During their week-long stay in Zambia, from 16-23 May, European Parliamentarians from the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and Azerbaijan gained first hand information about the population’s unmet sexual and reproductive health needs as well as the reproductive health situation in a country where young people represent more than 70% of the population, where the birth rate in rural areas, where nearly 60% of Zambia’s 12m population resides, is amongst the highest in Africa (between 6.9 and 7.5 children) and where the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate lies at 14.3%. 57% of people living with HIV/AIDS are women and the epidemic continues to pose one of the most significant development challenges to the country.

The joint study tour co-organised by the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) and the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (EPF) was held in the framework of the Countdown 2015 Europe project and hosted by the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ) and Youth Vision Zambia (YVZ). Focusing on the sexual reproductive health and rights situation as well as the availability of and access to reproductive health supplies, delegation participants were able to meet with the main stakeholders and decision makers in this field. These included the Ministry of Health, the Mayor of Lusaka and district commissioners of Lusaka, Kafue and Choma (the latter ones being rural areas) but also representatives of the donor community such as DFID, USAID, SIDA, the Worldbank and the EC Delegation in Zambia. Meetings with UNFPA representatives, Marie Stopes International, and various community and outreach projects in urban and rural areas complemented the picture of the SRHR and RHS situation on the ground in Zambia.

This wide range of stakeholders involved in meetings allowed the European delegation members to gain first-hand experience of domestic living conditions in both urban and rural areas, the complex inter-related development issues, and the relationship between NGOs, the public sector and the international community. “If every Zambian would use a condom, we could only have sex three times a year”, a PPAZ representative described the reproductive health supplies situation in his country. Lack of youth-friendly health services, a massive brain drain of health workers, especially doctors and nurses, the lack of well-trained health personnel as well as the poor access to health facilities, predominantly in rural areas, have been identified as challenges for the development of a strong health system in Zambia.

In spite the strong donor and government commitment to SRHR and contraceptive security, long-term funding for contraceptives remains inconsistent and stock-outs at health facilities are common. During a retreat meeting between Zambian MPs and the European Delegation members, focus was laid on the importance of a legislative enabling environment to ensure political long-term commitment for health and to enable Members of the Zambian Parliament to hold their government accountable on these commitments. The adoption of the draft law on Reproductive Health that has been under discussion for the past seven years now was identified as an essential step in the right direction.

The European Parliamentarian Delegation included:

Hon. Nesib Nesibli, MP Azerbaijan
Senator Fiona O’Malley Ireland
Hon. Janneke Schermers, MP The Netherlands
Hon. Patrick Harvie, MSP Scotland
Hon. Ameer Sachet, MP Sweden
Baroness Susan Thomas of Walliswood United Kingdom