2018 was a difficult year – NGOCC
By Staff Reporter
Non-Governmental Gender Organizations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC) says 2018 was a difficult year, not only for an ordinary citizen but also for business entities both and development actors.
According to the Central Statistics Office report titled Zambia in Figures, 2018, poverty in 2018 was recorded at 54.4% in urban areas with rural poverty rising to 80%.
NGOCC chairperson Mary Mulenga said the increase in the fuel prices in the third quarter of 2018 just worsened this situation.
In her end of year message, Mulenga said the depreciation of the Kwacha also particularly from third quarter onwards, with inflation rates around 7 to 8% also contributed to constraining economic activities.
“Statistically it is usually evident that poverty has a feminine face and hence perpetuating the vulnerability and marginalisation of women and girls in national development. Additionally, according to the November 2018 Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflections (JCTR) Basic Needs Basket (BNB), a family of six in urban areas needs about K5, 324.40 to survive in a month. Evidently, very few citizens can afford this amount and worse still those of our women and men who do not have any sources of income. This is amidst unemployment levels which stood at 32.2% in urban areas and 50.8% in rural areas with the national average standing at 41.2%,” she said.
The NGOCC chairperson also said that her organization remained deeply concerned with the high public debt which Zambia had accumulated over the last two years and thereby crowding out expenditure to the social sectors like education and health, which have a substantial bearing on the realisation of women’s economic empowerment.
“According to the Ministry of Finance quarterly reports, the domestic and external debt stock increased from US $8.7 billion as at end of December 2017 to US $13.8 billion as at end of September 2018. In addition, the country has seen the Kwacha depreciating with exchange rate of around K12 to one US Dollar, inflation rate at close to 8%, increased taxes and high interest rates,” said Mulenga.
She added that it was NGOCC’s considered view that urgent measures be put in place to bring the country’s debt portfolio under control for the nation to realise meaningful economic growth.
Mulenga urged government to ensure that they engage widely and seek more local expert input in order to mitigate the risk of sovereign debt default and dealing with the slower economic growth.
She said people-centered interventions were put in place with regular information flows made to all citizens.
On the 2019 national budget, the NGOCC chairperson expressed concern that it was premised on more borrowing of up to K28.8 billion, which defies the push for fiscal consolidation.
“It is NGOCC’s considered view that sustainable and inclusive growth can only be achieved when women and men are accorded equal opportunities to participate in national development. NGOCC notes that there has been a reduction in funding to the key social and other growth sectors such as health, education and agriculture that have potential to accelerate efforts towards gender equity and equality,” she said.
Mulenga warned that under the prevailing situation it was difficult to attain sustainable and inclusive growth.
