Discussion Board Topic view

Topic: Impact of HIV & AIDS On Women & Children In Zambia By CHILUFYA MWABA-PHIRI presented during Launch of 2010 Women Build.
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Voster INTRODUCTION Zambia, has one of the worlds worst HIVand AIDS epidemics National HIV prevalence is 14.3% 1 in every 7 persons has HIV Prevalence varies by province Central, Luapula, Western showed an increase 2 distinct epidemics urban and rural Urban epidemic 20 30% prevalence Rural 5 15% Higher prevalence in men and women with higher education (ZDHS 2007) HIV Prevalence by Province (Prevalence 15.3 % -14.3%) HIV infection in Women Of 14.3% national prev-Women 16.1%, men 12.3% In age group 30-34 yrs Women 26%, men 17% Women 15-19 have 5 times more infections than their male counterparts 25% of HIV uninfected women have HIV infected partners Woman in Lusaka Province is 3X more likely to be HIV+ than one in Northern Of an estimated 82,681new infections in 2009, 59% were in women, 41% in men 21% of new infections occur in people reporting only one sexual partner Women without high risk behaviour are at high risk of HIV Why is prevalence higher in Women? Young women in Zambia typically become sexually active earlier than men, Younger women have sex with older men Transactional sex -including STGs and STDs Gender inequality Exploitative sexual norms Gender based violence Gender discrimination Inability to negotiate safer sex Involvement in multiple concurrent sexual partners -knowingly or unknowingly Harmful traditional practices (sexual cleansing, widow inheritance, dry sex) Taboos and barriers regarding couple communication about sex Religion Women generally less educated Impact of HIV and AIDS on Women: More infections = More AIDS Women carry the burden of the AIDS disease They take care of the sick When sick they take care of each other Many other roles and responsibilities

When pregnant, they suffer emotionally with the possibility of giving birth to an HIV positive baby when they themselves are HIV positive No male involvement in seeking health services -including PMTCT services Older women have found themselves back into the world of work in an effort to take care of orphans and vulnerable children Women experience stigma in the form of more shame and blame HIV infection in Children: MTCT is second highest mode of transmission As of May 2009, 95,000 children below 14yrs had HIV Estimated that 9,196 children would be newly infected in 2009 (10% of all new infections projected in Zambia) PMTCT access is still limited Infant diagnosis (PCR) not universal yet Paediatric ART not universal yet (by end of 2008, only 6,338 children received ART representing only 21% of th e 2009 estimated need). Impact of HIV on Children: Zambia reports close to about 1,200,000 orphans and vulnerable children today (2009 UNAIDS Country Report) Children whose parents, though alive, are too sick to take care of them and instead require their full-time nursing care Children who lose one or both parents, other family members and finally all their related adult points of reference Children who miss their childhood, heading households and bringing up their siblings Children whose relatives take advantage of their vulnerability Quite a number due to HIV and AIDS It takes away their basic rights to shelter, education, good nutrition, medical services and to just being children Some are now found on the street Others live in ramshacklesand trenches The impact on the girl child: Taking on the responsibility of caring for sick parents Taking care of siblings when parents get too sick or die Heading the household Taking on the responsibility of parenting siblings means that the girl -child usually has to stop school Being early mother results in loss of educational, economic and other opportunities can result in Lack of education and skills Early sex, early marriages or introduction into commercial sex work Risk of contracting HIV Early pregnancy Some traditional and cultural practices are barriers to confidence and assertiveness development in girls. Resulting in them not being efficacious enough to protect themselves from risky sexual relationships Vulnerability easily exposes girls to sexual, psychological and physical abuse Girls treated as second class citizens -not regarded as equal to men Men are increasingly targeting younger sexual partners whom they assume to be HIV-negative The "virgin cure" myth persists -claiming that sex with a virgin can cure HIV infection or AIDS). ______________________________________________________________________ What do you feel about the topic and how do poor housing conditions contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS in your own view? Please feel free to express your thoughts and comments. Your opinions will be highly appreciated as they will help us in developing the training materials for the Women Build Project. For more details on the 2010 Women Build Launch, Please Visit our Website: www.habitatzam.org.zm.

Information on Zambia

Quick Facts * Health & Education Statistics * Country History * The Arrival of Refugees * Zambia Today

Quick Facts Top

Capital : Lusaka Popula tion: 11.5 million Langu ages: Over 80, includi ng Englis h, Bemba , and Nyang a

Health & Education Statistics (source: BBC) Top

Infant Mortal ity: 93/1,0 00 deaths HIV/A IDS Rate: 16% Life Expect ancy: m: 40, f: 40 Literac y Rate: m: 86%, f: 74%

Country History Top Zambia has a population of approximately 11 million people from 72 ethnic groups. Following the influx of western missionaries in the 1800s, substantial copper deposits were discovered and attracted British colonial influence in what became Northern Rhodesia. The British instituted their educational system and made the country a Protectorate in 1924. By 1963 the Federation was dissolved, and Zambia claimed its independence in 1964. Although the country was one of Africas richest due to the copper booms of the mid-20th century, the socialist-leaning government faced challenges stimulating economic growth after independence. The drop in copper prices in the 1980s caused poverty to become more entrenched among Zambian citizens. An outstanding achievement of Zambia has been the ability to unite the seventy-two ethnic groups under one nation without violent conflict; Zambia has been one of the main places of refuge for those fleeing civil conflict in surrounding countries.

The Arrival of Refugees Top While civil conflict has struck many African countries, Zambias relatively peaceful society provides a safe alternative for those fearful of war. Since the Angolan Civil War in the 1970s, thousands of refugees have fled their home countries for Zambia, necessitating millions of dollars in aid to the region from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As a result of violent outbreaks, refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Uganda, and Somalia have entered Zambia en masse. Against two articles in the United Nations 1951 Geneva Convention, Zambia does not allow refugees freedom of employment and movement. Because of such regulations, many refugees found living outside camp grounds are imprisoned, have minimal access to proper representation, and have limited education and employment opportunities. Due to the extensive length of stay by refugees, much of the provision of aid and resources originally provided has dried up. Refugees have become further marginalized and left in a stagnant and largely hopeless situation.

Zambia Today Top UNHCR is helping refugees go home as their countries become peaceful. At the same time, UNHCR and the Government of Zambia continue to search for solutions for families who are unwilling to return home for fear of persecution by looking for opportunities of integrating refugees into Zambian society. In addition to caring for refugees, the Zambian Government is dealing with a dilapidated infrastructure, poor agricultural production, and corruption. HIV/AIDS is a serious concern, with nearly one fifth of Zambias population HIV-positive -- 50% of whom are under fifteen. A

shrinking labor force due to early AIDS-related deaths has caused economic growth to suffer. The local community-oriented culture maintains significant influence, which promotes strong family cohesion but can be counterproductive to economic development or saving and financial planning.

SOS Social Centre and Medical Clinic in Lusaka, Zambia

Zambia is second in the world to Uganda with the highest number of children being orphaned due to AIDS. It is estimated that 34 percent of all children under the age of 15 years are orphans. Approximately 80 percent of the population in rural areas lives below the poverty line and more than half of the children are chronically undernourished. The situation in the cities is difficult as even very young poor children often have no homes or family and forced to live on the streets. In the capital, Lusaka, in 1991 35,000 children lived on the streets and today it is thought that this number has easily doubled. Many of the children living on the streets are sexually abused and more than half of them are orphaned. The SOS Children social and medical centre in Lusaka focuses on providing outreach services for the street children. The social centre is community based and is currently giving support to 103 poor families 702 children from four poor compounds. This may seem too little faced with so big a problem: help our charity to do more! The families are child and grandparent led families. The goal of the project is to help and strengthen the families to stay together and avoid child abandonment and street children. Children on the streets are helped with:

Food supplementation Health care School sponsorship

So far the programme has helped 298 children return to primary school and 17 children into secondary school. The majority of older children ask for skills trainng and 50 street children now attend the SOS Vocational training centre in Lusaka. The medical clinic provides all the families and hundreds of additional children from the four poorest communities with medical care and services. The main diseases treated are respiratory tract infections, malaria and diarrhoeal diseases. 20-30% of the children treated to date have malaria. The centre also offers voluntary AIDS testing. Currently the medical centre benefits 150 people per day and around 2000 every month. The social centre also runs a drop in centre for street children (often as young as six years old). The centre will offer food, information about HIV/AIDS, hygiene, health services, educational training. Additionally the drop in centre will help children who have lost their families to be reunited with extended relatives. The drop in centre currently benefits around 800 street children per year. Note about sponsorship: we do not offer children on our outreach programmes for to child sponsors: we only offer children who live in our villages. However, you are welcome to Sponsor a Child in Africa in one of our villages by following the link.

Zambia
Zambia is one of the many African countries that have been devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is especially true of the 20 to 45 age group - a segment of society that is typically the most economically productive and most involved in raising children. For this reason, HIV/AIDS has greatly damaged Zambias economic productivity and the lives of a huge number of families. It has been reported that:

Within ten years, the large number of adults that are dead or dying from AIDS will leave hundreds of thousands of Zambian children without parents to care for them currently, there are more than 600,000 AIDS orphans in Zambia. More than 17% of Zambias children will die before the age of five. Only 57% will go to primary school Featured Staff Featured Program meaning the majority of the population will James and Ivy Kongwa Kids Alive Jerusalem be illiterate.

One out of every five children in Zambia is moderately to severely malnourished.

Center Sponsorship

As the AIDS crisis dramatically changes countries like Zambia, care for the children that are left behind is desperately needed. With your support, Kids Alive is confident that many of the children in our programs will excel in life and go on to be productive citizens of Zambia, as well as excellent ambassadors for Christ. Currently, Kids Alive provides an education, nutritious meals, medical care and the love of Christ to more than 450 children in Zambia. This year, we hope to add an additional 50 children to our Homes, Schools, and Care Centers. Caring for 50 new children is a big challenge! But weve prayerfully decided to step out in faith and take up that challenge.

Ministry Sites
Chikondi Children's Homes Lilato Children's Homes Kids Alive Emmanuel School Kids Alive Jerusalem Center Missisi Keeping Families Together

Missionaries
James and Ivy Kongwa Jonathan Coleman

Orphaned and vulnerable children in Zambia: the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on basic education for children at risk
Authors: Sue Robsona; Kanyanta Bonaventure Sylvestera

Abstract Background There is an emerging corpus of work on the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on education in sub-Saharan Africa. This mainly employs demographic models to make projections of student enrolments and teacher requirements. However, there is a paucity of research in basic schools to examine the experiences of AIDS-affected teachers and students. Purpose This study explored staff and student perceptions of the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the education of affected children in high-prevalence districts of the Copperbelt province of Zambia. The impact of the epidemic on student enrolment, attendance and completion rates, and on the quality of the learning experience, was investigated. Programme description and sample The Ministry of Education assisted with the selection of districts in the Copperbelt Province with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS (34% to 39%). Four government schools with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates and two community schools in impoverished communities were selected. Design and methods Statistical data from each school were made available. Six focus groups were held with District Education Board Personnel, NUT officials and the Copperbelt Special Education Standards Officer. Six interviews were held with school management teams. A total of 72 teachers and 64 students responded to questionnaires; 36 students also took part in four focus groups, each involving gender balanced groups of six to eight students from grades 4-8. Results The study provides information on the impact of the epidemic on basic education that has not previously been documented in Zambia and may assist the strategic planning and management of basic schools. A positive outcome of this study was that students, teachers and other professionals freely discussed issues concerning HIV/AIDS and its impact on education in a context where such issues are usually met with silence or denial. Conclusions The challenge for the Zambian Ministry of Education and the international community is not only to provide the right to basic education, but also to strengthen schools as inclusive and supportive communities. For students, this might focus on provision of alternative and more flexible opportunities for participation and learning, access to health and life skills education and appropriate counselling and support. For teachers, professional development opportunities to support the management of large classes and curriculum developmente.g. in the areas of life skills and vocational skillsare implicated. Keywords: HIV/AIDS; Orphans; Vulnerable children; Education

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a781411412~frm=titlelink

Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children

In the first ten years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2009

Republic of Zambia
Zambia's economy has experienced strong growth in recent years, with real GDP growth in 2005-08 about 6% per year. Zambia experienced a bumper harvest in 2007, which helped to boost GDP and agricultural exports and contain inflation. Although poverty continues to be significant problem in Zambia, its economy has strengthened, featuring single-digit inflation, a relatively stable currency, decreasing interest rates, and increasing levels of trade. [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Zambia. Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

*** FEATURED ARTICLE ***

Lufwanyama Villagers Riot Over Street Kids
This article has been archived by World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here]

Irate villagers in Lufwanyama district damaged three Government vehicles and injured two policemen when they ran amok over Katembula Training centre street children who are allegedly terrorising people. The villagers in Chief Shimukunamis area got incensed when their traditional rul er tried to calm them down during a meeting with Government officials, who included Copperbelt Permanent Secretary, Jennifer Musonda. The street children had fled the training centre, following hostility from the villagers.The villagers had risen against the youths and were demanding that they be taken away because they were allegedly harassing women and other people.

*** ARCHIVES ***

UNICEF - The Big Picture U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Because HIV/AIDS claims the lives of many adults in the country, a growing number of orphans have been forced to migrate to urban areas, increasing the population of street children. In order to survive, many orphans engage in various forms of work. Street children are especially vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation, and the problem of child prostitution is widespread in Zambia. [4288] In the city of Lusaka alone, there are an estimated 30,000 children living on the streets. Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 CHILDREN - There were approximately 1 million children under the age of 15 in the country who were orphaned, approximately 750 thousand of these as a result of HIV/AIDS. These children faced greater

risks of child abuse, sexual abuse, and child labor. Approximately 75 percent of all households were caring for at least one orphan, and children headed approximately 7 percent of households due to the death of both parents. The government instituted programs to increase public awareness of HIV/AIDS. There are laws that criminalize child prostitution; however, the law was not enforced effectively, and child prostitution was widespread. The presence of an estimated 30 thousand street children in Lusaka contributed to the proliferation of street begging and prostitution. The laws against pornography and the sexual exploitation of children under the age of 21 were sporadically enforced. During the year the government continued implementation of a strategy to provide shelter and protection to street children, including prostitutes. The Ministry of Labor reported that the majority of the five thousand children removed from child labor during the year were street children. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2003 [36] The Committee notes the information that children deprived of a family environment (orphans and other vulnerable children) should be cared for by the extended family and that foster care is supported by special fees paid to foster parents, but the Committee is concerned that these forms of alternative care are not sufficiently encouraged and supported. [68] The Committee expresses grave concern at the high and increasing number of street children. In particular, the Committee notes their limited access to health, education and other basic social services as well as their vulnerability to police brutality, sexual abuse and exploitation. Street kids a major problem in Southern Province
www.lusakatimes.com/?p=8691

Mr Hakayobe said some of the households in rural and peri-urban areas were living in absolute poverty and did not have access to the basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. The Permanent Secretary said as a result of increased poverty in many households, children and youths had been forced to live and work on the street. Mr Hakayobe said this had exposed youths to bad vices such as child prostitution, early pregnancies and marriages resulting in most of them contracting HIV/AIDS. ZAMBIA: Government fails to break the street kid addiction Moses Phiri, 15, is one of thousands of Zambia's street kids who were sent to one of the training centres, but since completing his rehabilitation has returned to his old haunts and ways, begging on the streets for money. "I [have] lived like this since 2001 when [my] parents died. I sleep in ditches. If I see people carrying plastic bags, I ask to help. They give anything, maybe 1,000 kwacha [US$ 0.30], maybe more. I was forced to leave [the] streets, but that programme is not good, its not helping us," Phiri told IRIN. Street life exposes children to violence, exploitative and hazardous labour conditions, such as sex-work and child trafficking, and a plan to counter these influences was drawn up by government in 2006. For nearly two years the Street Kids Rehabilitation programme has been targeting male children on the streets and recruiting them to one of three training centres situated in Copper Belt and Eastern provinces and one centre on the outskirts of Lusaka. The pilot project is only targeting boys from Lusaka at this stage and not from any other urban areas in Zambia as yet. Since the programme's inception in late 2006, government estimates that more than 1,200 children have successfully completed the skills training and rehabilitation programme, although only a handful of them have managed to earn a living from the skills they have acquired. "If they [government] want me to leave [the streets], let them also give me job. They take me to camp, they teach me English, they teach me to make beds, to make chairs; but they dont give me a job after. They g ive me tools. I sold them for a cheap price. So, I have come back to start begging again, nothing has changed. I have no supporter [sponsor], I beg to live," Phiri said. Zambia's 'Street' Children Most of the children face a bleak future, without parents to care for them and with little, if any, assistance offered by the government. The children are often traumatized by the death of parents, stigmatized through association with HIV and often thrown into desperate poverty by the loss of breadwinners. They live under enormous pressure and suffer depression and other psychological problems. Young girls, in particular, are the first to be denied educational opportunities in favor of boys and are forced into early

marriages with older men, which put them at higher risk of HIV infection. Children, both girls and boys, turn to the streets in search of a better life but the reality that confronts them can only be described as grim. Street life creates extreme vulnerability to violence, exploitative and hazardous labor, sex-work and trafficking. Zambia: K3.9 Billion for Street Kids Programme Paid Out
allafrica.com/stories/200708080500.html This article has been archived by World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here]

"The ministry has so far removed 52 children in various streets of Lusaka and mostly at the Manda Hill fly-over bridge out of which 38 boys have been placed at Fountain of Hope Foundation children's home. "These children are currently undergoing rehabilitation and will soon be reintegrated into their families," Ms Namugala said. Families for most of the Lusaka children have been traced and were being prepared to receive them. The other 398 children were removed from the streets of Kitwe, Ndola, Kabwe, Solwezi, Kafue, and Kapiri-Mposhi. Ms Namugala said 138 of the children had been placed in children's centres for screening while 260 of them were reintegrated into their families after they were screened. Government has empowered families of the children with start-up capital for income generating ventures. Shelter that gives hope to Africas street children Never say that they have nowhere to go. They still dream about becoming future leaders who'll be respected some time in their lives. It becomes so painful for them when they see their friends being taken to school and this makes them feel bad and neglected. Probably they'll start thinking of going back home. Unfortunately, they find it hard to leave the street because they're wed to street life. Lubuto Libraries Provide Haven for AIDS Orphans, Street Children Meyers, an American librarian who spent many years in Africa, notes that for reasons ranging from lack of money to prejudice, children orphaned by AIDS, as well as other street kids, often are unable to attend school. The Lubuto Library will provide them ?an opportunity to learn,? to improve their literacy and even to study for secondary school entrance exams. Lufwanyama Villagers Riot Over Street Kids
This article has been archived by World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here]

Irate villagers in Lufwanyama district damaged three Government vehicles and injured two policemen when they ran amok over Katembula Training centre street children who are allegedly terrorising people. The villagers in Chief Shimukunamis area got incensed when their traditional ruler tried to calm them down during a meeting with Government officials, who included Copperbelt Permanent Secretary, Jennifer Musonda. The street children had fled the training centre, following hostility from the villagers.The villagers had risen against the youths and were demanding that they be taken away because they were allegedly harassing women and other people. State Aims to Remove 6,000 Children From the Streets
This article has been archived by World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here]

Billboards to educate the public on the negative effects of encouraging street children through almsgiving would be erected in many places, the minister said. She also said the Government would enforce laws regarding child labour and would continue rounding up the children to engage them in productive ventures while others would be taken to reformatory schools. "Above all, as a Government, we shall address the root causes that have made children go to the streets mainly through empowering programmes after identifying families where these children are coming from. ZAMBIA: Getting street kids to stay on the straight and narrow Dressed in baggy trousers, caps and colourful T-shirts, the toughened teens of the "Back to School Project" were scared. The boys, all between the ages of 14 and 18, live on the streets of Zambia's

capital, Lusaka, where they play, fight, gamble and do what they can to earn a little money for food and drink, sometimes raking in enough to help support their families. Each of the boys was to be tested for HIV that day. Efforts to Rehabilitate Street Children Welcome
This article has been archived by World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here]

Some have suggested that one of the ways to solve the problem is to punish negligent parents. Another way to tackle the problem would be to improve social amenities in the country where most children could spend their pass time. It is more practical to invest in structures which syphon children from the streets than simply donating clothing and foodstuffs for them." Africa adds to miserable ranks of child workers The boulders here are hard enough that the scavengers who have taken over the abandoned quarry south of downtown prefer not to strike them directly with their hammers. They heat the rocks first - with flaming tires, scrap plastic, even old rubber boots - so that the stones will fracture more easily. At dusk, when three or four blazes spew choking black clouds across the huge pit, the quarry looks like a woodcut out of Dante. A boy named Alone Banda works in this purgatory six days a week. Nine years old, nearly lost in a hooded sweatshirt with a skateboarder on the chest, he takes footballsize chunks of fractured rock and beats them into powder. Lacking a hammer, he uses a thick steel bolt gripped in his right hand. In a good week, he says, he can make enough powder to fill half a bag. His grandmother, Mary Mulelema, sells each bag, to be used to make concrete, for 10,000 kwacha, less than $3. Often, she said, it is the difference between eating and going hungry. Zambian gov't plans to recruit 1,000 children living on streets The Zambian government is planning to recruit about 1,000 children living on streets countrywide next month in an effort to address the social problem caused by poverty and widespread HIV/AIDS, The Post quoted an official as reporting on Monday. "There is so much interest now as more children want to be removed from the streets and integrated into these programs," Bobby Samakai, permanent secretary of the Sport, Youth and Child Development Ministry, was quoted as saying. There are altogether 15 camps allocated in the country's nine provinces providing basic skill training to the recruited street children, said Samakai, adding that the criterion was to take the most vulnerable who had no parents and nowhere to go first. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reviews initial report of Zambia - 2005 RESPONSE BY DELEGATION - Concerning the State party's measures to deal with the crisis of widows, orphans, child-headed households and street children, the delegation drew attention to the Micro Bankers Trust which was created in collaboration with the Government and other partners to provide small loans to poor but viable groups of people in order to support their various businesses or income generating activities. The Public Welfare Assistance Scheme assisted the most vulnerable groups of persons in society in order to meet their basic needs, particularly in health, education, food and shelter. The Government's support to street children was provided through District Street Children Committees that implemented street children's activities. Zambian street children a time bomb
This article has been archived by World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here]

The problem of street children requires economic solutions, Restoration Ministries Reverend Cyril Phiri has observed. Reverend Phiri who runs a number of christian orphanages in Lusaka, said although the problem of street children seemed partially solved with governments introduction of Zambia National Service (ZNS) camps, it still remains a time bomb. Reformed Street Kid Embraces New Life
This article has been archived by World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here]

A young man in Kitwe has a new lease on life after spending eleven years in the streets, and he reveals the vices that plague street children, including rampant homosexuality, STIs and drugs. Dulu Chipampa, 22, who is now a reformed adult and employed by Beautiful Gates, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) assisting to rehabilitate street children in Kitwe, says it is difficult for him to believe that he has come this far. Chitoba Expresses Concern Over Drug Abuse Among Street Children
This article has been archived by World Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here]

"The vulnerable children are one group which is prone to drug abuse under the influence of substances such as Genkem, Bolstick and these substances have serious effects to their mental development. The commission is working with government departments and NGOs to address the plight of vulnerable children on the street who are abusing substances that are not listed on the schedule such as genkem, bbolstick and alcohol," he said. Chitoba said the commission has plans to put up a rehabilitation center for street children to undergo treatment without being pressurized into relapse by older street kids. He said drug abuse and trafficking has continued to negatively impact on the lives of children on and off the street. Aids will orphan 20% of children by 2015
www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=273683&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/ At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

By 2015 about 20% of Zambia's children will be orphaned by HIV/Aids, the Department of Foreign Affairs warned on Monday. Current official estimates indicate that over 1,1-million Zambian children are orphans, mostly as a result of Aids. About 90 000 have the disease and thousands of others are directly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation due to high poverty levels, a ministry statement said. Over 71% of Zambia's six million children live in extreme poverty and deprivation, despite accounting for over half of the country's 10,2-million people. Reports further indicate that levels of sexually transmitted infections among the hundreds of street children are also high. SOS Children: Zambian Street Children Over 30% of all children under the age of 15 are orphans 80% of the people in rural areas live below the poverty line Half a million young children are living on the streets, with no one to look after them Zambia-s 1.5 million street children One and a half million children in Zambia live on the streets. AIDS orphans, or the victims of rural poverty, most live in the capital Lusaka, where they scratch a miserable living to the best of their ability, living the law of the jungle. The smaller or younger boys are often beaten, robbed of money and food and sexually abused by the older or larger ones. It is the law of the jungle. AIDS Orphans Join The Rank Of Street Children They swarm the central business district of Lusaka like invading locust, hungry, aggressive and destructive. They move around in menacing little bands, darting away for cover when the police appear, only to re-emerge with renewed determination when the coast is clear. They are Zambia's AIDS orphans - so it has been assumed for years. According to official statistics, Zambia has the highest proportion of children orphaned by AIDS in the world. Street Children High On Sewage At the Lusaka sewage ponds, two teenage boys plunge their hands into the dark brown sludge, gathering up fistfuls and stuffing it into small plastic bottles. They tap the bottles on the ground, taking care to leave enough room for methane to form at the top. I see my mother who is dead and I forget about the problems in my life. Sex work rife among street children
medilinkz.org/news/news2.asp?NewsID=3926

Commercial sex work has become increasingly common among children aged 14 to 16. When

educated about the danger of HIV/AIDS, they say that AIDS is something in the future and that their hunger is a more real and pressing need. Bleak outlook for Zambia's street kids
mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa&articleid=194332 Some content from this article was found [here] and may possibly still be accessible

UNICEF estimates more than 75,000 children living on the streets of Lusaka, Livingstone, Ndola and Kitwe, the main cities and towns in Zambia, with the number likely to increase as AIDS claims the lives of parents. Living under conditions of virtual starvation and unable to attend school because of the cost of education, an increasing number of children have little option but to fend for themselves on the streets. As Adults Lose Jobs, Children Bring in Wages Of the male population aged seven and above, 57% are engaged in an economic activity. The ballooning problem of child labor is attributed to rising job losses among parents as companies buckle in Zambia's harsh economic climate and a cost-saving government cuts back on its public sector wage bill. The consequence is that parents are increasingly unable to afford the school fees to educate their children. The next step is to put them on the streets to supplement family incomes. HIV/AIDS And Child Labor In Zambia
www.eldis.org/static/DOC13286.htm At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

Job types: vending on the street and in markets, quarrying and stone breaking, fetching water, porterng (kuzezera), household chores or domestic work, digging wells and garbage pits, carpentry, cooking nshima in the markets, cutting grass, picking bottles, and prostitution earnings: the financial contributions of the child were often the only income their families had. Street Children From Other Towns Flood Livingstone
allafrica.com/stories/200504100144.html

Livingstone has experienced an influx of economic street children from other towns. Most of them were being sent by parents to beg on the streets to support their families. The Protection Project - Zambia [DOC]
FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE - HIV/AIDS, coupled with

poverty, has contributed to the proliferation of street children and child labor in Zambia. About 80 percent of Zambias population lives in degrading conditions. Poverty pervades both rural and urban areas, pushing most women, adolescents, and children into the informal sector of the economy, where they sell a variety of goods, their labor, or their bodies. Prostitution is rife in major towns and smaller urban areas. Nearly 1 million children are reportedly orphaned in the country, and 75,000 live on the streets. Nearly half of Zambian children, regardless of orphan status, are not enrolled in primary s. - htsccp Information about Street Children - Zambia [DOC]
www.streetchildren.org.uk/reports/Zambia%20Child.doc

Background: 47% of the population under 18; life expectancy at birth is 37 years; estimated 75,000 street children in 1996; HIV prevalence rate of 20% for adults between the ages of 15 and 49; estimated number of orphans between 600,000 and 1.2 million. Street children are very mobile between cities; Zambia does not have entire families living on the street.
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Human Trafficking in [Zambia] [other countries] Street Children in [Zambia] [other countries] Child Prostitution in [Zambia] [other countries]

CCAP ZAMBIA MINSITRY TO STREET CHILDREN AND AIDS VICTIMS ZAMBIA

In Lusaka alone, Zambias capital, the United Nations estimates that more than one in every four adults is infected with HIV. Zambia has one of the highest percentages of orphaned children in Africa and the world. Nearly 25 percent of all children under 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS. The younger the child is when their parents die, the more devastating the loss. The Central Church of Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) in Zambia, a PC(USA) partner, feels compelled to mobilize and strengthen congregations in the body of Christ to meet the critical needs of the many orphans and other vulnerable children in their communities. The church is faced with a challenge since many families, including those of their members, are stretched to their limit due to economic hardships. These households are not however spared by HIV/AIDS pandemic. A number of children are lost or abandoned resulting in a situation of being homeless or traumatized. CCAP Zambia requests PC(USA) brothers and sisters in Christ to come alongside and help them motivate, minister and give hope to the children who are victims of AIDS and social injustice.

Minimum goal: $5,000 - Minister and care for AIDS victims including orphans and street children For more information about this ministry and how you can help, please contact The Outreach Foundation.