By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Minister of National Development Planning Alexander Chiteme says Zambian Government provides social and economic, opportunities to it people to enable them make informed decisions.
The Minister said Zambia’s review on its implementation of the ICPD and the Addis Ababa Declaration on Population Development showed that the country had made progress.
Mr Chiteme said some social, economic and other barriers prevent millions of people, especially women and girls from making informed decisions over their lives.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the Nairobi Summit International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD@25) in Kenya for Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministers.
Mr Chitema said that financial resource constrained the implementation of some of the programmes to achieve the agreed goals.
He said Zambia remain committed to the full implementation of the principles and goals of the ICPD Programme of Action as well as AADPD beyond 2014.
He said Zambia had created an enabling institutional and policy environment through the population, youth, disability, gender, health and education policies among others that have been put in place.
Mr Chiteme was speaking through the Permanent Secretary Development Cooperation, Monitoring and Evaluation (DC, M&E) Mr Danies Chisenda.
Mr Chiteme is leading the Zambian delegation to the Nairobi Summit, which is marking 25 years since I79 countries including Zambia adopted the landmark 1994 ICPD Programme of Action in Cairo, Egypt. The Cairo Summit recognized the relationships between population, development and individual well-being, stressing the need for universal access to sexual reproductive health as a key target of the sustainable development goals. The 2019 Nairobi Summit will map out a new 10-year vision, with fresh commitments on sustainable development.
This is contained in a statement issued by Ministry of planning Development spokesperson Chibaula Silwamba
