Zambia

Background

• Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa and bordered by eight countries, many of which have turbulent histories or are currently unstable. Although politically stable itself, Zambia is one of the world’s most indebted countries, and was rated 165th out of 177 countries on the Human Development Index.
• Today, 75% of Zambia's population lives below the World Bank poverty threshold of $1 a day.
• 85% of Zambians work the country's relatively infertile soil as subsistence farmers and commercial agriculture is mostly confined to a small number of large farms.
• 20% of the adult population lives with AIDS, which affects 25% of urban adults, and malaria remains a major problem. Twenty years after the first case of AIDS was diagnosed, Zambians continue to live in denial, fear and confusion when it comes to acknowledging the epidemic. The disease has orphaned approximately 710,000 children.
• The country's educational system faces a great burden because more than 50% of Zambians are sixteen years old or younger and literacy rates are not improving. Additionally, educational infrastructure is inadequate, teacher training is not sufficient, and there is an under-representation of girls, mainly at the secondary school level.

What We Do

Since independence in 1964, the Zambian Government has realised the need for concerted efforts towards the development of education. Right To Play supports these efforts through sport and play programming. In order to expand our operations in Zambia we will continue to work with our participating partners, Breakthrough Sports Academy, Chawama Kidz Development Sport, Chikumbi Community Center, UNICEF Zambia, Ministry of Sports Youth and Child Development, and Sport for Development Organisations. Zambia’s precarious geographical position means it is particularly susceptible to regional instability, and as such it is imperative to ensure the youth population receives the necessary life skills and education to prosper.

So Far

Right To Play has successfully trained 88 Coaches in sport and play based activities which focus on healthy child development, healthy lifestyle behaviours and HIV prevention messaging. In turn these coaches have reached 4,200 children and youth.