Zambia

Map & Basic Information

  • Area

    752.61 thousand square kilometers

  • Population

    18.38 million (World Bank, 2020)

  • Capital

    Lusaka / 1,272 meters above sea level

  • Ethnicity

    73 (Tonga, Nyanja, Bemba, Lunda, etc.)

  • Language

    English (official), Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga

  • Religion

    Nearly 80% Christianity, others (Islam, Hinduism, traditional religions)

zambia

Source:Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

Issues to be addressed

There are refugees from Angola and Rwanda who had to spend several decades in Zambia and decided to remain in Zambia even after the conflicts in their home countries ended and their refugee status was ceased. These "former refugees" are resettled in resettlement areas and have to build homes and establish livelihoods on land that lacks very basic infrastructure. They earn their living through agriculture but are forced to live in poverty.

Activities

Supporting the livelihood of
"former refugees”

Residents were receiving training in cultivation.

Meheba refugee settlement in the Northwestern Province of Zambia is one of the largest refugee settlements in the country. In the settlement, the Zambian government has been implementing a project for promoting a local integration for former refugees, in which former refugees were provided a residence permit and a land plot. Since 2017, AAR Japan has been supporting former refugees and Zambians to create a community together, which would form a foundation for their own effort to improve their living conditions. Since 2019, we have been providing farming equipment and seeds and seedlings to resident groups, facilitating information exchange among group members and outside resource persons on agricultural techniques, helping them to build a system to jointly transport crops which reduce transportation costs and maximize profits.

Major Activities in Past

  • 1984 - 2004

    Support in Meheba Refugee Settlement

    In Meheba, one of the largest refugee settlements in the country, we drilled boreholes and built and operated a clinic and library.

  • 2000 - 2019

    HIV/AIDS

    In Zambia, where one out of every eight adults was said to be HIV-positive at the time, we conducted awareness-raising activities to prevent infection and provided schooling support for children who had lost parents to AIDS.

  • 2016 - 2019

    Maternal and child health
    services

    In rural areas where access to medical facilities is difficult, we built clinics, provided medical and office equipment, and trained health volunteers.