To this house, President Mahama reaffirmed the warm, cordial, and indeed historic bilateral relations that exist between our two countries and peoples over many years. Madam Speaker, President Mahama reminded us that our democracies have been built through sacrifice and resilience anchored on true African values. The visit reaffirmed the spirit of Pan-Africanism as espoused by our founding fathers, Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Madam Speaker, as a nation, we've continued to embrace our national values and principles which are specified in the constitution under Article 8, and these are as follows: One, morality and ethics. Two, patriotism and national unity. Three, democracy and constitutionalism. Four, human dignity, equity, social justice, equality, and non-discrimination. Five, good governance and integrity. And lastly, sustainable development.
Madam Speaker, these national values and principles are not just a constitutional requirement for us, but a moral compass that shapes our character and defines our identity as a people. They provide guidance in our policy formulation. Please, Madam Speaker, I want to repeat this: they provide the guidance in our policy formulation and form a bedrock for the implementation of our policies as a nation without exception.
Madam Speaker, we will now proceed to highlight the progress made in the application of our national values and principles, with the recognition that we all have much more work to do ahead of us. We are not ambiguous about that. We are clear. Whatever work we've done, we still have a lot of work to do ahead of us together.
Morality and ethics. Madam Speaker, Zambia is a peaceful nation, a caring nation, and I must strongly say a Christian nation. Morality and ethics are important values that shape the character of our families, communities, and the nation at large. It is within this moral and ethical context that this government is addressing a number of social vices such as alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and basically other substance abuse, teenage pregnancies, child marriages, and gender-based violence.
To address these vices, Madam Speaker, we've implemented a number of interventions. These include very important free education, keeping children longer in school, very important skills training, empowerment initiatives, and nationwide sensitization programs for community members, workers, as well as civic and traditional leaders. Those who dropped out of school, Madam Speaker, and got married are now receiving counseling and are being brought back to school as much as possible so they can benefit from our free education policy.
Violence has remained a public concern in our country and in our communities. We continue to address this vice through many interventions, including the establishment of a national call center, one-stop centers, and fast-track courts for victims of gender-based violence across the country. We urge victims, Madam Speaker, relatives, and others to report all instances of gender-based violence without fail, because sometimes victims are shy to do so. So, communities must come in here. The law must continue to take its course, and perpetrators must be brought to justice without any segregation. All of them.
We commend our traditional leaders, the church, and other stakeholders for their support in the fight against these vices. Madam Speaker, we remain deeply concerned with regard to divorce rates in our country. This is not good at all because families are the foundations of communities and a strong nation. We're concerned about this. Loving, caring, strong families really must be promoted at all times. Of paramount importance is responsible and strong families will build a strong nation.
Madam Speaker, human trafficking continues to be a concern given our geographical location. Yes, we are land-linked. We flip the coin, but still we have so many neighbors, and this creates sometimes challenges to curb this vice. The United Party for National Development, UPND, New Dawn Administration has fully operationalized the Department of Anti-Human Trafficking in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security. The department, in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, is leading efforts to totally eradicate human trafficking. You all know stories that come through the media, horrible stories where some of these die in fuel tankers, and this is not right. We must not be the country that allows these things to happen.
Madam Speaker, social media has created new opportunities for innovation, yes, we agree. Entrepreneurship, yes, we agree. Self-expression, yes, we agree. And information sharing among our people. Sadly, some of our people are using social media to spread harmful content, fake news, very sad, Madam Speaker. Misinformation, disinformation, and worst of all, hate speech. Social media is also being used to commit cyber crimes and harass innocent citizens, including the girl child, women, and it's true, men as well. It's very true.
In this regard, Madam Speaker, we continue to reform the legal framework to protect the public from harmful online behavior and cyber crime. Madam Speaker, a crime is a crime done in physical or through social media. Please let's remember that. We also call upon citizens to ensure that digital platforms are used responsibly and productively. We continue to be inspired by the online creativity of our innovative and entrepreneurial youth, and we encourage everyone to enjoy the freedoms they have, all of us, responsibly. Responsibly is a key word.
Madam Speaker, let me move to patriotism and national unity. Madam Speaker, over the last four years, we have made progress in fostering patriotism and national unity. We have made steady progress in promoting Zambian products, starting with our own market here, to support businesses and our hardworking and industrious citizens.
Government has also strengthened local content policies. You all followed that. In fact, you approved those in this house, and we thank you for that. Last year, we issued statutory instrument number 68 of 2025 on the promotion of local content in the mining sector. After a long and orchestrated negotiation process, we are pleased to say, Madam Speaker, this is now in place. This has created more opportunities for local suppliers to be awarded contracts, which means more jobs and more income for Zambians.
Public procurement has also been reformed, Madam Speaker, to give special preference, what we call positive discrimination, to locally produced goods and services, which again means more jobs, more business opportunities, and income for Zambians, and indeed the treasury, because every citizen needs a treasury income to continue expanding.
Madam Speaker, to continue the provision of vital services, including nationwide free education, the government depends on effective revenue collection. A responsible, a caring society demands that we all pay our taxes, fair taxes. It is a personal responsibility. It's part of our values. Paying our taxes is an attribute of patriotism and mutual responsibility. Government has modernized and simplified tax administration through digital platforms to make it easier for citizens to meet their tax obligations. When we say tax, we don't mean the income tax component only, ordinary. We mean levies and all of those issues that we are supposed to pay as responsible citizens.
Madam Speaker, under the UPND New Dawn Administration, there has been an unprecedented reduction in political violence and caderism in our country. Chawama is a good example. Under our watch, Madam Speaker, there is no room for political violence. There is no room for caderism, negative caderism. We're not talking about mobilization and positive. There's no room for lawlessness. All of us must take this as a personal responsibility. I'm just saying, brothers and sisters, again, I'm speaking Zambian now. Madam Speaker, to clarify, let me be clear: no one, and I mean no one, is above the law. No one is above the law.
Madam Speaker, this administration has consistently promoted unity in diversity through the principle of one Zambia, one nation, one people. If I may repeat, Madam Speaker, this administration has consistently promoted unity in diversity through the reminders, through consistent messaging that we are one Zambia, one nation, and one people. Yes, and I'm addressing both sides of the house on this one. Our efforts are evident in the decentralization and the equitable distribution of national resources. That's how we walk this messaging.
Decentralization, equitable distribution of our national resources to all parts of the country through instruments such as the substantially enhanced Constituency Development Fund across the country, as an instrument to walk the talk. A caring and loving Zambian society is one that provides equal opportunities and distributes resources fairly without discrimination. That's very important.
On the cultural front, Madam Speaker, we're witnessing a positive development where our royal highnesses are increasingly attending each other's traditional ceremonies across the country. They are getting to know each other, something that never happened before, person-to-person level, very important, and this will rub on to communities across the provinces of Zambia. This is an attestation to our unity in diversity approach.
Last year, we had the honor to meet with all the traditional leaders, at least almost all of them, at the Mulungushi International Conference Center near here, as part of our continued efforts to promote national unity in our country, because these are important building blocks. This is enhancing the mutual understanding and appreciation of our shared and rich cultural heritage. We are, Madam Speaker, indeed, as I said, one Zambia, one nation, one people. We must all remind ourselves of this issue. God is great. Put us together deliberately. He didn't make a mistake. He chose us to be together. And we must respect God's decision and work with each other, support each other. Yes. Compete. Compete. Yes. Within reason. In fact, keep the fabric of a united Zambia. I think that's the message here.
Madam Speaker, democracy and constitutionalism. Madam Speaker, to enhance our democracy and promote inclusivity in our governance system, we amended the constitution. For what purpose, Madam Speaker? To ensure fair and equitable representation of our people across the country. We thank our citizens across the country for making valuable submissions to the Mushabati Constitutional Technical Review Commission or Committee. We also commend this house, Madam Speaker. We commend this house, this gracious house, for successively passing the bill, Bill 7. We are proud that women, youth, persons living with disabilities...
