11-12-05,11:02am

JOHANNESBURG, 11 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - The Zambian government and foreign donors need to double their financial commitments to enable the country to meet the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, says a new research report.

'The Zambian government should also reprioritise its national policies to be consistent with MDG-related interventions,' said Chrispin Mphuka, author of the report 'The Cost of Meeting the MDGs in Zambia', commissioned by a groups of NGOs, the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction, Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) and the Catholic Centre for Justice Development and Peace.

The MDGs include a 50 percent reduction in poverty and hunger, universal primary education, reducing child mortality by two-thirds, cutting back maternal mortality by three-quarters, the promotion of gender equality, and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. 'Not only does the country need more money but double the amount,' said Mphuka. 'The government currently spends about US $400 million on MDG-related programmes, which will have to be doubled to $800 million by 2015 to help it achieve its targets.'

According to the report, Zambia is unlikely to meet three of the 10 goals: halving poverty and hunger, and reducing the maternal mortality rate.

Unpredictable donor aid was one of the major factors affecting Zambia's ability to spend on MDG-related programmes, commented Mphuka. Last year about $789 million was pledged in aid but only about 38 percent, or about $298 million, was actually received by the government.

'Donors often withdraw their pledges after conditions attached to the funding are not met, and partly because of the Zambian government's inability to utilise the funds in a timely manner,' explained Mphuka.

He suggested that donors negotiate conditions with the government and domestic stakeholders to avoid glitches and added, 'Those conditions should be aligned with the country-owned development priorities.'

According to a recently released Millennium Project report on the cost of meeting the MDGs, a typical low-income country will need to initially invest around $70 to $80 per capita at the beginning of 2006 and scale this up to between $120 and $160.

Mphuka estimates that Zambia will need to invest an average of $110 per capita per year in capital and operating expenditure towards meeting the MDGs.

Enormous external debt has directly affected Zambia's ability to spend on MDG-related programmes. In 2000, the amount owed stood at $6.5 billion, more than twice the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

However, Mphuka pointed out that the recent decision by World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to cancel Zambia's external debt could help release additional resources for poverty alleviation programmes.

According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development report for 2005, debt servicing was allocated three times the amount health or education received in the budget.

The UNDP report placed Zambia at 166 out of 177 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) - down from 164 last year. The HDI focuses on three measurable indicators of human development: living a long and healthy life; being educated; and having a decent standard of living.