ZAMBIA has an estimated 1,2-million orphans, of which 700 000 are Aids orphans, experts said on Thursday. Reports in Zambia say that a strategy meeting was held between representatives of the country’s government and a representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef). The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development Benard Simpokolwe told the meeting that the number of orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia had reached such high levels that it could not longer be ignored. ”Orphans and vulnerable children are countrywide and this problem is with us. We bear these children and we should not think that they will go away by the Grace of God,” he said. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Children and Sport Peter Mwamfuli said seven out of every 10 Zambian children lived in poverty. Unicef director for Children’s Affairs Gabriel Fernandez told the same meeting that the number of orphaned children in the sub-Saharan region was threatening to ”explode”. He said the number of children orphaned because of HIV/Aids would be unusually high until 2030. -Sapa