Samuel Mbewe
Government says the country is facing food insecurity and nutrition due to the drought.
Acting Minister of Community Development and Social Services, Brenda Tambatamba says the government has no choice but to address the poverty situation in the country.
Speaking during the Social Protection Joint Annual Review meeting in Lusaka today, Ms. Tambatamba who is also Minister of Labour, says the current load shedding has exercibated the poverty levels in the country.
She says 60 percent of the population are living below the poverty line, while 634 people out of every 1,000 are experiencing poverty.
Ms. Tambatamba says Muchinga province is experiencing the highest poverty levels at 82 percent.
She says government has put in place modalities such as the increase in monthly payments for social Cash transfer so that no one dies from hunger.
And UNICEF Country representative, Dr. Penelope Campbell says the drought that Zambia is experiencing has paused a very big challenge on the population.
Dr. Campbell says the UN System will work closely with the government in addressing poverty through social protection.
She says improving the lives of Citizens through social protection should be more robust
Meanwhile, Social Development Advisor at the British High Commission, Maximilian Bwalya says Zambia remains one of the lowest SDG rankings in the world,ranked at 145th among 166 countries.
Mr. Bwalya says steady progress has been achieved in some areas however, challenges with the space of progress in many areas of SDGs remain quite significant.