"We urge our leaders to tell the truth about the evil policies being imposed on our country. We say this because throughout history, there is no problem that has been solved until it has become tangible for all to see. Let's educate our people about the World Bank and the IMF's colonialisation," urges this editorial from Zambia's The Post newspaper.

In April, Honduras, Rwanda and Zambia all qualified for limited debt cancellation through the current international debt relief scheme (the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative). Whilst welcome, this falls far short of the 100% debt cancellation that Jubilee Debt Campaign is demanding for these and other impoverished countries. And it came only after the countries have implemented harmful 'structural reforms' demanded by creditors. Zambia, for instance, was forced to freeze public expenditure, meaning it could not employ thousands of much needed and qualified teachers.

Saturday 16th April 2005, was a big day for Organisation Development and Community Management Trust (ODCMT) and the people of the eastern province, as it marked the end of the Global Week of Action. The Global Week of Action is a week when global trade campaigns are emphasised. In Zambia, the ODCMT with support from Christian Aid held its major events; a march past, a musical concert and signature mobilisation campaign in the Eastern Province. ODCMT’s campaign team from Lusaka included all members of staff and representatives from its partner organisations which included One World Africa, Civil Society Trade Network of Zambia, Green Living Movement, Zambia Council for Social Development, Social Economic Literacy Development Club (SELIDEC), Twikantane Womens Nutrition Group and a representative from Christian Aid.

An official report has found that the Zambian government was not "giving sufficient priority" to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and has called for universal access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

Hunger is a perennial challenge facing African countries, and Zambia is no exception. But while some nations are prepared to boost supplies by importing food containing genetically modified (GM) organisms, Zambia is sticking to its guns and saying no. Zambia's agriculture minister Mundia Sikatana says the government is staying firm on plans to develop legislation on GM products, and is reaffirming its ban on their entry into the country until it is satisfied they pose no threat to health or the environment.

It was a big bash in Chipata Town in the Eastern province of Zambia as Organisation Development Community Management Trust (ODCMT) launched the Global Action Week against Poverty. Scores of children and adults who attended the event loudly and energetically chanted the slogan "Make trade Fair" whilst spotting white head bands, in solidarity with the Global Action Campaign against Poverty (G-CAP).

The Organisation Development and Community Management Trust (ODCMT) has launched the Global week of Action on Trade Justice in Zambia. The week starts from 10th - 16th April 2005, where as many campaigns as possible across the world active on trade come together in united action. The idea is for all organisations, networks and movements to take action in their own national and regional campaigns. The aim is to challenge unjust local, regional and international trade and put forward alternatives by delivering the biggest global mobilization we have ever seen. The Global Week of Action triggers massive mobilization in Zambia for trade justice and it will gather momentum in the run up to the World Trade Organisation Ministerial summit in Hong Kong.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa faces rising discontent within his ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) as senior party leaders accuse him of failing to rein in corruption, analysts said on Monday. Mwanawasa, who took office in 2001 vowing to get tough on graft, has seen a series of defections by top allies that analysts say could leave him in a much-weakened position ahead of a party congress in May.

Zambia's government has filed a corruption case against former President Frederick Chiluba, in a High Court in the UK. Mr Chiluba - along with a Congolese businessman - is accused of defrauding the Zambian state of almost $35m and sending the money abroad.

Someone with untreated tuberculosis (TB) will infect up to 14 others over a year. TB programmes must lower barriers to care-seeking to reduce this spread. From patients' perspectives, barriers include treatment costs and travel. Proposed reforms to TB programmes in sub-Saharan Africa, including decentralisation, must consider each country's context to prevent negative impacts on care-seeking and under-funded primary health care services.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank team visited Zambia in February and declared that the country had reached the completion of its Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative, which seeks to provide debt relief to poor nations that adhere to IMF conditions. The team declared that they would make a final decision within the next few months as to whether Zambia would qualify for about $3.8 billion of its $6.8 billion debt to be written off.

The IMF and Bank team declared: "IMF and World Bank staff have reviewed progress made in meeting the steps required for reaching the completion point under the HIPC initiative. Information received indicates that all triggers relating to poverty reduction and social sectors have been met.”

Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Poverty rates are up, life expectancy is down, infant mortality has more than doubled since 1990 and malnutrition is common. Debt looms large as one of the reasons why the country has failed to escape the poverty trap. According to figures available from the website of the African Forum for Debt and Development (Afrodad), Zambia spends US$14 per capita on health compared to an average of US$2 500 for high income countries. Spending on debt servicing is 6.4 percent of GNP, more than on health and education combined.

In the essay ‘The Politics of Debt Relief and Poverty Alleviation in Zambia’, Bertha Osei-Hwedie states: “Allocation of the bulk of resources to debt service and government cuts in social expenditure have deprived the majority of the population of access to education, health facilities, clean water and housing, and employment opportunities, making their livelihood hard. Zambia spends 40 percent of new aid money on the repayment of multilateral loans, especially of the IMF and World Bank, instead of on poverty alleviation.” This is despite an HIV/AIDS epidemic, and high infant and maternal mortality.

According to a 2004 World Development Movement report, Zambia turned to the IMF and World Bank for loans in the 1970s after the oil crisis and commodity price collapse. After these external economic shocks in the early 1970s, says the WDM report, Zambia's total external debt rose from US$814 million to US$3,244 million by the end of the decade. The situation then further deteriorated with Zambia's external debt more than doubling to US$6,916 million by the end of the 1980s. “By the late 1990s the debt crisis in countries such as Zambia led to the creation of the much vaunted Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.” By the start of 2003, Zambia had received only 5 per cent of the debt service reduction committed to it under HIPC, says the WDM.

In getting to the latest HIPC completion point where it can be considered for a $3.8 billion debt write-off, Zambia has had a rocky relationship with the IMF and World Bank. In order to qualify for HIPC write-offs she has had to adopt stringent conditions including tight controls on government spending, privatizing public utilities, removing subsidies, deregulating its markets and opening its doors to foreign imports.

Under the HIPC, Zambia has had to adopt a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The PRSP process has been compared by Jubilee Zambia with the earlier Structural Adjustment Programmes and criticized for its market-based growth at the expense of social and economic development of the more vulnerable groups within the country. Like SAPs, states Jubilee Zambia, the PRSP process had an over reliance on the trickle down effect; failed to recognise the cost of growth in terms of the reduction in the social capital and set targets that were heavily influenced by external funders and insufficiently influenced by the results of public participation.

After years of SAPs and PRSPs in 2004, says Make Poverty History, Zambia spent $377 million repaying its debt, an amount twice what it spends on education. If the country does indeed receive a $3.8billion write-off it would still have a debt of $3billion, an amount that would still consume 3-4% of its GDP in servicing, or roughly the same amount as that spent on education. Whether this will be enough to free the country from the chains of debt and whether the price paid was worth it remains to be seen.

SOURCES:
http://www.jctr.org.zm/downloads/prpscrtiq.pdf
http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/aim2.html
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news_…
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45518
http://www.afrodad.org/debt/zambia.htm
http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaigns/cambriefs/debt/zambia/zambia.pdf

As Zambia prepares to repatriate the last of the Angolan refugees on its soil by the end of 2005, the fate of thousands of Congolese refugees, sheltered in camps throughout the country, remains unclear. Zambia hosts an estimated 55,000 Congolese refugees, most of whom fled the country at the height of civil strife in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2000. In Kala refugee camp, some 45 km from the DRC-Zambia border, sentiment about returning home ranges between confidence and uncertainty.

Zambia's top court may throw the country into a constitutional crisis over who should be head of state if it finds the election which voted President Levy Mwanawasa into office was illegitimate, analysts said. The Supreme Court is due on Wednesday to deliver its judgement on a petition brought by opposition parties which claims the 2001 elections were rigged. "There might be a constitutional crisis in the event the court decides to nullify the 2001 election results because there is no provision in the law as to who should be the interim president," said Alfred Chanda, a prominent Lusaka constitutional lawyer.

Zambia is set to reach the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt-relief completion point, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) statement. The country has an external debt of US $6.5 billion, of which $3.8 billion will be written off once the HIPC completion point is achieved. An IMF staff mission to Zambia commented that "IMF and World Bank staff have reviewed progress made in meeting the steps required for reaching the completion point under the HIPC initiative. Information received indicates that all triggers relating to poverty reduction and social sectors have been met".

Zambia is to benefit from Britain's new 'Marshall Plan' for Africa through a new debt-relief and aid package totalling £190 million (US $352.4 million). The UK Department for International Development (DFID) said in a statement that "Benn (Hilary) pledged to cancel all of Zambia's remaining bilateral debt to the UK, once the country reaches completion of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries' (HIPC) initiative by demonstrating progress in tackling poverty".

Hungry refugees in Zambia have resorted to looting crop fields in nearby villages in a desperate bid to gain access to food. "The situation is out of hand, with increasing reports of refugees entering surrounding villages to steal crops and livestock. More worrying is that young girls from the refugee community are being forced into prostitution. The local communities have complained to the government because they are now afraid of growing insecurity in the area," said Zambian home affairs permanent secretary, Peter Mumba.

What is the real motive and agenda of the Tony Blair's Commission for Africa? In what way does the CFA differ from pervious similar initiatives? And what is the likelihood of real change resulting from the work of the CFA? These were some of the questions raised at a Southern Africa civil society consultation held in Zambia in December. Participants drawn from civil society groups from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia itself attended the event.

The Africa Social Forum (ASF), held from 10 to 14 December, 2004 in Lusaka, Zambia, brought together different social movements, civil society organisations, community based organisations, academics, activists and individuals who believe in the future of Africa. Some of the main topics discussed included globalisation, neo-liberalism and resistance to capitalism. As part of this forum, the ASF conducted an African Court of Women's lives and livelihoods. The purpose of the Court was to encourage women from different backgrounds to share their stories and suggest possible solutions to improving developmental, judicial and educational programs in order to mainstream the gender perspective. The African Court provided women with an accessible venue to use testimony, song, dance, lecture, poetry, discussion and analysis to understand the repercussions that globalisation has had on their personal and political lives.

In Zambia, the battle for equality between men and women is being waged on many fronts - not least concerning the sentences handed down by courts. The trial of Chrystal Denn is a case in point. In the course of her turbulent five-year marriage to Trevor, a professional football player, Chrystal suffered extensive spousal abuse. Her husband beat her up, both at home and in full view of others. After a failed suicide attempt, Chrystal finally killed her spouse in the course of an argument, in 1999. A judge sentenced her to life imprisonment for murder.

Zambian civil society and opposition parties are to persist with efforts to pressure the authorities to enact a new constitution before elections in 2006, despite the government's reported willingness to renew talks. "We welcome the government's decision to set aside its 'roadmap' and to hold fresh dialogue. We have a two-pronged approach to the issue - while we will continue to dialogue with the government, our foot soldiers will continue to hold demonstrations and campaigns around the country," said Reverend Japhet Ndhlovu, spokesman of the NGO coalition Oasis Forum.