Final Report of the Evaluation of the Debt Project (October 1998-December 2001)

The CCJP/JCTR debt project was established in 1998 with the purpose of securing an ethical outcome to Zambia’s external debt problem, viewed as a burden on the people by the project holders. The main purpose of the evaluation was to examine the implementation and performance of the debt project. The evaluation covers the period from October 1998 to December 2001. It was revealed that on average, Zambia spent nearly 20% of its GDP on debt service payments between 1990 and 2000, while on the other hand, education and health sectors received 3% and 2%, respectively. It was in this light that the external debt was seen to impose a burden on the people of Zambia. The evaluation, however, noted that the project, while remaining committed to the goal of total debt cancellation, was flexible enough to support initiatives aimed at debt reduction. It was also revealed that the project was designed to fall under the auspices of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and operationalised through the office of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection. The evaluation found that there was some ambiguity over the relationship between the Debt Project and Jubilee-Zambia. The evaluation found that there was some ambiguity over the relationship between the Debt Project and Jubilee-Zambia.