Disbursement of the emergency social cash transfer to cushion the identified recipients in the country’s 84 drought-hit districts is expected to commence this month.
This was disclosed by Francis Lukunga, the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist in the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services during Radio Phoenix’s Let the People Talk show this morning.
Addressing this matter as Zambia observes Social Protection Week, Lukunga said the drought response emergency social cash transfer of K400 will be paid in addition to the existing K400 per recipient social cash transfer, which currently benefits more than 1.3 million people.
It is also in addition to the other cushioning interventions, including relief food and material support.
Lukunga said the emergency drought response social cash transfer will be given for 12 months after which it will cease, leaving the standard social cash transfer. However, recipients of the regular social cash transfer will continue to receive K800 for two months more post the cessation of the emergency drought response support.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has announced an additional package exceeding US$200 million for social protection and food security in Zambia on top of the US$600 million already invested in the country’s social protection program.
Nadia Selim, the Bank’s Senior Social Protection Specialist, described social protection as a fundamental right and that the World Bank wanted “everyone to live a reasonable and meaningful life and promote economic growth as the foundation of a prosperous and empowered society.”
