Child Poverty in Mozambique. A Situation and Trend ... - Unicef

Against this background, Caia and Chimuara are the sites for the construction
of the new bridge across the Zambezi, which began in March/April 2006 and
is expected to take at least three years to complete. There are many positive
aspects to the construction of the bridge, including economic benefits such as
attracting investment and encouraging business, and also social benefits, such as
the creation of much-needed employment and increased access to health services
by local residents.
However, the potential negative consequences of the bridge construction
have raised concerns that the construction period could exacerbate an already
difficult and dangerous situation, by increasing the demand for child labour and
prostitution, and consequently increasing and accelerating the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The Government and donors have announced that they will take precautions
to help in reducing some of the potentially harmful social impacts of bridge
construction, with particular focus on controlling the transmission and spread of
HIV/AIDS. Several members of the communities, however, feel that meaningful
dialogue between the Government and the residents on the project, its potential
negative impacts and their mitigation, is lacking, and envisage the communities
being left to deal with any negative social impacts without external support.
The report proposes a number of recommendations to ensure that the rights of
children are protected and their well-being promoted throughout the construction
of the Zambezi bridge, including, amongst others:
• Development, awareness raising among staff and enforcement of company
codes of conduct prohibiting child abuse or exploitation by construction
contractors or sub-contractors;
• Strengthening the capacity of district police and the legal system to prevent,
investigate and respond to possible cases of child exploitation and abuse by
the workers, such as the training of district police on child rights, laws relating
to child sexual abuse and their enforcement and the national law regulating
the access of children to public night entertainment areas, such as bars, discos
and barracas;
• Offers of financial assistance by contractors for their employees to bring their
wives to live in the camps;
• The promotion of agricultural development activities in parallel to the bridge
construction in order both to improve the health and well-being of children and
also to provide families with a sustainable source of food and/or income to
avoid the use of negative coping strategies;
• Monitoring of the child rights situation in the area by NGOs and local
organisations.
While the Save the Children study highlights the need for specific actions to
promote and protect the rights of children in Caia and Chimuara, the report also
serves to raise awareness on the potential negative impact for children and
communities of all large infrastructure development projects.
Source: A Bridge Across the Zambezi: What needs to be done for children Save the Children UK and Norway, March
2006
The 2004 legal review found that the legal framework related to violence, sexual
abuse and exploitation falls “desperately short of the range of necessary legal
provisions required in this area” (Sloth-Nielsen and Gallinetti 2004: 40). The review
expressed concern that provisions of the law “are not properly implemented. This
may, in part, be due to the fact that the provisions do not identify a lead agency which
is legally bound to ensure enforcement” (ibid: 40). Case study evidence also suggests
that violence and abuse are areas in which formal and customary laws may be in
conflict.
184 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS