Stories from Zambia

The country is recruiting new teachers and USAID is working to get them into classrooms

One leader’s key takeaways on the significance of the second Summit for Democracy in Zambia

USAID has been investing in the planet — and all of us who depend on it — for decades. From conserving key species to empowering communities who depend on natural resources, the Agency and its partners are working across the globe to safeguard nature.This Earth Day, we’re highlighting that work in action with these seven stories.

“We need to maintain our democracy for ourselves and for the hope of others in the region”

Ritah, age 19, Esther, age 22, and Mary, age 23 are typical of a new generation of Zambian women who enter the workforce before marrying and having children.

Like other parts of Zambia, households in Solwezi, the provincial capital of the mineral-rich North-Western Province, have little or no access to electricity or gas supplies.

How collaboration between animal experts, government officials, and curious citizens protected a wayward rhino who wandered beyond the safety of his national park

In Zambia, better data and community engagement help to combat the mosquito-borne disease

Meet Pastor Laibot Mbika. Pastor Laibot is one of many people of faith who has helped reduce the risk of COVID-19 illness and deaths in Zambia through effective community engagement.

In Mambwe, the indoor residual sprayers, better known as the “Soldiers Against Mosquitos”, are a key part of the U.S.-Zambia partnership against malaria, which sprayed 717,000 structures in Copperbelt, Eastern, and Luapula provinces and protected over three million people in 2021.

Hundreds of students gathered at Chawama Grounds in Lusaka to join the kick-off activities for the Lusaka Province COVID-19 Vaccination Drive in July. A partnership between Zambia Ministry of Health, USAID, and other partners, the vaccination drive marked the start of a two-week push to increase vaccination rates throughout Lusaka Province, which, at the start of the campaign, had the lowest vaccination rate in the country. 

At the close of each day, Luyando Handya, the Acting Manager of Kamitondo Clinic in Zambia's Kitwe District, holds her tablet in her hands, carefully adding data on the number of COVID-19 tests, cases, and vaccinations that were recorded that day.