Some 69,000 Zambian households are expected to benefit from the 38 million pounds (USD58 million) pledged by the U.K. for the expansion of a social protection program in the African country. The money will be disbursed through the U.K. Department for International Development over the next 10 years. It will be used primarily to help finance monthly grants ranging from 6 pounds to 8 pounds to households in some of Zambia’s poorest districts. The U.K. aid will also support monthly pensions to more than 4,000 beneficiaries living in the same districts.
Zambia’s expanded social protection program, which is supported by several other donors, seeks to provide a safety net to low-income households that are composed mostly of children, the elderly and chronically ill adults.