women-development-zambia

WOMEN AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN ZAMBIA

Gender-related Development Index (GDI – see definition below)

  • Zambia is ranked 124th of 137 countries on the GDI (in the bottom 10%)
  • 26% of women have secondary or higher education as against 44% of men and female labour market participation is 60% against 79% for men
  • The GDI in 2009 was higher than that of 1995

Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM – see definition below)

  • Only 15% of seats in the National Assembly (17% of Ministerial positions) are held by women (Botswana 11%, South Africa 34%)
  • Only 19% of senior legislators, officials and managers are women
  • Women make up 31% of professional and technical workers

Gender-related Development Index (GDI)

The Gender-related Development Index measures human development from the perspective of the inequalities that exist between men and women in the following areas: a long and healthy life, education and a decent standard of living.

Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)

The Gender Empowerment Measure measures existing inequalities between men and women as regards power and opportunities. It measures these in three ways – political participation and decision making, economic participation and decision making, and power over economic resources (ratio of female to male estimated earnings).

Maternal Mortality Rate

  • 830 (per 100,000 live births), below the regional average of 900

Births attended by skilled personnel

  • In rural areas, the rate is 31% against 83% in urban areas
  • The rate among the poorest 20% of women is 27% and for the richest 20% of women 91%
  • Amongst the least educated women, the rate is 24% whereas it is 73% for the most educated

Violence against women

  • Official figures indicate that as many as 27% of women who have been married reported being beaten by their partner; the rate increases to 33% for 15 to 19 year old women and 35% for 20 to 24 year old women
  • 59% of Zambian women have experienced violence from someone since the age of 15
  • 57% of those living with HIV and AIDS are women
  • Among young women aged 15-24 years, the prevalence rate for HIV is nearly four times that of men in the same age group

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