Gender and HIV/AIDS in the construction craft workforce in Zambia in the context of the Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Developments Goals (MDGs) have been accepted as a framework for measuring development progress, and have elicited great interest and attracted broad support from the international community. In a nutshell, the goals have been pegged as benchmarks for freeing men, women and children from the dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty. This paper takes a snapshot view of the socio-health factors of gender equality and HIV/AIDS among construction craft workers in Zambia in the context of the espoused MDGs. It reports results of a questionnaire interview survey conducted among contractors in Zambia to determine the frequency with which they employed female craft employees; and the extent to which HIV/AIDS had affected their skilled workforce. Findings indicate that the negative impacts of HIV/AIDS have gradually crept into the ranks of the construction craft workforce, and confirmed the long-held characterisation of construction as a male dominated industry. It has been concluded that much needs to be done to promote gender equality and combat the spread of HIV/AIDS among construction craft workers in Zambia.