MozambiqueMozambique is situated in southeastern Africa and is bordered by six countries and the Indian Ocean. A former Portuguese colony for nearly four centuries, Mozambique’s official language is Portuguese, though people speak many local languages including Tsonga and Makhuwa.
From 1976 to 1992, Mozambique was ravaged by a brutal civil conflict that killed up to one million civilians, destroyed the economy, and left much of the countryside spotted with landmines. Mozambique has since experienced relatively strong economic growth and increasing social stability. Nevertheless, the country continues to struggle with extreme poverty, chronic vulnerability to natural disasters, and the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS.
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| Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in MozambiqueChildren make up half of Mozambique’s population. They are the ones most affected by poverty, HIV/AIDS and natural disasters - and the least protected.
World Vision is giving a voice to issues affecting children in Mozambique, particularly:
• Lack of children’s basic rights – access to education, health care and counseling
• Protection from property grabbing – children orphaned by HIV/AIDS are particularly vulnerable to losing their homes and land when a parent dies
• Protection from forced early marriage, which affects more than half of all girls
• Ways to support children within their communities
• Children’s participation in activities affecting them, including efforts to reduce poverty, respond to disasters and recovery after disasters
Source: UNICEF, 2007 |
Fighting poverty, disease and disasters
One of Mozambique’s top challenges today is fighting absolute poverty, in which more than 11 million people live.
Another priority is responding to the impact of HIV/AIDS: An estimated 16% of adults are currently infected, and close to 500,000 children are now orphaned or vulnerable because of HIV/AIDS.
Only 40% of families have access to health care -- Mozambique’s overstretched health system is already struggling to deal with preventable and treatable diseases like malaria, which are still among the main causes of death in Mozambique.
About 80 percent of Mozambicans live in the countryside, and two-thirds of them are subsistence farmers, dependent on the weather and good farming conditions to grow enough food. They are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters, intense drought and massive flooding which have affected millions of people in the past few years.
World Vision in Mozambique World Vision has been working in Mozambique since 1984, providing and distributing food to some 100,000 people affected by drought. In the post-war years of the 1990s, World Vision played a vital role in helping 1.5 million returning refugees to resettle and rebuild their lives. By the mid-90s, World Vision had established longer-term community-based projects, through child sponsorship, and is now helping up to 3.5 million people. One of the longest-serving non-governmental organisations in Mozambique, World Vision continues its efforts to build the sustainability, self-reliance and resilience of many of the country's poorest communities. Specific activities include:
• helping 75,000 sponsored children, their families and communities through 30 long-term Area Development Programmes (ADPs).
• increasing food security for families by introducing drought-resistant and improved-variety crops, promoting water conservation, setting up livestock revolving credit schemes, sharing improved farming techniques and creating farmers’ associations.
• helping children go to school by providing school uniforms and materials, building and rehabilitating schools, and working with parents and their communities to promote education for girls and boys.
• improving healthcare and nutrition by building and rehabilitating health facilities, providing nutritional check-ups and training sessions for mothers.
• responding to the impact of HIV/AIDS by helping prevent mother-to-child transmission, encouraging community-based care for those living with HIV and AIDS, and raising awareness about the disease.
• participating in monetization projects which use revenue from the sale of donated food for long-term development programmes.
• responding to emergency needs of families due to flooding, reducing its impact and helping with reconstruction in central Mozambique.
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