Category Archives: Zambia

Africa is humanitarian ‘blind spot’: the world’s top 10 forgotten crises – report

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Climate emergency is fuelling drought, food poverty and disaster in the global south but humanitarian crises under-reported

The African continent is a “blind spot” for coverage of the humanitarian crises that are being fuelled by the climate emergency, according to a new analysis [pdf].

Madagascar’s chronic food crisis, where 2.6 million people were affected by drought in 2019, came top of the list of 10 of the most under-reported crises last year, Care International’s annual survey found.

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China steps in as Zambia runs out of loan options

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Southern Africa’s third largest economy is a textbook example of the increasing debt facing a fast-growing continent

Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, was having a power cut, so the only light in the restaurant was from Fumba Chama’s mobile phone. The rapper, better known as PilAto, had just finished uploading a new track to Twitter. The bitter-sweet lyrics (in Bemba) of Yama Chinese describe the concerns of many Zambians: “They put on smart suits and fly to China to sell our country. The roads belong to China. The hotels are for the Chinese. The chicken farms are Chinese. Even the brickworks are Chinese.”

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Worst drought in a century shrinks Victoria Falls to a trickle – video

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Victoria Falls, on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia, has slowed down to a trickle after an unprecedented decline in water levels, officials have said. Data from the Zambezi River authority showed water flow at its lowest since 1995, and well under the long-term average. 

The Zambian president, Edgar Lungu, said it was a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to the environment, yet some scientists are cautious about categorically blaming the climate crisis. Harald Kling, a hydrologist at engineering firm Pöyry and a Zambezi River expert, said climate science dealt in decades, not particular years, 'so it’s sometimes difficult to say: this is because of climate change because droughts have always occurred'

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Victoria Falls dries to a trickle after worst drought in a century

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One of southern Africa’s biggest tourist attractions has seen an unprecedented decline this dry season, fuelling climate change fears

For decades Victoria Falls, where southern Africa’s Zambezi river cascades down 100 metres into a gash in the earth, have drawn millions of holidaymakers to Zimbabwe and Zambia for their stunning views.

But the worst drought in a century has slowed the waterfalls to a trickle, fuelling fears that climate change could kill one of the region’s biggest tourist attractions.

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The ‘qualifications passport’ scheme breaking down barriers for migrants

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Having their skills recognised is one of the main obstacles to employment faced by refugees in developed countries

The armed rebels had first ransacked the hospital where Timothée* worked as a doctor. Then, they went door to door with machetes, hunting down those seen as the wealthiest – the most educated first. When the house next door was burned down with his neighbours still inside, Timothée fled.

Without a chance to grab his passport or phone, Timothée ran through the darkness of the bush of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, knowing he might never see his family or his fiancee again.

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Honey project brings sweet success for families in Zambia

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Beehives built out of scrap wood in the country’s virgin forests have reaped rewards for 10,000 local families

A former hedge fund manager has become one of Africa’s most prolific single-source honey producers through a social enterprise that impacts thousands of families.

The Zambia-based organisation, Mama Buci – meaning “Mother Honey” in Bemba, the local language – was started 10 years ago by former trader Martin Zuch and has since grown to provide more than 10,000 families with income.

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Sampa the Great: ‘I went back to Zambia and people said, you’re different’

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Raised in Zambia, the rapper moved to the US and made her name in Australia. Returning to her roots – and carrying the weight of representation – terrified her

Sampa the Great was terrified before she stepped on stage to play her first ever show in Africa earlier this year. The show was in the Zambian capital of Lusaka – and the artist, MC and poet’s cousins were in the front row.

“I’m based in Australia and all the monumental moments in my career have happened there,” says Sampa (born Sampa Tembo). “But I’m from Zambia. My fear was that they wouldn’t get it – and their opinion matters most.” She sums up her concerns: “A person coming out of Africa and playing globally while still being themselves and pushing for their own culture – to go home and not be understood.”

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Lift ‘unfair’ ban on ivory trade, southern African leaders urge summit

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Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Angola and Namibia call for embargo suspension to allow sale of hugely valuable stockpiles

Southern African leaders have renewed calls for a lifting of the ban on the ivory trade as debate over the “unfair” embargo escalates.

At a wildlife economic summit in Zimbabwe, leaders of the five countries that make up the Kavango-Zambezi conservation area – Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Angola and Namibia – raised the issue ahead of the August conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Zambians can pursue mining pollution claim in English courts

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Villagers say mine run by subsidiary of UK-based firm has caused illness and deaths

Two thousand Zambian villagers who say their lives have been ruined by toxic runoff from the world’s second-largest opencast mine have won the right to pursue a claim through the English courts.

In a landmark judgment, the supreme court ruled that the mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources, which is based in London, and its Zambian subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) can be held to account by English judges, despite the companies’ arguments that they should defend themselves in Zambia.

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Zambia bans energy drink found to contain Viagra

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Power Natural High Energy Drink SX removed from shelves after complaint by regulator

Zambia has banned an energy drink after it was shown to have been adulterated with Viagra, according to local authorities.

The ban followed a complaint from the country’s medicine regulator in December suggesting the Power Natural High Energy Drink SX had been spiked with erectile dysfunction drug Viagra.

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Social workers can do so much more than just pick up the pieces

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At its best, social work can break cycles of crisis, and help people change their lives and communities

  • Guardian Jobs: see the latest vacancies in social care

Too often, social services are designed as rotating doors. They focus on individuals in crisis who, when the symptoms of the emergency have eased, are sent directly back to the stressful situation that caused all the damage – a painful, costly and tragic cycle.

There is little focus in formal social services on helping people to transform their environments to provide ongoing support and love, let alone engaging people to become advocates for their rights. Yet outside these limitations, social workers are supporting connections in communities designed to last people’s whole lifetimes. In many countries we call it “working beyond services”. There are countless examples around the world.

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‘People will end up dying’: Trump’s cuts devastate clinics in Zambia | Rebecca Ratcliffe

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Teen pregnancies are soaring and HIV care has stalled in rural communities hit by ‘global gag’ funding cuts

It is under-fives week at Zambia’s Nyangwena health centre and, outside in the morning sunshine, women are taking turns to weigh their babies. A noisy toddler wriggles as his mum places him into the harness of a set of scales. Measurements are taken and, afterwards, ice lollies handed out to children.

Reaching families in the surrounding rural communities is a major challenge for staff at the centre, and, after outreach services were stripped back, things are getting worse.

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Zambian villagers await outcome of UK mining firm’s pollution case appeal

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Vedanta Resources in fresh appeal to have water contamination claim brought by 1,800 people heard in Zambia

A British mining company has appealed to the supreme court to prevent 1,800 Zambian villagers bringing a pollution case involving its subsidiary from being tried in the UK.

Lawyers for Vedanta Resources told Britain’s highest court that the case – brought by villagers who allege that their land and livelihoods were destroyed by water contamination from Vedanta-owned Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) – should be heard in Zambia instead.

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Man accused of shooting down UN chief: ‘Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to…’

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Exclusive research reveals that a British-trained Belgian mercenary admitted the killing of Dag Hammarskjöld in 1961

Jan van Risseghem was only a teenager when his mother ordered him to flee Nazi-occupied Belgium for her native England with his brother Maurice. After hiding in a convent, and an epic journey across the war-torn continent, they reached safety in Portugal, then took a ship north.

Once in England, the pair signed up with the Belgian resistance, and with the help of an uncle enrolled for flight training with the RAF, a decision that shaped not just their war, but the rest of their lives.

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