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Community Development and Social Services Minister, Doreen Mwamba, has urged renewed commitment to family-based child care, describing families as the cornerstone of cultural identity, moral values and community resilience.
Speaking on Friday at the Care for Children Global Summit in London, Mwamba said ensuring that children grow up in families is both a cultural value and a national imperative.
“Family-based care is fundamental to children’s holistic development and to the long-term stability of our nation,” she said, stressing that residential care should only ever be a temporary, last-resort measure.
Zambia has 160 care facilities supporting nearly 7,000 children, but the Minister reaffirmed that family reunification remained a policy priority.
She highlighted the enactment of the Children’s Code Act of 2022, which prioritises family care, prohibits corporal punishment, and strengthens frameworks for kinship, foster care, adoption and reunification.
Poverty, she said, remained a key driver of family separation.
To address this, Zambia has expanded its social protection agenda, reaching more than 10 million citizens in 2.2 million households through the Social Cash Transfer programme in the past four years, the government claims.
“Our social protection policy links child welfare with empowerment of families and women, ensuring no vulnerable child is left behind,” Mwamba said.
The summit also featured UK Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, who called for global action to reduce institutional care and promote safe, loving family environments worldwide.
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