid-decade goals
towards implementation of NPA indicate that half of the goals related to child
survival and development
have been met.
CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
- The
State party acknowledges the following constraints and
challenges:
(a) Service delivery has suffered owing to
concentration on streamlining, management and administrative
functions;
(b) Health facilities are not able to provide quality
services as defined in the basic package owing to a severe shortage of human
and
financial resources, drugs, equipment and other supplies. Physical
infrastructure and equipment for primary health care and
referral health
services have deteriorated over the years;
(c) The incidence and
intensity of poverty has increased over a short period, resulting in levels of
chronic malnutrition rising
dramatically;
(d) The problem of
feminization of poverty has become very critical;
(e) The extended
family system is threatened with extinction;
(f) The HIV/AIDS epidemic
is so severe that it has reached a crisis in terms of the number of young
children who are being orphaned
and in need of
assistance;
(g) Eliminating discriminatory attitudes to disabled
children is a challenging task because some communities look upon a
child’s
disability as a curse or a punishment from God or believe it is a
result of parents having engaged in black magic practices.
WAY FORWARD
- In
order to decongest clinics in urban areas, adequate resources should be provided
to build new clinics.
- Efforts
should be made to improve the conditions of service for health personnel to
curtail the brain drain of Zambian doctors and
nurses to developed
countries.
- The
Ministry of Youth, Sports and Child Development, which currently coordinates NGO
youth programmes, should play a more active role
in providing services to
youth.
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND GUIDANCE
- The
State party wishes to report that there is no legislation that guarantees the
right to education. However, under the Constitution, article 110 (e) of the
Directive Principles of State Policy, the executive, the legislature and the
judiciary in the development
and implementation of national policies and the
enactment of new laws are required to ensure the provision of equal and adequate
educational opportunities in all fields and at all levels.
- The
National Policy on Education of 1996 contains general principles of education,
which are:
(a) Liberalization - the right of private
organizations, individuals, religious bodies, NGOs and local communities to
establish and
control their own learning
institutions;
(b) Decentralization - the Ministry shall devolve power
from the centre to local levels to allow various stakeholders to share in
decision-making and to take responsibility for education at the local
level;
(c) Equality and equity - where access, participation and
achievement in education are impeded by gender or physical, mental, economic
or
social factors, the Government will seek to eliminate the sources of educational
disadvantage in order to achieve equality and
equity.
(d) Quality - the
Government shall promote a high standard of education and learning for
all;
(d) Partnerships - the Government shall create conditions that
allow human, financial and other resources, under the control of private
and
voluntary agencies, communities and religious bodies, to be channelled without
hindrance into the education sector.
(e) Accountability - the Government
shall ensure that effective systems are in place at the national, provincial,
district and institutional
levels for evaluating the effectiveness and
efficiency with which resources are used.
Structure of the education system
- Currently,
Zambia’s formal education system has a 7-5-4 structure, with seven years
of primary education (four years of lower
and three years of upper primary),
five years of secondary (two years of junior and three years of senior
secondary) and four years
of university education to first degree
level.
- The
goal of the education system in Zambia is that every child should have access to
nine years of good quality education, meaning
that the new system will have a
9-3-4 structure, which comprises nine years of basic education, three years of
high school education
and four years of university education to first-degree
level.
- The
system now in place provides more school places at the primary than at the
secondary level. This means that not all children
who enter school are able to
proceed to the next level automatically. Pupils, therefore, must pass the
selection examinations at
grade 7, 9 and 12 to proceed to the next level. The
existing system is, therefore, pyramidal.
- Apart
from the University of Zambia, there are other tertiary education institutions
to which students can go to train in various
specialized fields. Examples of
these are nursing schools, teacher training colleges, colleges of agriculture
and various vocational
training institutes (MOE, 2000).
PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION
- Pre-school
education is offered to children between the ages of 3 and 6 years. The
National Child Policy, which has reiterated the
Government’s commitment to
the provision of basic education for all children, has also recognized the need
to develop early
childhood education.
- According
to the existing Ministry of Education policy, the provision and funding of early
childhood and pre-school education are
the responsibility of councils, local
communities, NGOs, private individuals and families.
- However,
the Ministry of Education does provide professional services to pre-school
education through training teachers, developing
curriculum materials and
monitoring standards.
- The
Zambia Pre-school Association was formed in 1972 and is an NGO whose main
function is to look into issues of early childhood education.
The local
councils which maintain a register of all early childhood education centres
register all preschools. The local councils
have a legal obligation to monitor
pre-schools under their jurisdiction.
- Early
childhood education in organized pre-schools is accessible mainly to children in
urban centres. Because pre-school education
is controlled by private providers
who charge fees, children whose parents cannot afford to pay are denied the
opportunity to receive
this important service. There are still very few
pre-school centres in rural areas.
- The
1998 statistics from the Ministry of Education show that at the national
level, 8.4 per cent of children enrolled in Grade 1 had
received
pre-school education. Of the rural children enrolled in Grade 1 in 1998, only
2.7 per cent had received some form of preschool
education, whereas 23.6 per
cent of Grade 1 pupils in urban areas had received preschool
education.
- In
order to improve access to early childhood education, the National Child Policy
endeavours to work with communities towards widening
access to early childhood
education and development. Under NPA, the major goal is to expand Early
Childhood Care Education and Development
activities for the under7 age group
with emphasis on community-based interventions.
- Supporting
strategies were formulated to achieve the following objectives by
2000:
(a) To increase gross enrolment ratio of children in
pre-schools from 2 to 25 per cent with special emphasis on the urban poor and
children with disabilities;
(b) To increase the proportion of trained
pre-school care providers from 20 to 60 per cent and to ensure that
each group has at least
one trained teacher;
(c) To equip every
pre-school care provider with a teaching kit, learning materials and play
materials for each centre with 80 per
cent of pre-schools taking the lead in
integrating child services in the community;
(d) To promote health
education, nutrition, sanitation knowledge, values and skills of 80 per cent of
the families in which pre-schools
are active;
(e) To sensitize at least
20 per cent of families to the learning needs of the under4 age
group.
- These
strategies have not been fully achieved and are mainly in the process of being
implemented.
BASIC EDUCATION
- The
Government is committed to providing universal education for all children, as
indicated in the following policy goals of the Ministry
of
Education:
(a) Every child should have seven years of basic
education by the year 2005;
(b) Every child should have access to nine
years of good quality basic education by the year 2015;
(c) The
improvement of school infrastructure so that children learn in an environment
conducive to their education;
(d) The upgrading of all primary schools
to full basic school status by the year 2015;
(e) The provision of
adequate financial resources for basic education;
(f) Ensuring that
pupils acquire essential literacy, numeracy and life and communication
skills;
(g) Enabling pupils to develop practical skills in one or more
relevant areas;
(h) Supplying schools with adequate teaching and
learning materials;
(i) Increasing the number of trained teachers to
meet the rising demand for basic education;
(j) Eliminating gender
imbalances in school enrolment and retention;
(k) Active involvement of
communities in the provision of education.
- The
policy of the Ministry of Education states that, “As basic education
becomes more universal, the Grade 7 composite examination
will become less
important and eventually will be abolished.” The introduction of the
Basic Education Subsector Education
Programme (BESSIP) is an initial step
towards phasing out Grade 7 examinations as BESSIP covers up to Grade 9. BESSIP
will result
in comprehensive reforms in the basic education
sector.
Objectives of BESSIP
- The
main objectives of BESSIP are to improve equity, access and equality of basic
education mainly through enhanced provision of education
materials, curriculum
reforms, improved pedagogy, attention to health and nutrition, as well as
strengthening pre- and in-service
training of teachers. The overall goal of
basic education is to provide every pupil with a solid intellectual, practical
and moral
foundation that will serve as a basis for a fulfilling
life.
- The
Government administers most schools in Zambia, though there are schools which
are managed by various church groups, NGOs and the
private sector.
Not-forprofit, nongovernmental schools receive a government grant. In 1996,
there were 4,058 government and grant-aided
primary and basic schools. Both
grant-aided and private schools are provided for under the Education Act,
chapter 134, of the Laws of Zambia.
- The
State party wishes to report that the number of basic schools increased by 27
per cent from 374 to 473 between 1990 and 1996.
The number of secondary
schools increased by 40 per cent from 140 to 206 in the same
period. The number of private schools increased
by 208 per cent from
49 to 151 in the same period (MOE, 1996).
Community and parental involvement
- Parents
play an important role in the management of schools. Every school has a
ParentsTeachers’ Association (PTA), as provided
for under the Education
Act of 1966. Parents participate in decision-making to improve the quality of
education provided. PTAs have statutory powers to impose
levies on pupils in
order to improve school facilities.
Access and participation
- Since
independence, Zambia has made significant advances in the education sector.
During the first decade of independence, the education
sector expanded rapidly
as Zambia tried to develop its human resource to speed up the Zambianization
process. Efforts were made
to improve access to education for all Zambians.
However, these ambitious plans were derailed with the economic downturn
experienced
by the country from the mid1970s.
Table 2
Primary school enrolment by gender, 1990-1996
|
Boys
|
Girls
|
Total
|
% of girls
|
1990
|
761 651
|
699 896
|
1 461 511
|
47.9
|
1991
|
778 768
|
716 049
|
1 494 817
|
47.9
|
1992
|
770 666
|
707 007
|
1 477 673
|
47.8
|
1993
|
803 077
|
735 902
|
1 538 979
|
47.8
|
1994
|
800 858
|
742 078
|
1 542 936
|
48.1
|
1995
|
803 387
|
726 951
|
1 530 338
|
47.5
|
1996
|
791 489
|
717 767
|
1 509 256
|
47.6
|
Source: Kelly, 1999.
- Table
2 indicates an increase in total primary school enrolments between 1990 and
1994, but a decline thereafter.
Table 3
Primary school net enrolment and number of out-of-school
children, 1996
|
|
Girls
|
Total
|
Total primary school enrolment
|
791 489
|
717 767
|
1 509 256
|
Enrolment of 7 to 13-year-olds
|
676 279
|
648 755
|
1 325 034
|
7 to 13-year-olds population
|
799 080
|
778 725
|
1 577 805
|
Net enrolment ratio
|
84.6
|
83.3
|
84.0
|
Number of incorrect age in school
|
155 210
|
69 012
|
184 222
|
Number of 7 to 13-year-olds children not in schools
|
122 801
|
129 970
|
252 771
|
Source: Kelly, 1999.
- According
to Table 3, by 1996 only 84 per cent of all eligible schoolage children were
enrolled in schools. The right to education
of the remaining 16 per cent had
not been realized.
Table 4
Primary gross enrolment ratios by province, 19961999
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
Male
|
Female
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
Total
|
Male
|
Female
|
Total
|
Central
|
116
|
111
|
114
|
112
|
108
|
110
|
113
|
110
|
112
|
108
|
107
|
107
|
Copperbelt
|
106
|
113
|
109
|
105
|
115
|
110
|
106
|
117
|
111
|
104
|
114
|
109
|
Eastern
|
83
|
69
|
76
|
84
|
71
|
77
|
83
|
72
|
77
|
77
|
69
|
73
|
Luapula
|
108
|
99
|
103
|
108
|
98
|
103
|
110
|
101
|
105
|
108
|
100
|
104
|
Lusaka
|
96
|
90
|
93
|
93
|
91
|
92
|
89
|
89
|
89
|
83
|
84
|
84
|
North western
|
100
|
98
|
99
|
101
|
101
|
101
|
102
|
102
|
102
|
100
|
99
|
99
|
Northern
|
116
|
98
|
107
|
116
|
98
|
108
|
116
|
99
|
108
|
111
|
94
|
103
|
Southern
|
106
|
102
|
104
|
114
|
109
|
112
|
110
|
106
|
108
|
105
|
104
|
105
|
Western
|
91
|
94
|
93
|
96
|
99
|
97
|
94
|
98
|
96
|
92
|
98
|
94
|
Grand total
|
103
|
98
|
100
|
104
|
100
|
102
|
104
|
101
|
102
|
101
|
99
|
100
|
Source: Ministry of Education, 1999, and Central Statistical
Office.
- The
net enrolment ratios in Table 4 show that none of the nine provinces have
achieved universal primary education even though four
provinces are close to
achieving this goal.
Girl child education
- The
National Policy on Education gives high priority to the education of girls.
Currently, girls’ enrolment in Grade 1 is almost
equal to that of
boys. From Grade 4, progression to subsequent grades by girls declines. More
girls drop out of school than boys.
These gender disproportions are more
glaring in rural areas (MOE, 1998).
- The
Ministry of Education is trying hard to improve girls’ participation and
retention in schools through the Programme for
the Advancement of Girls’
Education (PAGE). PAGE aims to increase girls’ enrolments, progression
and quality of education
by:
(a) Creating girl-friendly
schools;
(b) Sensitizing the community and parents;
(c) Creating
single-sex classes for girls;
(d) Involving parents and guardians in the
education of their daughters;
(e) Improving teaching
methodology.
School facilities
- Many
schools have inadequate facilities, such as classrooms, desks, books, staff
houses, access to clean water and toilets. In order
to attain the goal of
creating 1.2 million school places by 2015, the Ministry of Education and
its cooperating partners have embarked
on a programme of school rehabilitation,
which has resulted in the construction of more than 2,300 classrooms, 1,100
teachers’
houses, 2,100 pit latrines, 100 waterborne (pour flash) toilets
and rehabilitation of more than 2,100 classrooms and 1,200 teachers’
houses (ibid.).
Books and desks
- Between
1991 and 1998, a total of 14.5 million textbooks, supplementary readers and
teachers’ guides for Grades 1 to 7 were
procured and distributed. In
spite of these efforts, very few schools have achieved a bookpupil ratio of
1:2.
- The
syllabuses in core subjects were revised, produced and distributed, and teachers
were oriented to their use. Over 68,000 library
books were procured and
distributed.
- Between
1990 and 1998, more than 160,000 desks were procured and distributed to schools.
However, in many schools there is still a
shortage of desks and many pupils
still sit on the floor or use some improvized materials.
Performance achievements and competencies
- One
of the objectives of BESSIP is to improve pupil achievement. In 1999, the
Ministry of Education undertook a National Assessment
for Grade5 Pupils. The
assessment evaluated the actual learning acquisition in English and numeracy,
revealing that the levels of
learning achievement in Grade 5 were very low. The
mean percentage scores in English and mathematics were 31.8 and 32.8,
respectively
(MOE, 1999).
- In
order to improve pupil achievement, the Ministry will introduce competency
testing which will be carried out at school level.
In-service programmes are
offered in resource centres to improve teachers’ skills. There is a
resource centre in every district
in addition to 14 provincial
resource centres. Efforts are being made to increase the output of teachers
from teacher training colleges.
This is being done through the
one-year-in-college and oneyearinthefield training programme for primary
schoolteachers.
Measures for free and compulsory basic education
- There
are no user charges for basic education, but parents or guardians have to pay
for uniforms, transport, and PTA fees. Education
is not compulsory, but once a
child is enrolled in a school, it is the duty of every parent or guardian to
ensure the child’s
regular attendance, which is stated in the Compulsory
Attendance Regulation Statutory Instrument No. 118 of 1970. The regulations
provide for the appointment of public officers as attendance officers, whose
duty is to ensure compliance with the regulations.
However, these officers have
not been appointed yet to enforce the regulations. As a result, many children
who drop out of school
are not followed up.
HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION (SECONDARY EDUCATION)
- The
goal of high school education is to enable every pupil to become a well-educated
person, who is useful to society and who is adequately
prepared for the
furtherance of his or her education or for becoming a self-supporting
worker.
- Secondary
education is offered in the following types of
institutions:
(a) Upper basic schools - Grades 8 to
9;
(b) Junior secondary schools - Grades 8 to 9;
(c) Secondary
schools - Grades 8 to 12;
(d) High school - Grades 10 to 12.
- Admission
to high schools is based on performance in terminal examinations in the Junior
Secondary School Leaving Examination taken
at the end of Grade 9. Progression
rates from Grades 9 to 10 have over the years fluctuated between 19
and 21 per cent.
- The
Ministry of Education is committed to decentralization. Each high school and
secondary school will have an education board, which
will be composed of members
of the community. The boards, which have already been formed in the Copperbelt
Province, charge user
fees, in line with the policy of
cost-sharing.
Access and participation
- In
1990, there were 140 government and grant-aided secondary schools with a total
enrolment of 68,379. In 1996, these schools increased
by 40 per cent or to
206 and 228, respectively, in 1999. There were 142,069 pupils enrolled in
secondary schools in 1999. In order
to increase access to high school
education, schools have responded by introducing academic production units for
Grades 8 to 12.
Pupils pay fees for using school facilities in the
afternoon.
Girl child education
- The
major development in this area was the change in policy of the Ministry of
Education in 1997. Schoolgirls who become pregnant
will be allowed back to
school after they have had their babies.
- However,
the dropout rate for girls at this level is higher than that for boys. Even
with the policy of allowing pregnant girls back
into school, not all those who
find themselves in this predicament make use of the
opportunity.
School facilities
- Facilities
in secondary schools are deteriorating owing to inadequate financial support.
The level of deterioration varies from school
to school. This variation can be
attributed to the level of contribution by PTA.
Performance
- At
high school level, pupil performance shows variations among schools and subject
areas. The passing rates in many schools are low.
Measures to introduce free secondary education
- There
are no measures currently in place for free education at this
level.
LITERACY RATES
- The
National Literacy Campaign was launched in 1990. Women accounted
for 73 per cent of enrolments.
Table 5
Literacy rates by sex and age group
|
|
1999
|
Male
|
77%
|
82%
|
Female
|
57%
|
63%
|
Total
|
67%
|
74%
|
Literacy - “Proportion of population who are 15 years and older, who
are able, with understanding, to both read and write a
short, simple statement
on their everyday life.”
Source: Our Children at End
Decade, UNICEF/CSO, 2000.
NON-FORMAL EDUCATION
- Statistics
show that approximately 252,771 children aged 7-13 years are out of school.
This is due to limited places in the formal
education system. Economic
hardships and long walking distances also serve as a barrier and lead to
increases in the number of children
who drop out of school (MOE,
1996).
- The
Ministry of Education recognizes the right to education of out-of-school
children and is making efforts to meet their learning
needs through non-formal
education strategies in conjunction with the local communities and international
cooperating partners.
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
- Community
schools provide basic education for out-of-school youth. Children targeted are
between ages 9 and 16 years, and have dropped
out, been pushed out or never been
to school. These schools give preference to the most disadvantaged children.
Table 6 shows that
since 1996 there has been a rapid increase in community
schools which cater for a substantial number of disadvantaged
children.
- The
following are general characteristics of community
schools:
(a) They are non-profit-making institutions that are
inexpensive enough to allow disadvantaged children to have access to
education;
(b) Uniforms are not a school
requirement;
(c) Teachers are mostly untrained volunteers from the
community;
(d) They tend to be managed by community
committees;
(e) They have small classes with up to a maximum of 35
pupils;
(f) Funding is obtained from a variety of
sources;
(g) The Ministry of Education prepares syllabuses and materials
tailored to the needs of the pupils;
(h) The Ministry of Education
provides learning materials and educational advisors, and pays an agreed number
of trained teachers.
Table 6
Enrolment and staffing in community schools, 1996-1999
|
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
Number of schools
|
55
|
123
|
220
|
373
|
Enrolment (boys)
|
3 051
|
8 002
|
13 479
|
23 323
|
Enrolment (girls)
|
3 548
|
11 048
|
15 125
|
24 044
|
Total enrolment
|
6 599
|
19 050
|
28 604
|
47 276
|
Orphans as percentage of total enrolment
|
3%
|
19.5%
|
17.9%
|
20%
|
Number of female teachers
|
67
|
-
|
278
|
361
|
Number of male teachers
|
64
|
-
|
290
|
438
|
Total number of teachers
|
131
|
-
|
568
|
799
|
Source: Ministry of Education, 2000.
INTERACTIVE RADIO INSTRUCTION
- Another
form of non-formal education designed to meet the learning needs of outofschool
youth is interactive radio instruction consisting
of interactive lessons in
which an audio component delivered by an “audio-teacher” through a
radio or audiocassette,
and classroom activities carried out by learners are
carefully integrated.
- The
Education Broadcasting Services of the Ministry of Education has developed
a 100lesson programme, which is being piloted in selected
areas of Lusaka
and Chongwe. The broadcasts were launched on 24th July 2000 and they offer
Grade1 pupils integrated mathematics
and English. The pilot project was
intended to run for a period of 20 weeks and is designed to ascertain if
children can achieve
competency in literacy, numeracy and life skills. This
project is communitybased. The communities have responded favourably by
mobilizing learners and identifying learning centres and mentors. The mentors
work as facilitators whose role is to guide the children
and help them follow
the radio broadcasts. The community will support the mentors.
- When
fully operational, the interactive radio programmes will reach an estimated
800,000 outof-school children throughout the country.
These radio
programmes have been made possible through financial assistance from
NORAD.
ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN EXCLUDED FROM SCHOOL
- The
Ministry of Education established the Department of Continuing Education to
provide basic and secondary education to children
who were bypassed by the
formal school system or who left school too early, without having acquired the
necessary communication and
life skills for a fulfilling and productive life.
It offers programmes, in the following areas:
(a) Distance
education for secondary school students provided by the National Correspondence
College in Luanshya;
(b) Open secondary schools for Grade7 school
leavers;
(c) Evening classes;
(d) Supervised study
groups;
(e) Continuing education at schools that offer academic
education and skills training.
Over the past years, the number of pupils
in these programmes has decreased from 32,000 to 11,000 owing to
financial constraints faced
by the Department.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
- Special
education is a type of education which is specially designed and adapted to suit
individual specific needs of children, youths
and adults with special
educational needs (see chapter VI).
- Although
there have always been exceptional children, adequate attention has not always
been paid to their special needs. Before
1971, education for pupils with
special needs was in the hands of the missionaries, church organizations and
voluntary organizations
and many children with disabilities were entirely
excluded from any publicly supported programmes of education.
- In
1971, education for exceptional pupils became the responsibility of the Ministry
of Education and since then a Special Education
Inspectorate has been
established within the Ministry.
- Since
taking over the responsibility for special education, the Ministry of Education
has established the Zambia Institute of Special
Education (ZAMISE), formerly
called the Lusaka College For Teachers of the Handicapped (LUCOTEHA).
ZAMISE trains specialized teachers
in visual, intellectual, hearing and physical
impairments. The figures are shown in Table 7 below.
Table 7
ZAMISE graduates in special education
|
Qualifications
|
Number
|
1971-2000
|
Certificate in Special Education
|
2 320
|
1993-2000
|
Diploma in Special Education
|
160
|
|
Grand total:
|
2 480
|
Source: Ministry of Education, 199? (sic.).
- In
1996, the University of Zambia introduced the Bachelor of Arts degree in
Education with Special Education, which was followed by
the Bachelor of
Education degree in Special Education in 1997. In the two programmes, a number
of teachers have been trained.
Table 8
University of Zambia graduates in special education
|
Qualifications
|
Number
|
1996-1998
|
B.A. Ed. with Special Education
|
20
|
1997-2000
|
B.A. Ed. with Special Education
|
15
|
|
B.A. in Special Education
|
19
|
Source: Ministry of Education, 1998.
- These
tables show that the number of qualified personnel is not adequate to meet the
learning needs of pupils with special educational
needs.
Policy provisions on special education
- Zambia’s
education policy (1996) supports the principle that every individual has an
equal right to education. This means that
every individual, regardless of
personal circumstances or capacity, has the right of access to and participation
in the education
system. Ensuring full equality of access, participation and
benefit for all pupils necessitates interventions at all levels of service
delivery to support children with special educational needs.
- The
education policy is in line with the Salamanca Statement which advocates for
integration and participation of pupils with special
needs in the regular school
system. Where integration occurs, there still remains the practical question of
the extent to which
ordinary schools can provide facilities, such as adapted
accommodation, specialized teachers, equipment and multidisciplinary
professional
support suitable for each child’s special
needs.
- In
1996, there were 20 residential special schools with a total enrolment of 2,000
pupils, while integrated units had an enrolment
of 20,000 pupils. Current
statistics show that the enrolment figures have risen to 3,000 pupils in special
schools and to 25,000
pupils in integrated units
(MOE, 1998).
Access and participation
- Access
to schooling for exceptional children has increased from 0.1 per cent in 1990 to
1 per cent in 1995, which is a rather minor
and almost insignificant
increase. This situation is attributed to many factors, such as lack of
sufficient educational provisions
for the profoundly impaired pupils and
inadequate systems for identifying, screening, assessing and placing pupils with
special educational
needs (ibid.).
School facilities
- Pupils
with special educational needs use the same facilities as those used by regular
pupils. Most of the teaching and learning
materials and equipment are
imported.
Performance (learning achievements)
- Levels
of learning achievements among pupils with special needs are measured through
their performance in national examinations.
In this way, their individual
specific learning needs are not taken into account.
- Performance
indicators of pupils with special educational needs can be better monitored by
the use of the individualized education
programme (IEPs). IEP needs to be
developed and implemented for every pupil between ages 3 and 21 with special
educational needs.
The Special Education Unit is working towards developing IEP
in inclusive schools in Kalulushi District in the Copperbelt
Province.
Alternative education for disabled children excluded from
school
- Children
with special needs who have physical impairments that prevent them from
functioning normally in some way, or who suffer from
various diseases that
prevent them from benefiting from ordinary schools, are catered for in hospitals
by special education units,
homes for the disabled, rehabilitation centres and
Cheshire homes for the disabled.
CURRICULUM REFORMS
- The
Ministry of Education’s foremost priority for lower and middle basic
education is to ensure that pupils master essential
literacy and numeracy
skills, while for upper basic education it is the acquisition of high levels of
competence in communication,
mathematical skills and problem solving
ability that is fostered through scientific and practical subjects.
Accordingly, the curriculum
emphasizes language, mathematics, science and
practical subjects.
- The
education policy also states that, officially, English will be used as the
language of instruction, but that the language used
for initial literacy
learning in Grades 1-4 should be one that is familiar to the child to promote
meaningful learning.
Current basic education curriculum
- Currently,
the following subjects are taught in lower and middle basic schools:
mathematics, Zambian languages, social studies, environmental
science, home
economics, English, art and design, industrial arts, spiritual and moral
education, music and physical education.
- There
has been criticism that the curriculum is overloaded and that the time allocated
to each subject is not adequate. Also, it
is argued that too much emphasis is
put on factual information and rote learning in order for the learner to pass
examinations.
The language of instruction used even for initial literacy is
foreign to the learner. Overall, the current curriculum does not respond
to the
changing needs of society.
Proposed basic education curriculum
- Curriculum
reform is one of the BESSIP components. The reforms aim at developing a basic
curriculum which is relevant, effective
and in line with other current education
reforms.
- The
Curriculum Development Centre has so far developed a draft basic school
curriculum framework document, which is yet to be piloted.
The curriculum
framework covers lower and middle basic classes (Grades 1 to 7). The proposed
basic education curriculum addresses
issues raised in the National Policy on
Education. The following are some of the features of the basic education
curriculum:
(a) Competency based
curriculum;
(b) Zambian languages will be the medium of
instruction in Grades 1 to 4;
(c) Life skills will be integrated across
the curricula.
Human rights and gender issues
- Zambia
is a State party to all the major international human rights instruments and the
African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights
(see chapter I). At the lower
and middle basic school levels, human rights are taught in social studies, and
in upper basic school,
they are taught in civics. The teaching of human
rights is fragmented in high school.
- Gender
issues are taken into account when developing learning and teaching materials,
and the curriculum addresses gender in terms
of sex segregation, gender roles
and learning environment.
Reproductive health and HIV/AIDS
- HIV/AIDS
is integrated into the reproductive health curriculum with a view to imparting
knowledge; attitudes and skills that may help
promote safer sexual behaviour are
encouraged. The aim is to provide pupils with skills to promote positive social
behaviour and
attitudes, and to cope with negative social
pressures.
- A
number of health education programmes have been introduced into school
curricula, such as population, family life education and
reproductive health,
life skills, guidance and counselling, and anti-AIDS
clubs.
Environmental education
- In
response to the environmental problems facing the country, environmental issues
have been integrated into various subjects to make
pupils aware of the issue as
well as to develop positive attitudes towards sustainable utilization of
resources.
Localization of curriculum
- The
Ministry of Education is tasked with the responsibility for developing a core
curriculum to be followed by all schools. In keeping
with the policy of
decentralization, and in order to make learning more meaningful, schools are at
liberty to teach certain topics
and conduct activities particular to their
locality.
- Localization
of curricula, to a large extent, involves the local community, parents and
pupils, who decide on the kind of activities
which will be added to the core
curriculum and which will be beneficial to the learner.
Upper
basic curriculum
- Efforts
currently made to reform basic education are limited to lower and middle basic
levels of education. This creates a gap in
the provision of relevant education
at upper basic level.
High school curriculum
- In
response to the overloaded curriculum, the National Policy on Education states
that the Ministry of Education will give priority
to improving mathematics and
science in high schools. To this end, it will ensure that, all schools, that
offer general academic
programmes will devote more of their resources and time
to the teaching of these subjects.
- The
curriculum for Grades 10-12 will be diversified in a comprehensive and holistic
way by developing several distinct programmes.
Certain schools will become
specialist schools for technology, practical areas, business and commercial
studies, and the creative
arts. The programmes offered by these schools will be
unambiguously specialized in nature, but in all other regards these schools
will
be on par with those offering general academic programmes.
- The
high school syllabus was reviewed to integrate cross-cutting issues, such as
HIV/AIDS, environmental issues, democracy and human
rights, gender issues, and
population and family life education. The review was limited to content
only.
- The
Action for Improvement of English, Mathematics and Science Programme (AIEMS) is
a Ministry of Education initiative to improve
the teaching of these subjects at
all levels. AIEMS has brought about improvements in these subject areas with
regard to pupils’
performance. Teachers have also improved in terms of
their teaching approaches.
- The
Ministry of Education has not done much in the area of establishing schools with
specialized curriculum. Most schools are still
offering general academic
programmes although each province has a specialized high school offering
technical education.
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
- The
Ministry of Education established the Department of School Guidance Services,
which is charged with the responsibility of planning,
coordinating, monitoring
and evaluating guidance and counselling programmes in primary as well as
secondary schools in the country.
- Through
guidance each pupil is helped to understand, accept and utilize his or her
abilities, interests and attitudinal patterns in
relation to his or her
aspirations.
- The
provision of information is critical to the task of guidance and helps
individuals to exert more control over their lives.
- The
following are some of the constraints to providing vocational information at
school level: many teachers have full-time teaching
commitments and do not have
adequate time and suitable offices for guidance work; there is a lack of basic
training for most personnel
in guidance; and many guidance teachers use
inadequate and outdated information on training and job
opportunities.
- The
Ministry of Education recognizes these problems and has put in place measures to
address them.
Technical education and vocational training
- Currently,
there are 23 training institutions under the Ministry of Science, Technology and
Vocational Training and about 250 private
colleges offering a wide range of
vocational courses. However, not every school leaver can be offered a place in
vocational training
as the capacity is limited in comparison with the large
number of school leavers in Grades 9 and 12.
HIGHER EDUCATION
- There
are various types of higher education institutions in Zambia, designed to meet
the needs of various sectors of the national
economy. These institutions range
from governmentadministered to semi-public and private
institutions.
- The
demand for admission to higher institutions is very high and is far from being
satisfied. More than 20,000 pupils complete secondary
school each year, and of
these, approximately 13,000 obtain a full certificate, making them eligible for
admission into a tertiary
educational programme. Higher institutions have an
annual intake of about 5,000 students, some of whom are of mature age. The
result
is that only about a quarter of the applicants to higher institutions are
admitted each year.
SPECIAL ISSUES IN EDUCATION
- It
is estimated that about 252,771 children of primary-school-going age (7-13 years
old) are not attending school. These growing
numbers of children fall in the
category of vulnerable, disadvantaged and orphaned children.
- The
Ministry of Education has initiated administrative measures to facilitate
enrolment, participation and retention of disadvantaged
children in basic
education, especially girls. In addition to alternative schooling
opportunities, children from poor families have
the option not to wear uniforms;
children whose parents fail to pay user fees cannot be excluded from school; and
a multi-grade system
is used to meet the learning needs of children in remote
rural areas.
Bursary schemes
- The
Ministry of Education is administering two schemes for children from extremely
poor families. In 2000, three hundred bursaries
were offered to children in
basic education in 10 districts (MOE, 2000). The Basic Education
Sub-Sector Bursary Scheme will be extended
to other districts in the coming
years.
- The
Zambia Education Capacity Building (ZECAB) project under the Ministry of
Education offers bursaries to disadvantaged children
in districts not covered by
BESSIP. The table below shows the number of bursaries disbursed in
2000.
Table 9
ZECAB bursaries by province,
household and school, 2000
Province
|
Number of bursaries
|
Children from female-headed households
|
Pupils in government schools
|
Pupils in community schools
|
Western
|
2 121
|
1 703
|
2 121
|
-
|
Southern
|
1 607
|
682
|
809
|
798
|
N\Western
|
1 912
|
1 083
|
1 912
|
-
|
Northern
|
3 039
|
2 109
|
2 293
|
746
|
Lusaka
|
2 283
|
1 636
|
686
|
1 597
|
Luapula
|
2 079
|
1 795
|
2 079
|
-
|
Eastern
|
3 032
|
2 058
|
1 537
|
1 495
|
Copperbelt
|
2 694
|
2 243
|
2 359
|
335
|
Central
|
476
|
390
|
476
|
-
|
Total
|
19 243
|
13 699
|
14 272
|
4 971
|
Source: Zambia Education Capacity Building Project.
Teacher education and support
- The
Ministry of Education is developing comprehensive training programmes for
education managers, college lecturers, teachers, trainee
teachers and head
teachers. The programmes will produce materials on HIV/AIDS and other
health-related issues, and will stress the
role of education personnel in
behaviour formation and behaviour change.
- The
Ministry of Education also supports and works closely with NGOs that promote
HIV/AIDS prevention, such as Teachers Against HIV/AIDS
Network.
- The
Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, will design a
research agenda on HIV/AIDS issues to form part
of its policy and
planning.
- It
is hoped that HIV/AIDS education programmes will be implemented through the
relevant line departments and the BESSIP structures.
The Deputy Chief Inspector
of Schools is the focal point person for HIV/AIDS and is assisted by a full-time
HIV/AIDS officer. HIV/AIDS
focal point persons are expected to be appointed at
the provincial, district and school levels.
The impact of
structural adjustment and the debt burden
- The
structural adjustment programme has drastically reduced public funds for
education. One of the requirements relating to structural
adjustment is that
the country should stay up to date on its debt servicing. Government policy is
such that foreign debt servicing
is given first priority in the allocation of
resources.
- In
December 1998, the debt burden was US$ 6.5 billion, or approximately US$ 650 for
every man, woman and child in a country where
the per capita GNP is only
slightly more than US$ 250. Currently, the Government is spending US$ 200
million annually on debt servicing,
but this will increase to about US$ 600
million owing to re-negotiations of debt in the past decade, which have resulted
in the accumulation
of arrears on bilateral debts (Ministry of Finance,
1999).
Safety, health and nutrition in schools
- The
health and nutrition problems affecting schoolchildren are varied and
significant. As a result of food insecurity and high levels
of poverty in the
country, malnutrition has increased among schoolchildren. The two common forms
of malnutrition occurring in schoolchildren
are protein-energy malnutrition and
micronutrient deficiencies. Malnutrition levels are worsened by an increase in
parasitic infestations
due to unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. These
problems lead to poor enrolments, absenteeism and high repetition levels
and
drop-out rates (MOH, 2000).
- To
improve the health and nutrition of pupils and sanitation in schools the
Ministry of Education is implementing the School Health
and Nutrition Policy
through BESSIP. The programme will be implemented by providing guidelines to
departments within the Ministry
and its collaborating partner, the Ministry of
Health, on appropriate interventions. School health and nutrition focal point
persons
have been appointed at national, provincial and district levels. Also,
safety issues, such as abuse and violence, especially with
regard to girls, have
been recognized as an area for future policies and action. However, raising
awareness on CRC is seen as an
important first step in addressing this
concern.
School discipline
- The
Education Act, chapter 134 permits the administration of corporal punishment as
a method of punishment in schools, and provides regulations on
how it should be
administered. Part V of the Education Act (Primary and Secondary Schools)
regulates the administration of corporal punishment. It provides that corporal
punishment shall
be administered only on reasonable grounds and only where it
appears that other disciplinary measures would be inadequate or inappropriate
given the circumstances of the case.
- The
head teacher or a teacher to whom the authority has been delegated may
administer corporal punishment. A teacher of the same
sex as the pupil
administers the punishment, moderately and reasonably, on the palm of the hands
or across the buttocks with a light
cane or suitable strap. As a safeguard, all
schools are required to keep a register of corporal punishment that records the
date
of the punishment, the name of the pupil punished, the nature of punishment
and the grounds of the punishment. The person who administered
the punishment
and a witness if one was present should sign every entry. An authorized person
inspecting the school may request
the register of corporal
punishment.
- In
the John Banda v. The People case (HPA/6/1998), the appellant pleaded
guilty to and was convicted of malicious damage to property. The appellant was
ordered
to receive 10 strokes of a cane, in accordance with sections 24 (c) and
27 of the Penal Code, which provide for corporal punishment.
He was also
sentenced to a term of one month simple imprisonment suspended for 12
months.
- Justice
E. E. Chulu, deciding that sections 24 (c) and 27 of the Penal Code were
unconstitutional, stated:
“Upon consideration of the law before me, I hasten to point out that
the Republican Constitution, which is the written Constitution of Zambia, is the
supreme law of the land, and consequently, all other laws derive their force
from it, and are therefore subordinated
to it. This being the legal position,
it cannot, therefore, be doubted that unless the Constitution is specifically
amended, any provision of an Act of Parliament that contravenes provisions of
the Constitution are null and void. Article 15 of the Constitution is couched
in very clear and unambiguous language, that no person shall be subjected to
torture, or inhuman or degrading punishment
or other like treatment. On the
contrary, it cannot be doubted that the provisions of Section 24 (c) and 27 of
the Penal Code, which
permit the infliction, or imposition, of corporal
punishment on offenders are in total contravention, and conflict with the above
provision of article 15 of the Constitution.”
- Permitting
the administration of corporal punishment in schools means that adult violence
against children has been common in schools.
There have been reports of cases
of excessive beating, which have sometimes ended in the death of a pupil. In
instances where cases
have been brought to the attention of the education
authorities or to court, the due process of law has taken its course, although
cases of children taking the education authorities to court are very
rare.
- Alternative
forms of punishment administered in the education system
include
manual work.
- Pupils
do not take part in establishing or abolishing rules that affect their school
life. Although the Education Act and Rules provide an elaborate complaints
procedure, it is usually not followed, and pupils have no effective complaints
procedure.
Without effective complaint procedures, pupils become frustrated and
resort to class boycotts and riots.
Circumstances for
exclusion from school
- A
pupil can be excluded from school on any of the following
grounds:
(a) Participating in a riot against the school
authorities;
(b) Drug abuse, such as smoking dagga or
cigarettes;
(c) Drinking beer;
(d) Impregnating a
schoolgirl;
(e) Wilful damage or destruction of school
property;
(f) Failure to pay fees, especially in private and grant-aided
schools;
(g) Fighting at school;
(h) Stealing at
school.
Refugee children
- The
Ministry of Education recognizes the right of refugee children to education by
placing them in schools.
Sports and cultural
activities
- Sports
activities, such as athletics, football and netball, and cultural activities
such as dancing are recognized as part of the
school curriculum. Every school
is required to have sports or playgrounds. School sports competitions at
district, provincial and
national levels are held at regular intervals every
year. Pupils also take part in international school competitions organized
within
the region.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
- Administration
is an area of concern and priority for the State party. It includes routine
administration and the establishment of
databases, as well as financial and
information management systems, at the district, provincial and national levels.
In this regard,
the need to restructure and decentralize the services of the
Ministry of Education was perceived as the key to achieving efficiency
in
performance.
- Hence,
the Education Boards, first established in the Copperbelt Province in 1996, were
to be extended to the Northern, Lusaka, Southern
and Western provinces in 2000
and to the rest of the provinces in 2001. The Ministry of Education
headquarters will be reorganized
to reflect the decentralized system in which it
will have as its major functions the creation of policy and the analysis,
supervision
and monitoring of performance.
BUDGETARY PROVISIONS
- The
current major categories of budgetary allocations are those targeting personal
emoluments of staff, such as salaries, wages and
allowances, recurrent
departmental charges to meet routine expenses, such as paying for supplies and
services, and capital projects,
such as construction of new
buildings.
- There
are regulations and guidelines on how public funds should be utilized for
educational purposes. These guidelines refer to aspects
such as school fees
paid or charged, the use of funds for the maintenance of educational
institutions, the use of locally raised
funds and the use of
grants.
- Overall,
there have been changes in national budget allocation to the education sector,
as outlined in the table below extracted from
the Government Yellow Book. The
figures below reflect the amounts of money used for personal emoluments,
recurrent departmental
charges, grants and capital
projects.
Table 10
Allocation to
the education sector (in thousand kwacha)
Year
|
Emoluments
|
%
|
Recurrent
|
%
|
Grants
|
%
|
Capital
|
%
|
Total
|
%
|
1990
|
972 254
|
39.21
|
741 564
|
29.67
|
587 596
|
23.51
|
190 307
|
7.61
|
2 449 421
|
100
|
1995
|
45 611 474
|
61.21
|
13 613 040
|
18.27
|
13 018 342
|
17.47
|
2 273 85
|
3.05
|
74 516 712
|
100
|
2000
|
136 769 000
|
63.94
|
36 497 300
|
17.06
|
37 632 460
|
17.59
|
3 000 000
|
1.40
|
213 898 760
|
100
|
Source: Ministry of Finance and Economic Development,
2000.
- It
is evident that the education sector has suffered from severe under funding
since the early 1980s. The average annual public spending
per primary school
pupil in 1996 was the equivalent of US$ 29. There have been massive reductions
in real public expenditure, while
enrolments at all levels continue to grow.
During the period 1987-1990, real public spending on the education sector fell
to less
than half of what it had been between 1981 and 1985. In 1994, the real
spending per primary school pupil was less than 60 per cent
of what it had been
in 1985 (MOE, 1996).
- Underfunding
has led to the provision of insufficient resources for essential educational
inputs, such as procurement of learning
materials and furniture and the
maintenance of physical facilities, which contributes to improving the teaching
and learning environment.
- The
share of education in the total public budget declined over the 1980s from a
peak level of around 16 per cent in 1984 to 9 per
cent in 1992, to 11 per cent
in 1993. From 1997 to 1999, the sector accounted for about 9 per cent of the
total public budget.
In 2000, the figure rose to 20 per cent, thereby
achieving the 20/20 concept.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN EDUCATION PROVISION
Major programmes: the BESSIP approach
- From
1998, the Ministry of Education has been coordinating all donor activities
through BESSIP, and is currently implementing the
first phase of the
programme.
- During
Phase One (1999-2002), BESSIP focused on the provision of inputs to schools to
enable more children to enrol and to improve
learning achievements. The
programme also strengthened the Ministry’s capacity to monitor educational
results, manage finances
and develop a quantitative framework for sector
analysis. BESSIP supported decentralization of service delivery to District
Education
Boards and attempted to increase enrolment and improve learning
results for the disadvantaged groups.
- During
Phase Two (2002-2005), BESSIP will concentrate on consolidating Phase One
achievements, continue to provide key inputs, monitor
enrolments and learning
results, as well as ensure availability of sufficient places for all children
ages 7-13 years, particularly
in remote rural areas.
- The
conceptualization and development of BESSIP came to fruition during the
period 19981999. The Programme marked the end of an era
of isolated and
uncoordinated projects and ushered in a new era of a more comprehensive
sector-wide approach. Ongoing projects continue
and new projects are conceived
within the tenets and requirements of BESSIP as a programme.
The cost of the basic education programme
- The
Government will finance about 49 per cent of BESSIP expenditures during the
period 19992001, mainly for teachers’ salaries,
with external financing
agencies providing the remaining 51 per cent. The figure below illustrates the
BESSIP financing arrangement.
Figure 1
BESSIP financing arrangement,
1999-2001
Source: Ministry of Education, 2000.
Donor intervention
- Donor
assistance to the education sector has been a very significant form of
intervention. Assistance has been provided through project
financing and
technical assistance, which has been given in the following
forms:
(a) Assistance that comes from multilateral development
banks, for example the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and IMF)
and
the African Development Bank (ADB);
(b) Bilateral assistance from individual
Member States, such as Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Japan, the
Netherlands, Norway,
Sweden, the United Kingdom and the
United States;
(c) Assistance from United Nations agencies and other
multilateral institutions, for example UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, EU and
OPEC.
The World Bank
- The
World Bank accounts for more than 70 per cent of the total contributions to
BESSIP. Its assistance is provided in various forms,
such as project finance
and technical assistance.
- World
Bank assistance in the education sector is specifically directed towards
consolidation of a number of services responsible for
education delivery,
including curriculum development and the provision of education material and
additional facilities to a number
of secondary and primary schools. The World
Bank provides technical assistance to administration and teaching in project
institutions
and evaluation of various training programmes.
Japanese International Cooperating Agency (JICA)
- JICA
is providing assistance in the form of project financing, the construction of
basic and secondary schools and higher institutions
of learning that is,
colleges, the University of Zambia and the Copperbelt
University.
African Development Bank (ADB)
- ADB
provides project financing as well as technical assistance. The Bank financed
the construction of three secondary schools and
is currently constructing,
rehabilitating and upgrading 24 primary schools in various parts of the country,
two technical secondary
schools and one teacher training
college.
Oil producing and exporting countries
- OPEC
financed a primary upgrading school project (OPSUP), which will construct and
rehabilitate 59 primary schools throughout the
Republic of
Zambia.
Finnish International Development Agency
(FINNIDA)
- FINNIDA
is financing a primary school upgrading project, which aims to construct and
rehabilitate 385 primary schools in various parts
of the
country.
Irish Aid
- Irish
Aid has financed a primary school project, which will construct and
rehabilitate 18 primary schools in the Northern
Province.
Donors involved in the education sector
- In
the area of support to basic education, (including construction of schools and
upgrading teacher training colleges), the main contributors
are ADB, DANIDA,
DFID, EU, FINNIDA, Irish Aid, JICA, the Netherlands, and the World
Bank.
- Among
donors contributing to training interventions are CIDA, DANIDA, DFID, EU,
FINNIDA, ILO, JICA, NORAD, SIDA, UNESCO, UNICEF, and
other cooperating partners.
Other development agencies include those indicated in Table 11
below.
Table 11
Donor
interventions in the education sector
Agency
|
Sector issues
|
Activities and focus
|
DFID
|
Programme management; Teacher development; Reading in Zambian
languages
|
Support for pre-BESSIP fund; AIEMS (Action to Improve English, Mathematics
and Science); Literacy and reading in Zambian languages
|
Irish Aid
|
Programme management; Basic school infrastructure; Teacher
development
|
Support for pre-BESSIP fund; Region-based support for education in Northern
Province
|
DANIDA
|
Teacher development; Curriculum development
|
Support for ZATEC; Support for curriculum review
|
FINNIDA
|
Basic school infrastructure
|
Support for Buildings Unit, Ministry of Education; Maintenance and
rehabilitation
|
JICA
|
Basic school infrastructure
|
School construction
|
Netherlands
|
Programme management; Quality decentralization; Equity
|
Support for BESSIP preparatory fund; Support for quality enhancement,
decentralization and equity in Western Province; Cofinanced
ZERP
|
Norway
|
Education materials; Equity
|
Support for pre-BESSIP fund; Support for provision and distribution of
textbooks; Support for distance education programme and NGO
activities
|
USAID
|
Equity
|
Girls’ education
|
Table 11 (continued)
Agency
|
Sector issues
|
Activities and focus
|
EU
|
Equity; Capacity building; Basic school infrastructure
|
Pilot bursary scheme; Technical assistance and training for Planning Unit,
MOE; Support for Micro Projects Unit
|
UNICEF
|
Equity and girls’ education community schools; HIV/AIDS;
Education materials
|
(PAGE) Programme for the Advancement Action of Girls’ Education
in Eastern Province; HIV/AIDS, life skills, community schools, school heath
and nutrition
|
UNDP
|
Capacity building
|
Support for Central Ministry training.
|
OPEC
|
Basic school infrastructure
|
School construction
|
ADB
|
Basic school infrastructure
|
School construction and rehabilitation
|
It is clear from the table that there is good external support to
education.
AIMS OF EDUCATION
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that the aims of education in Zambia
are consistent with CRC articles relating to education
and
training.
- The
aims of education in Zambia are as follows:
(a) To produce a
learner capable of:
(i) Being animated by a personally held set of civic, moral and spiritual
values;
(ii) Developing an analytical, innovative, creative and constructive
mind;
(iii) Appreciating the relationship between scientific thought and, action and
technology on the one hand, and sustenance of the
quality of life on the
other;
(iv) Freely expressing his or her own ideas and showing tolerance for other
people’s views;
(v) Cherishing and safeguarding individual liberties and human
rights;
(vi) Appreciating Zambia’s ethnic cultures, customs and traditions, and
upholding national pride, sovereignty, peace, freedom
and
independence;
(vii) Participating in the preservation of the ecosystems in one’s
immediate and distant environments;
(viii) Maintaining and observing discipline and hard work as the cornerstones of
personal and national development;
(b) To provide greater
access to education and life skills training.
LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
- Zambia
does not have the classifications of indigenous populations and minority
communities as defined by the United Nations Organization.
Zambia has ethnic
groups that are all indigenous.
DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE
- The
State party wishes to affirm that it recognizes the right of a child to enjoy
the activities articulated in article 31 of CRC.
In this regard, culture is
defined as the way of life of a given society or social group. In the Zambian
context, culture not only
includes arts and crafts, but also beliefs, taboos and
practices that are peculiar to the different ethnic groups (Communication
from
the Department of Culture).
- Every
family and community in Zambia is free to use the language, traditions and
practices of its own choice. Family, community and
village life in Zambia has
its own unique characteristics and it would not be in the interests of the
nation to enter into regulation
of cultural activities except in the area of
regulated art and performances, which fall under the National Arts Council
created by
the National Arts Council Act No. 31 of 1994. The Council has the
following functions:
(a) Responsibility for the development,
promotion and regulation of performing, literary and visual
arts;
(b) Granting licences to arts, promotion agencies and other show
business enterprises;
(c) Funding and facilitating funding for affiliate
associations at community and school levels;
(d) Organizing competitions
at the national level to enhance performance and production standards in the
arts.
- The
Copyright and Performance Act No. 44 of 1994 establishes the Zambia Music
Copyright Society, which protects all works and products
of cultural
significance. It is understood that these pieces of legislation include
children.
- The
State party wishes to emphasize that culture is a very important aspect of
Zambian life and it influences how people conduct their
affairs. The nature of
the society is such that in rural areas, particularly in villages, the village
participates in bringing up
children and certain norms of behaviour are
inherent. Therefore, children’s plays and games intended to promote child
development
are organized both formally and informally with minimum State
participation.
- In
some urban areas and rural communities, the Department of Culture provides
infrastructure and resources for the development of
motor and cultural skills of
children. There are social welfare halls scattered throughout the country
providing venues to support
leisure. Schools provide structures for the
development of personal talents and skills through activities, such as Girl
Scouts,
Boy Scouts, Chongololo Club and cultural folk songs and
dances.
- Children
and their peers organize activities, such as football, netball and traditional
games, or invent games on their own. The
following are the most common games:
Nsolo - instils appreciation of mathematical skills; Sojo - for the calculation
of distances;
Chiyenga/Chiato - enhances eye and hand coordination; Shungulika -
for body exercise and improvement of memory; Chilikito - for balance
and
coordination; Waninda - calculation and alertness; Njata - alertness,
physical exercise and mind training; Elioni - for body
exercise and
singing.
- Due
to modernization and urbanization, children have access to play parks and
information technology - computers, television, radio
and manufactured toys.
The mainstream school system organizes sports and recreational activities for
children from all family backgrounds.
- Urbanization
and participation in the money economy have had some negative consequences for
children’s recreation and leisure
activities. Urban communities are not
as open or relaxed as rural communities and this has put pressure on
families.
- Culturally,
the girl child has always been treated differently from the boy child and has
been deprived of rest and play owing to
the emphasis on household chores and
other practices, such as initiation into womanhood. The initiation of the girl
child into womanhood
is such that it does not allow development of assertive
skills. Boys have access to leisure because they have more free
time.
- It
is a major challenge to figure out how to strike the necessary balance between
modern society with the advantage of information
technology and the need to
preserve one’s culture and being.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- The
State party acknowledges that its education system is in transition and in the
process of being restructured to address the crisis
of limited resources but
pressing social needs. The following are some of the achievements made by the
Government in this regard:
(a) A new national education policy,
consistent with the needs of the current socioeconomic environment was
formulated;
(b) The implementation of BESSIP;
(c) Establishment of
Teachers Resource Centres in all provincial headquarters;
(d) Reform of
the curriculum to empower children with practical skills to facilitate child
survival.
CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that the following have been
identified amongst the constraints and challenges:
(a) The
school-age population growth rate outstrips the availability of primary school
places;
(b) Increasing drop-out and repetition rates undermine the
education system;
(c) High drop-out rates for girls;
(d) Declining
completion rates at primary school level;
(e) The high number of parents
and guardians who are failing to meet the costs of education for their
children;
(f) Unattractive conditions of service for
teachers;
(g) Inadequate supply of teaching and learning materials, such
as books and teaching aids;
(h) The use of double and triple sessions in
some schools to increase enrolment;
(i) The inadequate number of trained
teachers at all levels of the education system;
(j) The low level of
learning achievement in government and community schools;
(k) Long
walking distances to schools;
(l) Customary attitudes that hinder the
participation of girls in education;
(m) The increasing number of
vulnerable children, such as orphans and street children;
(n) The heavy
debt burden;
(o) Low progression rates from primary to secondary
education;
(p) The high incidence of HIV/AIDS, which has resulted in a
high death rate amongst teachers.
(q) The low number of children with
disabilities who have access to education;
(r) The poor nutrition status
of schoolchildren;
(s) Preservation of one’s cultural identity in
the face of the onslaught of urbanization, modernization and
globalization.
WAY FORWARD
- The
State party acknowledges that, in spite of efforts made to achieve reforms in
the education sector, there is a need to prioritize
interventions in order to
safeguard and retain the number of pupils in school. Efforts will be made to
improve access to education
by the most vulnerable groups.
- The
challenge of preserving one’s cultural identity whilst adjusting to
changes locally, nationally and globally are issues
to be addressed. Access to
and mastering technological innovations are critical to Zambia’s survival.
Yet, maintaining our
cultural heritage is equally important. The State party
wishes to acknowledge that efforts will be devoted to achieving a harmonious
balance.
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
CHILDREN IN SITUATIONS OF EMERGENCY
Refugee children
- The
State party wishes to report that, historically, Zambia has been host to large
numbers of refugees owing to protracted liberation
wars and the policy of
apartheid in South Africa.
- The
Refugee Control Act, chapter 120, was enacted to provide for control of refugees
entering and living on Zambian territory. The
focus of the Government at the
time was on security threats posed by the presence of a large number of refugees
entering and living
on Zambian territory. Consequently, the Act does not
address the important issue of conferring rights on refugees.
- Zambia
acceded to the four Geneva Conventions on international humanitarian law,
of 1949, and the Additional Protocols thereto, of
1977. Consequently,
Zambia is a State party to Convention No. 1 for the Amelioration of the
Condition of the Wounded and Sick in
Armed Forces in the Field, Convention No. 2
for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members
of Armed
Forces at Sea, Convention No. 3 relative to the Treatment of Prisoners
of War, and Convention No. 4 relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in
Time of War.
- Zambia
is also a party to the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees and, at the regional level, to the
1969 OAU Convention Governing
Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa.
- Zambia
entered reservations under the 1951 United Nations Convention to the rights
relating to liberty, employment and education and
to the return clause where a
refugee has successfully resettled.
- National
law and the international conventions to which Zambia is a party guide its
refugee policy. Consequently, a liberal asylum
policy is maintained and extends
asylum to all victims of individual persecution and violence occasioned by civil
wars or other conflicts.
- A
camp-based residence policy for refugees is practised. This is important for
the refugees’ own safety, particularly in view
of the type of situation
they are running from. Protection of refugee camps by defence personnel has
usually been necessary. However,
there are exceptions to residing in the
settlements or camps if one is a holder of a valid work or study permit
ordinarily issued
by the Zambian Department of Immigration.
- Refugees,
regardless of age, are required to register their presence with either the
Immigration Department, Office of the Commissioner
for Refugees of the Ministry
of Home Affairs, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) or
the police within seven
days of entering the country. Upon registration, a
report order is issued by the Department of Immigration. Registration in the
event of largescale influxes is conducted by Provincial Joint Operations
Committees, which are primarily constituted for security
purposes, but have been
given the authority to deal with refugees.
- Status
determination is conducted either through the competent minister by way of a
statutory instrument in cases of large-scale influxes,
or through the
Commissioner for Refugees in cases of individual applicants.
- An
advisory body called the National Eligibility Committee, comprising various
government officers from nine ministries and UNHCR
in an observer capacity, has
been established to determine refugee status at the national level. The
National Eligibility Committee
sits once a week to consider and decide
individual applications for refugee status prepared and submitted by two lawyers
trained
in refugee law, who conduct preliminary interviews. The criterion used
by the Committee is based on the definition of the term “refugee”
contained in the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Status of
Refugees.
- Unaccompanied
children go through the same procedure as adults. This approach guarantees
their participation. The Eligibility Committee
can, however, dispense with the
presence of an applicant on account of age. Nonetheless, participation is
guaranteed during the
preliminary interviews. Unaccompanied children are
normally represented by an elderly person, usually a recognized refugee with
similar cultural background, to assist the child to present the claim. This
practice is considered to be in the best interests of
the
child.
- Professional
interpreters are made available during the Eligibility Committee meetings.
Children accompanied by their parents or
legal guardian benefit from derived
refugee status and are entitled to formal recognition on attainment of the age
of 18.
- In
the event of large-scale influxes, random screening is conducted by Provincial
Joint Operations Committees. Officers from the
Office of the Commissioner for
Refugees participate in the screening.
- Refugee
status is granted on a prima facie basis. This benefits children who are part
of an influx. Although there is no legal right
to appeal against a negative
decision, appeals can be submitted to the Commissioner for Refugees or the
Minister of Home Affairs.
There is no record of an unaccompanied child being
rejected.
Assistance
- UNHCR
and its implementing partners provide material assistance in the settlements and
camps. There are two refugee settlements and
two refugee camps in Zambia, which
accommodate mostly refugees with a rural background. Plots of land are
demarcated and given to
refugees who erect shelter and are provided with food
(standard rations) acquired through the World Food Programme for the first
two
harvest seasons. Refugees are encouraged to be selfreliant and are assisted to
grow their own food by providing them with the
necessary implements and
agricultural extension services. The needs of children are not met in
isolation, but in the context of
the family and community.
- The
vulnerability of children who are not accompanied by adults is recognized, and
special efforts are made to monitor and ensure
their well-being by meeting their
basic needs. Unaccompanied children are given their own cards for distribution
of food and other
necessities. Usually, these children are put in foster care
by authorities that monitor their progress. Formal adoptions are not
encouraged
because of the possibility of family reunification.
- With
regard to family reunification, UNHCR and the International Committee of the
Red Cross. through the Zambia Red Cross Society,
have a programme for
tracing missing parents and other family members. In order to obtain
information necessary for reuniting an
unaccompanied child with his or her
family, the Government, through the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees,
grants authorization
to the relevant institutions to conduct investigations in
the settlements. In the event that reunification is possible, the Government
also grants authorization to family members outside the country to enter
Zambia.
- The
Government of Zambia is responsible for providing schools in the resettlement
areas. Refugees are encouraged to construct informal
primary schools when the
nearest school is too far away. This will normally comprise a nursery school
and the first two years of
primary school. Refugee children have the same right
of access to government schools as Zambian children and must similarly pay
user
fees.
- Meheba
Refugee Settlement is the largest in Zambia. The settlement is divided into
zones. It has five basic schools, one secondary
school and 10 community
schools, which are administered by Lutheran World Federation. The current
enrolment is 687 pupils (362 boys
and 325 girls). The average age of
pupils is 6-9 years. The total basic school enrolment in the settlement is
4,886 (4,127 refugees
and 759 Zambians). These schools have 86 teachers in all.
Meheba Secondary School has a total enrolment of 446 pupils (330 boys
and 116
girls) (Communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs, 2001).
- Urban
refugee children are entitled to attend government schools on the same basis as
Zambian children. A problem arose when some
schools charged refugees the same
fees as those for foreign pupils. This problem is being
addressed.
- Most
urban refugees fend for themselves and have been encouraged to be self-reliant.
Those who are able to support themselves economically
pay for their
children’s education. However, UNHCR provides education assistance to
newly arriving children and to those from
vulnerable families whose caregivers
are not in a position to pay school fees.
- UNHCR
is currently sponsoring 300 children in primary schools and 120 in secondary
schools of urban areas. It has also provided educational
assistance to 250
children in secondary schools and to 100 in primary schools of Meheba and
Mayukwayukwa from old caseloads.
- UNHCR
has offered 96 scholarships to refugees for university studies and other
tertiary education in technical colleges, teaching
and institutions offering
nursing and health science courses.
- With
funding from UNHCR, the Ministry of Health built clinics in the resettlement
areas and equipped them with medical personnel and
medicines. UNHCR also gives
these clinics supplementary kits. With the exception of treatment of children
under 5 years, user fees
are payable in the clinics. Among the programmes
undertaken by these clinics is an immunization campaign for under-5 children.
UNHCR has on occasion sent children requiring specialist attention not available
in Zambia for medical attention outside the country.
There is also a clinic
that provides a counselling service for refugees in Lusaka.
- In
addition, UNHCR provides training for government officials in contingency
planning and emergency preparedness and holds a biannual
workshop. It also
tries to send a government officer every year to a protection programme outside
the country. However, there is
no structured programme for disseminating
information and providing training in CRC itself, and there appears to be very
little knowledge
of CRC among the persons encountered.
- The
State party wishes to report that, despite the measures that have been put into
place to take account of asylum-seeking, and refugee
children, a number of
problems still persist, making the efforts of the authorities difficult.
Because of the number of conflicts
in the region, there is a continuous influx
of refugees, which continues to put pressure on the limited resources available
for refugees.
This has resulted in inadequate education and health facilities
in the camps and settlements, as well as in inadequate food supply.
There are
also problems in collecting disaggregated data. Efforts by the international
community to assist in easing Zambia’s
burden of hosting refugees could be
strengthened and made more consistent. There is a need to mobilize more
resources through the
international community and to target the same towards
developing more social amenities within and outside the settlements in response
to the increase in the number of refugee children as a result of conflicts on
the continent. There is also a need to ensure local
capacity-building to
address the issues of refugees.
- The
State party wishes to point out that the need to review existing legislation
dealing with refugees so as to bring it in line with
international practice and
norms has been recognized.
- The
State party wishes to acknowledge the efforts of NGOs, such as Lutheran World
Federation, Young Men’s Christian Association,
Care International, Jesuit
Refugee Services and the Zambia Red Cross Society, at supplementing Government
activities.
CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT, INCLUDING PHYSICAL AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL RECOVERY AND SOCIAL REINTEGRATION
- Zambia
has not experienced any armed conflict, hence the issue of preventing
children’s participation in armed conflict does
not arise. Nonetheless,
certain legal measures are in place to protect children from being recruited
into the army (see chapter
II - Definition of a Child).
- For
one to be recruited into the army, it has to be established that the applicant
is a Zambian citizen and holder of a green national
registration card. This
practice excludes children below the age of 16 from enlisting into the army,
thereby enhancing their protection.
- Enlistment
is entirely voluntary and no one can be forcibly conscripted into the army.
Protection from compulsory recruitment is
further guaranteed by the fact that
there are a large number of retired defence personnel who can be recalled under
their conditions
of service.
- In
relation to refugee children, the requirement that one be a Zambian national for
enlistment eliminates the possibility of a refugee
child being recruited into
the armed forces. Secondly, the mere act of placing refugees in excess of 60
kilometres from the border
minimizes the chances of their recruitment by their
countries of origin. The presence of police officers within settlements for
security purposes minimizes also attempts to recruit refugee children from
within settlements.
- With
regard to refugees, programmes to ensure their appropriate recovery and social
reintegration are administered by UNHCR and its
implementing partners both
within and outside settlements.
ADMINISTRATION OF JUVENILE JUSTICE
- The
juvenile justice system in Zambia takes into account the age of a child in
conflict with the law with regard to treatment (see
chapter II - Definition of
Child).
- In
this respect, the Juveniles Act contains provisions designed to prevent as far
as possible, juveniles from associating with adults
during detention; to dispose
of cases involving children in special juvenile courts; to abolish the use of
terms such as “conviction”
and “sentence” in relation to
juveniles; and to prohibit the imprisonment of children and of young persons if
these can
be dealt with in any other manner.
- The
whole system of juvenile justice is premised on reform and rehabilitation as
evidenced by the provision for approved schools and
reformatories based on
education and trades training to enable juveniles to lead useful lives in their
communities. As much as possible
efforts are made to prevent children from
sliding into greater criminality, for example by preventing them from coming
into contact
with adult offenders.
- Youth
is also one of the extenuating circumstances, which can lead to an order for
probation under the Probation of Offenders Act,
chapter 93, rather than a
sentence, where the offence is one that does not have a mandatory sentence
prescribed by law. Where the
offender is under 19 years, the probation order
must be made with the express willingness of the juvenile concerned because of
the
implications of failing to comply with the requirements of the
order.
Legal guarantees
- It
is an established principle of Zambian law, and one that is constitutionally
guaranteed, that no person shall be held guilty of
a criminal offence on account
of an act or omission that did not, at the time it took place, constitute a
criminal offence. Therefore,
no child can be accused of, or alleged or
recognized as, having infringed the penal law by reason of acts or omissions
that were
not prohibited by national or international law at the time that they
were committed. There is no record in Zambia of such an
occurrence.
- The
Constitution provides legal guarantees to ensure a fair trial to every person
under Zambian law without any designation of age. The Constitution makes
specific reference to “the welfare of persons under the age of 18
years” thus indicating that children are also
viewed as beneficiaries of
the fundamental right to equal protection of the law and due
process.
- A
child has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty and to be
informed, as soon as is reasonably practicable in a language
that the child
understands and in detail, of the nature of the offence he or she is alleged to
have committed. Unless legal aid
is granted, a child has a right to have legal
representation of his or her own choice at his or her own expense. Children
have a
right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and
impartial court established by law and cannot be compelled
to give evidence at
the trial. Children have a right to examine in person, or through their legal
representatives, the witnesses
called by the prosecution and to examine
witnesses testifying on their behalf before the court on the same conditions as
the witnesses
called by the prosecution. Children have a right to the legal
assistance of an interpreter if the child cannot speak or understand
the
language used at the trial.
- Whereas
court proceedings are normally held in public, the Constitution has recognized
the need for the court or other adjudicating authority to exclude from the
proceedings persons other than concerned
parties and their legal representatives
for various reasons, such as in the interests of defence, public safety, public
order, and
public morality and also in the interests of the welfare of persons
under the age of 18 years.
- Protection
of the privacy of proceedings involving juveniles in conflict with the law is
further amplified in the Juveniles Act.
No person may be present at any sitting
of the juvenile court or at any sitting of the High Court hearing charges
against a juvenile
not jointly charged with a person who is not a juvenile,
except members and officers of the court; parties to the case, their legal
advisers, witnesses and other persons directly concerned in that case; bona fide
representatives of newspapers and news agencies;
and such other persons as the
court may specifically authorize to be present.
- There
are provisions governing how the press may report on proceedings concerning
juveniles. No newspaper report or radio broadcast
of proceedings may reveal the
name, address or school, or include any particulars calculated to lead to the
identification, of the
juvenile concerned, whether as the offender, victim or
witness. Pictures are also not to be published of the concerned juveniles.
These provisions may be waived only by the court or the Minister responsible for
Juvenile Welfare if they are satisfied that it
is in the interests of justice to
do so. Any person who contravenes the provisions is liable to a
fine.
- Unfortunately,
these provisions are flouted with impunity by the media. This is an omission in
their professional training, which
appears to make them totally insensitive to
the potential negative effect of the publicity of the children concerned. There
appears
not to have been a case of a journalist being cited for contravention of
these provisions and, even if they were, the applicable
fines are too low to be
a real deterrent. The State party acknowledges that there is a need to educate
the media to respect these
provisions.
- The
presence of parents or legal guardians during judicial or other proceedings is
provided for in the Juveniles Act, but not in the
Constitution. If a parent can
be found and resides within a reasonable distance, the parent will be required
to attend the proceedings unless
the court is satisfied that it would be
unreasonable to require the parent’s attendance. Indeed, a parent who is
required
to attend proceedings and who has been duly notified but fails to
attend without reasonable excuse, may be fined.
- There
is judicial authority indicating the importance that courts attach to the
attendance of parents. In Tembo v. The People case, (1974) (Zambia
Law Reports, at p. 286) the Supreme Court held that: “Section 127 of
the Juvenile Act, chapter 217, stresses the importance which the
legislation
attaches to the attendance wherever possible, during all stages of the
proceedings, of the parent or guardian of the
juvenile and sets out in detail
the procedure to be adopted and circumstances in which this attendance may be
dispensed with. In
all cases the record should disclose that these provisions
having in fact been complied with and, where the parent or guardian is
not
required to be present, the reasons why his attendance has been dispensed with
should be stated.”
- The
Tembo case has been followed in Clever Chalimbana v. The People
case, (1977) (ibid., at p. 292), in which the juvenile changed his plea
from guilty to not guilty without parental guidance. In
this case, the Supreme
Court emphasized that the important consideration is that the provisions should
be complied with so that the
juvenile can be treated fairly. It was also held
that this section is not restricted to proceedings in juvenile courts only, but
must be complied with by all courts before which juveniles appear. It is the
duty of the court to call the parent or guardian to
attend court proceedings in
a case in which a juvenile is charged with an offence.
- In
practice, when children are apprehended for being in conflict with the law, the
police get in touch with officials from the Social
Welfare Department, who then
visit the children and try to get particulars about their parents or next of
kin. Unfortunately and
very often, children are not willing to divulge their
correct address, thus making it difficult for parents to be found and
informed.
- The
right to appeal is not expressly stated in the Constitution, although it is
implicit as part of the due process. However, the right to appeal is expressly
provided for in various pieces of
legislation, including the Juveniles
Act.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Non-discrimination
- Some
discrimination is applied with regard to the application of certain provisions
dealing with children in conflict with the law.
The law contains some
discriminatory exceptions to the application of certain safeguards. Children
who are alleged to have, or
accused of having, committed homicide or other grave
offences do not benefit from the safeguards and guarantees afforded by the
system
of juvenile justice.
- A
juvenile alleged to have, or accused of having, committed homicide or other
grave crimes is not entitled to benefit from the provisions
for bail under
section 59 of the Juveniles Act. Another group that falls in between the cracks
are children who are charged together
with adults. Such cases are held in an
ordinary court that has jurisdiction over the matter.
Best interests
- The
aim of establishing a juvenile justice system is to ensure the best interests of
the child in that special procedures are put
in place in juvenile courts. If
the court is satisfied that an offence has been committed by a juvenile, apart
from allowing the
juvenile to express his or her views on the penalty, before it
decides how to deal with him or her, the court must, if practicable,
obtain
information as to the juvenile’s general conduct, home surroundings,
school record and medical history. This will enable
the court to deal with the
case in the best interests of the juvenile.
- Under
the Juveniles Act and the Probation of Offenders Act, the Director of the
Department of Social Welfare has been designated as
Commissioner for Juvenile
Welfare and Principal Probation Officer. Other officers in the Department are
appointed as juvenile inspectors,
senior probation officers, and probation
officers.
Participation
- Both
the Republican Constitution and the Juveniles Act provide for legal
representation of a juvenile in juvenile proceedings. The Zambian juvenile
justice system
also recognizes the child’s right to directly participate
in the proceedings either by himself and/or with the help of a parent
or legal
guardian. Where a juvenile is not legally represented, the juvenile has the
right to examine witnesses. Where it appears
that a prima facie case is made
out, in addition to any witnesses for the defence being called, the juvenile can
also give evidence
or make a statement. When the court is satisfied that an
offence is proved, the juvenile is given an opportunity to say something
in
mitigation. A juvenile may also be asked questions with respect to the contents
of his or her social welfare report before a
court. As already stated above, a
juvenile must consent to a probation order.
International instruments
- With
regard to the United Nations rules in the area of juvenile justice, namely the
United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the
Administration of Juvenile
Justice (the Beijing Rules); the United Nations Guidelines for the
Protection of Juvenile Delinquency
(the Riyadh Rules); and the United
Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty,
although some of the
guidelines are already contained in Zambian law, these
rules do not appear to be well known by the relevant authorities and have,
hitherto, not formed part of the discourse on the subject matter. This
shortcoming has been noted for future developments in this
field.
CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY
- The
Republican Constitution, the Penal Code and the Juveniles Act spell out the
circumstances under which a child may be deprived of his or her liberty. The
arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child is a measure taken as a last
resort.
- The
Penal Code does not provide a definite time frame within which an arrested child
should be brought before court, but obliges competent
authorities to expedite
proceedings by using terms such as reasonable time or minimum delay. The
Juveniles Act and the Penal Code
ensure that no child may be arrested, detained
or tried by making provision for non-liability of children below the age of 8.
The
Probation of Offenders Act offers alternatives to detention by way of
probation orders.
- The
Immigration and Deportation Act also provides instances when liberty may be
withdrawn, that is in instances where one is suspected
of being, or declared to
be, an illegal immigrant.
- The
Act does not provide for refugees or asylum-seekers. Asylum-seekers upon
registration are referred to the Department of Immigration
where they are issued
with report orders by the Immigration Department. Refugees with either work or
study permits are authorized
to reside outside the settlements. Those without
permits risk being detained for purposes of relocation to the settlement in
accordance
with the residence policy. A refugee leaving the settlement is
issued with a gate pass valid for a certain duration of time depending
on the
nature of the reason for leaving the settlement. The Immigration Act does not
define a minimum age below which a child may
have his or her liberty restricted
nor does it not provide that detention may be used as a measure of last resort.
However, the
alternative to detention is the report order.
- The
Constitution of Zambia and the Juveniles Act protect children from arbitrary
restriction in State-provided institutions and services as well as
in other
institutions. This legislation extends to parents and guardians as well as to
foster parents.
- The
Juveniles Act guarantees a child’s right to a periodic review of his
situation. Children are provided with education and
health services within the
framework of the Juveniles Act. Unfortunately, these services are not usually
readily available owing
to the unfavourable economic situation in the country.
This situation has also resulted in the lack of prompt access to legal and
other
appropriate assistance. An Advisory Committee was constituted under the
Juveniles Act to review conditions in reformatories
or correctional schools and
to hear complaints by the children. The Act further requires that all details
pertaining to a child
in detention be registered.
- The
Juveniles Act requires that children be separated from adult offenders.
However, due to financial constraints this has proved
to be difficult to
achieve.
- The
Juveniles Act guarantees a child’s right to maintain access to members of
his or her family through correspondence. The
Constitution of Zambia and the
Juveniles Act guarantee a child’s right to having access to legal
representation.
- The
following international instruments to which Zambia is a party also set
standards to be followed in cases of deprivation of liberty:
the United Nations
Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing
Rules), the United Nations Guidelines
for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency
(the Riyadh Rules), and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles
Deprived
of Their Liberty.
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that the general malaise of the
economy of the country is seriously hindering the efforts
of the Government as
far as the administration of juvenile justice is concerned. It is agreed that
when dealing with juvenile offenders,
certain safeguards are supposed to be put
in place, for example the provision of adequate physical infrastructure to
ensure that
children are detained separately from adults. The training of
officers dealing with children is inadequate and, as a consequence,
untrained
and ill-equipped officers may handle cases of children. Nevertheless, the
Committee may wish to take note that the State
party is currently undertaking a
study on reforming the administration of juvenile justice in Zambia. It is
anticipated that these
concerns will be addressed and adapted to Zambia’s
changing social circumstances. It is also anticipated that the necessary
law
reform will be undertaken to bring Zambian law into conformity with
international standards.
SENTENCING OF CHILDREN
- The
State party wishes to draw the Committee’s attention to the Clusters on
General Measures of Implementation and General Principles
under which the issue
of the imposition of capital punishment on persons below 18 years of age is
addressed.
- With
regard to life imprisonment, there is a possibility of release in that the
President can exercise the prerogative of mercy at
any time.
ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN, INCLUDING CHILD
LABOUR
- There
are several pieces of legislation protecting children from economic
exploitation, such as the Republican Constitution, the Employment of Young
Persons Act, and the Apprenticeship Act.
- In
addition, Zambia is a party to ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of
Child Labour.
Protective measures
- The
Government has put in place the following protective measures to safeguard
children against economic exploitation and child labour
(see chapter I - General
measures).
Complaint’s procedure
- Where
child exploitation in the form of child labour is identified, the following
mechanisms are available for the channelling of
complaints: the Inspectorate at
the Ministry of Labour and Social Security; the Victim Support Units of Zambia
Police Service Stations;
and NGOs such as YWCA and CYC. In some cases, children
act as watchdogs for one another through child-to-child
approaches.
Monitoring mechanism
- To
ensure effective implementation of programmes to combat economic exploitation
and child labour there exist mechanisms, such as
the Inter-ministerial Committee
on Child Labour, technical planning and monitoring groups and the Inspectorate
in the Ministry of
Labour and Social Security.
- Networks,
such as CHIN, and CYC, run programmes in schools and country
clubs.
- The
State party wishes to acknowledge that it considers the lack of disaggregated
data on child labour as a serious constraint. There
is the added difficulty in
collecting statistics of children employed in the informal sector which are
important for putting in place
measures to guard against economic exploitation
of children and to deal with child labour.
DRUG ABUSE
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that there are two statutes dealing
with the problem of drugs, namely the Dangerous
Drugs Act (chap. 95) of the Laws
of Zambia and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (chap. 96) of
the Laws of Zambia.
- The
Dangerous Drugs Act provides measures for the control of the importation,
exportation, production, possession, sale, distribution
and use of dangerous
drugs. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act provides for the
continuation of the Drug Enforcement
Commission; revises and consolidates the
law relating to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; incorporates into
Zambian law
certain international conventions governing illicit drugs and
psychotropic substances; and controls the importation, exportation,
production,
possession, sale, distribution and use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic
substances.
- Zambia
ratified the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as
amended by the 1972 Protocol Amending the Single
Convention on Narcotic Drugs of
1961; the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances; and the 1988 United
Nations Convention against
Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances.
- Zambia
is also a signatory to the Protocol on Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking in the
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Region.
- The
Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has drawn up a policy focusing on education,
demand, reduction, community awareness and prevention
programme on illicit
drugs.
- Priorities
in the policy are:
(a) The establishment of a database to
analyse, evaluate, share and disseminate information on the problems associated
with drug
abuse;
(b) School programmes on prevention and
education;
(c) Out-of-school youth programmes;
(d) Community
awareness and prevention at the workplace.
- DEC
does not look at drug abuse by children as a criminal act, but as a health
problem. A child who is found using drugs and not
trafficking will not be taken
into the criminal justice system. Such a case is regarded as one for
rehabilitation.
Awareness-raising
- DEC
has a division called National Educational Campaign Division, which disseminates
information to schools, communities and workplaces.
An advisory committee
comprising heads of schools has been established to spearhead an educational
campaign on drug and alcohol
abuse in schools.
- The
formation of the Advisory Committee has also led to the formation of anti-drug
abuse clubs in learning institutions. These clubs
use drama, music, poetry,
debates, and radio programmes to reach out to those in need. Steps have also
been taken to introduce drug-related
topics in school curricula especially in
environmental science and social studies.
- NGOs
and churches, through the Peer Education Approach both in urban and rural areas,
supplement efforts made by DEC.
Rehabilitation of victims of drug abuse
- Rehabilitation
and counselling services are provided to victims of drug abuse. For those
requiring admissions, arrangements are made
at University Teaching Hospital,
Maina Soko Military Hospital and Chainama Hospital in Lusaka.
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that a number of problems have been
encountered, such as inadequate centres or hospitals
to deal with victims of
drug abuse. Budgetary allocations have not been increased to enhance
availability of services and raise
awareness among the general public of drug abuse. Not much research has been
done on the problem and extent of drug abuse in Zambia.
Awareness-raising
campaigns by DEC on drug abuse are not adequate.
- The
law does not create specific offences to protect children from the use of drugs
or psychotropic substances, and there is no legal
distinction between inducing a
child or an adult to take drugs and selling drugs to adults or
children.
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND SEXUAL ABUSE
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that the Constitution of Zambia, the
Penal Code and the Juveniles Act prohibit sexual exploitation and sexual
abuse.
- Zambia
has established joint commissions with various countries to deal with various
issues, including child sexual abuse. The principle
of extraterritoriality with
regard to sexual abuse is enforced by the Joint Permanent Commissions through
SADC arrangements.
- NGOs
such as YWCA have specific programmes for awareness-raising campaigns on child
sexual abuse and provide counselling, life skills
and safety to children who
have been sexually abused.
- The
Victim Support Unit, the Consortium on Reproductive Health, Radio Programmes,
such as “Children are People Too” and
“Aunt Josephine”,
and other programmes tackle issues of child sexual abuse.
- National
and Multidisciplinary approach: CHIN, a network coordinating the work of
organizations dealing with children, has established
a “reference
group” on child abuse. The Permanent Human Rights Commission has a
Committee on Children, which is working
on establishing a help line. Victim
Support Units of the police service throughout the country have been established
to deal with
various issues, including child sexual abuse.
- The
State party wishes to acknowledge that it has faced a number of problems in
dealing with this issue. One of the very big problems
is the reluctance of
families and the general public to acknowledge the existence of the problem.
The very lack of data and of disaggregated
data on child sexual abuse in
particular is also a problem. The dual legal system (statutory/customary)
contributes to child sexual
abuse in that children are married off at an early
age as long as parents give consent. These children are usually victims of
sexual
abuse in their marriages. The high poverty levels and the HIV/AIDS
pandemic have aggravated the problem of child sexual abuse.
- The
State party will need to step up activities in this important area. It
recognizes the need for advocacy and promotion of children’s
rights,
reinforcement of laws protecting children, education on HIV/AIDS for all,
provision of sustainable poverty alleviation programmes,
particularly to
families looking after orphans and vulnerable children, and amendment of
legislation to provide for stiffer penalties
for child sexual
abuse.
Sale, trafficking and abduction
- The
State party wishes to inform the Committee that the prohibition of the sale and
trafficking of children is contained in the Republican
Constitution, which
states that “a young person shall not be the subject of traffic in any
form”. In addition, the Adoption Act,
chapter 54 and the Penal Code,
chapter 87, of the Laws of Zambia prohibit the sale and abduction of children
and the sale and trafficking
of children, respectively.
- The
Police Service, Immigration Department and the International Social Services
Network protect children from sale and trafficking.
The Joint Permanent
Commissions between Zambia and other countries in the region help to prevent the
sale and trafficking of children.
DEC is vested with the authority to pursue
cases of abduction and trafficking of children, thereby enhancing their
protection.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- The
following are some of the achievements in this
regard:
(a) Anti-drug Day is commemorated every
year;
(b) Anti-drug clubs have been formed in schools, colleges and
universities;
(c) A National Steering Committee has been established to
protect children against the worst forms of labour abuse, and the production,
trafficking and use of illicit drugs.
CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
- The
following challenges and constraints impede
progress:
(a) Inadequate centres to assist victims of drug
abuse;
(b) Lack of disaggregated data on the use of
drugs;
(c) Stigma is attached to patients who have received
rehabilitation at the only hospital in the country that provides such service,
Chainama Hospital, because it is associated with patients who have mental
disorders;
(d) Lack of disaggregated data on child abuse, particularly
sexual abuse;
(e) Dual legal system of statutory and customary
laws.
WAY FORWARD
- The
following are some of the initiatives the State party will
consider:
(a) Review legislation on
refugees;
(b) Establish separate detention centres for children at
police stations.
IX. CONCLUSION
- The
State party wishes to conclude by asserting that the process of reviewing the
implementation of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child has brought out the
need to renew Zambia’s commitment to children’s rights by advancing
a new vision for the
new century: a vision in which every child will have a
healthy beginning, access to quality education and the opportunity to develop
to
his or her fullest potential.
- A
number of challenges have been identified such as identifying legislation that
will need to be amended or even repealed to ensure
the protection of the rights
of children. There is also the need to establish or strengthen existing
mechanisms to ensure the protection
of the child. Priority will need to be
given to the problem of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, particularly in terms of dealing
with vulnerable
children, especially orphans.
- The
Government will also need to work at finding a durable solution to the problem
of the debt burden in cooperation with the international
community.
Cancellation of Zambia’s bilateral and multilateral debt is of paramount
importance, and raises a moral issue in
that it is widely acknowledged that the
very act of debt servicing aimed at enhancing resources for development through
donor assistance
which is supposed to bridge domestic resource gaps, drains the
country’s domestic resources that could otherwise have been
channelled
into important development activities one of which is investment in the
protection of children.
- However,
the underlying solution is that people need to be empowered to help themselves
through enhanced investment in their basic
capabilities. There is a need to
achieve stronger economic growth in order to ensure sustainable livelihoods of
people and by so
doing enable them to lift themselves out of
poverty.
- The
Government, with the help of its cooperating partners, will therefore pursue the
following objectives:
Achieving broad-based economic growth
- Under
this strategy, policy measures to be undertaken include: increasing small
holder’s access and right to land and according
priority to women;
increasing access to credit by poor rural households and small-scale industries;
promoting research to develop
women’s laboursaving technologies and
drought-resistant crops; promoting agricultural diversification; broadening
rural infrastructure
investment, especially in roads; improving community-based
storage facilities and water supply; increasing small holders’ access
to
market information and skills; and reinforcing and supporting disaster relief
and coordination.
Providing and rehabilitating public physical
infrastructure
- The
policy measures under this strategy will comprise: promoting construction,
rehabilitation and maintenance of rural roads, bridges
and canals, using
labour-intensive methods; constructing local markets, clean water facilities;
supporting the development of transport
and communication systems as well as
schools, health centres and postal services in urban and rural areas;
constructing irrigation
systems, boreholes, dams and wells; and ensuring
community participation in decision-making and implementation regarding the
development
and maintenance of both physical and social
infrastructure.
Increasing the productivity of the urban microenterprises
and informal sector
- The
aim here is to create an enabling environment for the success of
microenterprises by designing suitable innovative credit schemes;
removing
regulatory constraints; developing formal-informal linkage; increasing access to
market information; and promoting skills
development.
Developing human resources
- Human
resources development entails meeting people’s basic needs in terms of
health, including reproductive health, nutrition,
water and sanitation, family
planning, and education and skills development. The policy measures to achieve
this include: devolving
social service delivery to the district level;
protecting basic social service expenditure from possible budget cuts and
maintaining
them in line with the 20:20 Initiative; strengthening and improving
social safety nets; promoting an essential package of cost-effective
primary
health-care service; promoting skills development and vocational training;
intensifying land resettlement programme for the
retrenched employees; improving
the provision of adequate clean and safe water, as well as sanitary conditions;
intensifying HIV/AIDS
awareness-raising campaign; and improving quality
information campaign based on population policy through formal and non-formal
education.
Coordinating, monitoring, evaluating and implementing
poverty reduction programmes and strategies
- It
is recognized that poverty is a cross-cutting issue that cannot be solved by the
Government alone. Hence the Government has to
coordinate with NGOs, the private
sector and the community. To develop an institutional framework to achieve
this, the following
measures are to be put in place: enhancing the capacity of
the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare; creating a
data bank
on poverty reduction and alleviation and promoting research on poverty;
establishing a regular participatory poverty impact-monitoring
system;
coordinating or developing service delivery systems at the central, provincial,
district and community levels; coordinating
resource mobilization for poverty
reduction programmes and initiatives at the international, regional and
sub-regional levels.
- The
Government is confident that the achievement of the above objectives will
revitalize the economy and ensure investment in the
social sector, particularly
in the areas of health and education, which is absolutely necessary if Zambia is
to succeed in its efforts
to improve the well-being of children and to ensure
the protection of the rights of children as provided in the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
Notes
[*] Available for consultation at the
secretariat.
[1] A census exercise was
conducted in the year 2000 and data is still being analysed. The most recent
disaggregated information on
Zambia’s demographic profile is not yet
available. The population statistics quoted in this report are based on the
Central
Statistical Office’s pre2000 census data, unless otherwise
stated.
[2] Hereafter, referred to
as the “Constitution”.
[3] The definition is taken
from Longmans Dictionary of English Language, Second Edition, 1991.
[4] The statutes cited
refer to the Laws of Zambia, unless otherwise specifically stated.
[5] Social policy can be
formulated through a Cabinet Memorandum, Act of Parliament or sectoral policy
formation developed through the
initiative of a sector ministry. Sectoral
policies must be approved by Cabinet.
[6] The distinction between
a child and young person will be explained in the next chapter.
[7] More adults than
children were aware, representing a ratio of 22.9 per cent to 14 per cent, and
more urban respondents than rural
respondents were aware, representing a ratio
of 24.7 per cent against 14 per cent. More opinion leaders (42 per cent) were
knowledgeable
about the CRC than parents of school-going children (15.4 per
cent) and parents of non-school-going children (11 per cent). More
school-going children (20.7 per cent) were aware of the CRC than nonschool-going
children (7.3 per cent), and more males (25 per
cent) were aware than females
(14.5 per cent).
[8] For instance, girls
generally reach puberty at an earlier age than boys. Consequently, young
pubescent girls are likely to be considered
as adults under customary law whilst
boys of the same age may still be considered as children.
[9] Defilement involves
sexual penetration of a girl under the age of 16 years.
[10] At an informal
level, children often are given other names by family members or assume a name
of their choice upon entering school.
[11] It is noted that
Zambia relies on the above-mentioned Rules where the Rules of the Zambian
Supreme Court have not been developed.
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