1997

12th February 1997
Zambian Aid Official Calls for Help to Fight African Debt
A visiting African aid official is appealing for Australians to take up the issue of Africa's growing debt burden to help fight the continent's worsening poverty.

Speaking in Newcastle yesterday, Executive Secretary of Caritas Zambia, Sr Pereka Nyirenda, said the level of debt faced by Zambia and many other African nations far exceeded the nation's capacity to pay and was bringing about a rapid deterioration in economic and social conditions.

"Zambia's debt now stands at $A9 billion, more than double our annual gross national product. Each year, our national debt grows because our nation cannot afford even to keep up with the interest payments," Sr Pereka said.

"Our people have suffered terribly because of the harsh economic policies which have been inflicted on them by our government and the nation's creditors," Sr Pereka said.

"Today, 70 per cent of our people live in absolute poverty, on less than a dollar a day. Unemployment in Zambia is now so widespread that fewer than one in five Zambians have formal jobs.

"As deeper and deeper cuts are being made to government services to repay debts, fewer people can afford schooling for children or basic health services. Malnutrition and preventable diseases are increasing."

Sr Pereka is visiting Newcastle for today's official launch of Caritas Australia's Project Compassion appeal, the annual national Catholic appeal for overseas aid and development. The appeal will be launched by the Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Bishop Michael Malone, the Catholic Diocesan Office at Newcastle West at 1pm.

Conducted across Australia each Lent (between Ash Wednesday and Easter) since 1965, Project Compassion raises funds for aid, development and justice education programs in more than 50 nations in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. Last year's appeal raised $4.45 million.

Sr Pereka said Australia could play an important role in promoting solutions to Africa's debt crisis. "As a nation which does not have a vested interest in Africa's debt, Australia can speak honesty and forthrightly about the human cost of debt," Sr Pereka said. "We in Zambia need people who believe in justice and fairness to take up our case, because we just cannot afford to make debt repayments which greatly exceed the aid we receive."
Zambia's economic fortunes have declined since the 1970s when the price of copper, which provides more than 90 per cent of the nation's export income, began to decline. The nation's debt increased rapidly, setting off a dramatic decline and harsh economic measures which have seen the value of the national currency, the kwacha, drop by 50,000 per cent against western currencies in just 10 years.

This economic and social decline is being worsened by the terrible impacts of AIDS. An estimated 13.2 per cent of Zambia's adults are HIV positive, one of the highest infection rates in the world.

"HIV is most common among younger adults - women between the ages of 14 and 34 and men between the ages of 25 and 40 - and is more prevalent in the cities than in the rural villages. In Lusaka, 25 per cent of the women attending clinics are HIV positive," Sr Pereka said.

"Our country's most productive age group is slowly dying. We have lost so many people from the government service, the army and in business."

"With so many younger parents dying, the effects on families are terrible. Children of just 14 years of age are now being forced to leave school because they have become the head of the household. Elderly grandmothers are looking after as many as 25 of their grandchildren because the parents have died."

"Young girls who are AIDS orphans are being forced into prostitution to get money to survive - and then getting infected themselves. As so many Zambians cannot afford good food or proper medical care, the progress from HIV to full-blown AIDS is often very quick. Among the poor, resistance to the virus is very low."

Rather than feeling that their nation's situation is hopeless, many Zambians are working for positive change in their communities. Caritas Zambia is working with groups across the country to build self-reliance through education programs, by promoting community action to tackle social problems and by financially supporting local community initiatives.

Caritas is also responding to the AIDS crisis by supporting income generation projects in communities supporting AIDS orphans and the establishment of community schools for AIDS orphans and street kids who have not had a proper education. Other Caritas programs in Zambia include support for victims of drought and national and international advocacy on issues affecting Zambia's poor.

"Australians are very generous supporters of our work," Sr Pereka said. "Through Caritas Australia's Project Compassion appeal, Australians have contributed more than $1.4 million to the work of Caritas Zambia in the past 15 years.

"The support we have received from Australia has helped us to keep going when things have seemed so difficult."

Donations to the Project Compassion appeal can be made to Caritas Australia at PO Box 439R Rutherford 2320, by phoning 1800 024 413 or through any Catholic parish.

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