This Initial Report outlines the legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures that Zambia has put in place in order to adapt its national laws and policies with the provisions of the Charter. It also illustrates the various challenges that the State party experiences in implementing the Charter.
Conclusion:
"Zambia’s Initial Report on the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights has been drafted in accordance with the guidelines of the Charter.
The State party has diligently recognized its obligations under the Charter. The State party also recognizes that there are several constraints which impact on the protection and promotion of human rights within its territory, which include:
- Economic decline, mainly due to the diminishing output from the mining industry, thereby contributing to the unsatisfactory resource allocation to institutions that support the implementation of the Charter;
- HIV/AIDS pandemic, whose negative effects permeate the human resources, impacts on the general socio-economic performance of the country; and
- Low levels of human rights awareness on the part of the people, especially on the mechanisms available for redress.
The State party wishes the Commission to take note of positive developments in the last decade, including:
- establishment of the Human Rights Commission, the Police Public Complaints Authority; the Police Legal and Professional Standards Unit; the Victim Support Unit and the Sex Crimes Unit.
- protection of workers rights, through various measures identified in the Report by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security;
- protection of vulnerable persons through the PWAS and other mechanisms;
- promotion of the right to education through BESSIP and PAGE and the coordinated promotion of the cultural policy; and
- the promotion of civil and political rights through dialogue at fora such as the Constitutional Review Commission and the Electoral Reforms Technical Committee."
