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

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area, and the new Children’s Act reaffirms the right of all children to be protected from trafficking and the responsibility of the Government to take measures to prevent all forms of exploitation of children (GoM 2006c: 14). In spite of the current absence of specific legislation on the issue of trafficking, the Government has made efforts to prevent and respond to the problem, some of which are given effect in the National Action Plan for Children. The 2005 US State Trafficking in People report acknowledged some of the recent initiatives in the areas of prosecution, protection and prevention, including an agreement signed between the Department of Migration and its counterpart in South Africa to share information and facilities; the establishment of women’s shelters, intended in part to protect trafficking victims, at police stations in Maputo, Beira, Nampula and several large towns in Gaza province; and the establishment of an anti-trafficking inter-agency working group comprised of the Ministries of Interior, Women and Social Action, Justice and Health, which held its initial meeting in 2004. The report noted, however, that the Government had no national plan of action to address the issue of trafficking and that activities related to the prevention of trafficking, with the exception of those conducted by non-governmental organisations, had been limited (US 2005). Recommendations from the Save the Children study are that Mozambican legislation should be updated and contextualised, in line with government commitments made in ratifying international conventions, action should be taken to raise awareness about the forms of child trafficking, targeting principally police, judges, lawyers and civil servants and specialised institutions to provide support to children should be created and be well staffed and equipped. D. Child marriage The Population Council has noted that Mozambique has one of the most severe child marriage crises in the world today (Population Council, 2004). DHS data from 2003 indicate that 18 per cent of girls aged 20-24 had been married before the age of 15 and 56 per cent before the age of 18. Although these percentages had decreased since 1997 (when they were 22 per cent and 57 per cent respectively) there was no real change in the average age at first marriage, which increased from 17.4 to 17.5 years. The average age at first marriage among girls varied among provinces, from 16 years in Nampula province to 20 in Maputo City. Girls living in rural areas tend to get married earlier than their contemporaries in urban areas. Over a quarter (26 per cent) of married women aged 20-24 were found to be in a polygamous relationship. The percentages of men who had been married before the ages of 15 and 18 were considerably lower (1 per cent and 14 per cent respectively), suggesting that young girls tend to marry older men (INE 2005). Married girls are much less likely than their unmarried peers to attend school, and girls are often removed from school in order to marry. DHS figures from 1997 indicate that 36.9 per cent of married girls aged 15 to 19 had no education and 62 per cent had primary education. Only 1.1 per cent of girls in union at that time had a secondary education (UNICEF 2005a: 36). DHS findings from 2003 indicate that unmarried girls in the same age group are 13 times more likely than married girls to be in school (INE 2005). These figures illustrate the influence child marriage has on a girl’s access to education, however they also suggest that promoting secondary education for girls can serve as an important disincentive to marry. In many cases, child marriage has an economic motivation. Often a family’s decision to have a child married – be it a girl or boy – is a survival strategy to relieve the family of what they perceive to be a financial burden in the face of acute poverty. Girls are considered to be ready for marriage on reaching puberty. DHS data indicate that in CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS 187
Mozambique, girls aged 15-19 in the poorest 20 per cent of the population are more likely to be married than girls from the better off quintiles, although the practice occurs in all economic levels of society (UNICEF 2005a: 36). This suggests that economic status is a factor in child marriage, but not the sole motivation. Prevalence of child marriage is also linked to the cultural practices of specific ethnic groups. For example, Emakua girls are more likely than Cisena girls to be married before the age of 18, while Xitsonga and Xitswa girls are less so (UNICEF 2005a: 26). In southern Mozambique, the practice of lobolo - the payment of money in exchange for a bride - is common, and young brides will generally secure a higher price. In the north, polygamy is still prevalent, and a man may have three or more wives (INE 2005: 90). Girl-child marriage is perpetuated for a number of reasons, many of which relate to traditional gender relations and the values assigned to women and girls in society. Marriage may reflect the value placed on a girl’s virginity and be regarded by parents as a means to prevent premarital sexual relations and pregnancy. It may also be perceived to afford a girl protection from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. However, studies indicate that the opposite is in fact the case: since girls tend to marry older men and subsequently to engage in sexual relations more frequently than their unmarried peers, they are, in fact, at greater risk of infection (Population Council 2004). Moreover these girls rarely have the power or the knowledge to negotiate safe sex with their husbands. Child marriage is not only a serious contravention of a child’s rights in and of itself, but also seriously compromises a range of other rights for the child. For example, marriage during adolescence may have serious health implications for a girl. Often married adolescents receive less information on reproductive health than their unmarried peers (Haberland et al 2003: 43). As noted, they may also be more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. An analysis of DHS data revealed that in Mozambique only 28 per cent of girls aged 15 to 19 who were married knew how to prevent HIV/AIDS. In contrast, in neighbouring South Africa, as many as 97 per cent of married girls knew how to prevent the disease (UNICEF 2005a: 37). 69 In addition, adolescent pregnancy and childbirth are associated with poor health outcomes both for the mother and her children. This is particularly true for very young first-time mothers (Population Council 2004). Despite the risks associated with early motherhood, in Mozambique 96 per cent of girls in union have never used contraception of any kind, the highest level among 23 countries examined by UNICEF in a recent study (UNICEF 2005a: 37). 70 After childbirth, adolescent mothers may face significant psychological, emotional and economic pressures. Child marriage is also associated with a greater likelihood of physical violence or the threat of such violence (UNICEF 2005a: 22). International human rights instruments that have been ratified by Mozambique, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, provide protections relating to child marriage, such as the right to choose freely a spouse and to enter into marriage only with free and full consent; to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of children and to have access to the information, education and means to exercise these rights. 69 Data derived from DHS 1997 for Mozambique and DHS 1998 for South Africa. 70 Data derived from DHS 1997 for Mozambique and various DHS for other countries. 188 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS
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CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE A S
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report on the
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CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………
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4. Access to schooling and attendan
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TABLES AND FIGURES List of tables T
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Figure 4.20: Estimated spending on
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GBS GDP GER GNI GoM HAART HDI HIPC
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MAP OF MOZAMBIQUE Zumbu Magoe M
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een strongly positive in recent yea
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Child protection concerns Chapter F
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vaccination or malaria campaigns, w
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1. Objective of the Situation Analy
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Box 1.1: Human rights conventions r
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of poverty, defined as: “Impossib
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Table 1.1: Deprivation-based indica
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The Ministries of Planning and Deve
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34 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE:
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1. Introduction This chapter focuse
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Table 2.1: Progress towards the MDG
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3. Economic growth and macroeconomi
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Evidence as to what extent these
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The percentage of the population li
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Arndt et al. (2005) show that, on a
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B. Assessing childhood poverty In a
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Figure 2.9: Households living below
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severe deprivation. In the poorest
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The second PARPA for the period 200
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Box 2.3: Civil society engagement i
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A key cause of these weaknesses is
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One possible way forward in tacklin
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Box 2.4: Corruption and its impact
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(vi) Analysis of monitoring and rev
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There are two principal drivers beh
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This has troubling implications for
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70 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE:
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1. Introduction Every child has the
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B. Severe nutrition deprivation amo
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Zambezia and Tete provinces. Severe
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If this downward trend continues, M
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Figure 3.5: Percentage of women rec
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Mozambique has achieved a continual
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The second reason is that deaths oc
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5. Childhood illnesses A major publ
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Figure 3.9: Malaria prevention: use
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The 2005 Nutrition Survey conducted
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Box 3.3: Combating measles and poli
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(ii) Stunting prevalence (chronic m
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Alarmingly high levels of stunting
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Figure 3.16: Underweight prevalence
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There are 86 known salt producers r
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Among children, there were no varia
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Box 3.5: Infant feeding in the cont
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highly in PARPA II, which sets a ta
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Table 3.3: Overview of PMTCT progra
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The reduction of mother-to-child tr
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It is only recently that paediatric
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100 Figure 3.22: Use of safe water
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A. Inequitable access to and fundin
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The 2004/2005 IFTRAB survey also su
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provincial level reported that only
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Table 3.4: Ministry of Health budge
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Figure 3.29: Total sector resources
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Figure 3.31: Indicative per capita
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The agenda for expanding water supp
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and was revised in 2005. The on-bud
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supported by key sector stakeholder
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1. Introduction Education is a fund
Page 137 and 138: B. Severe information deprivation a
Page 139 and 140: Secondary education consists of fiv
Page 141 and 142: Table 4.3: Gross and net enrolment
Page 143 and 144: Table 4.4: Gross enrolment ratio, a
Page 145 and 146: 57 per cent, compared with a NER of
Page 147 and 148: DHS data show that the wealth level
Page 149 and 150: Figure 4.11: Distribution of 11-yea
Page 151 and 152: Lack of literacy is directly correl
Page 153 and 154: In addition, there is a serious gap
Page 155 and 156: The IAF showed that in 2002/3 expen
Page 157 and 158: Absenteeism is also common among te
Page 159 and 160: to the need for two or even three s
Page 161 and 162: The system is faced with a number o
Page 163 and 164: • The school represents or is a l
Page 165 and 166: (iv) Impact of natural disasters In
Page 167 and 168: The associated large off-budget res
Page 169 and 170: The Ministry of Education and Cultu
Page 171 and 172: sense of providing education for ev
Page 173 and 174: 172 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE
Page 175 and 176: I. Introduction All children have t
Page 177 and 178: involving children. 45 per cent of
Page 179 and 180: Box 5.1: Street children in Maputo:
Page 181 and 182: Girls at greatest risk of abuse wer
Page 183 and 184: The aspirations expressed by the yo
Page 185 and 186: Against this background, Caia and C
Page 187: “Trafficking in women and childre
Page 191 and 192: The survey indicates that 32 per ce
Page 193 and 194: Figure 5.5: School attendance among
Page 195 and 196: • Labour law does not define the
Page 197 and 198: - To use child labour (children age
Page 199 and 200: from their parents. Thus, the law d
Page 201 and 202: C. Birth registration - guaranteein
Page 203 and 204: such as hospitals and schools for b
Page 205 and 206: Sofala province also accounts for t
Page 207 and 208: Evidence points to worrying increas
Page 209 and 210: Figure 5.9: Primary school attendan
Page 211 and 212: activities to strengthen the capaci
Page 213 and 214: The responsibility for implementing
Page 215 and 216: 214 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE
Page 217 and 218: Conclusions Mozambique is one of Af
Page 219 and 220: planning in Mozambique, and has the
Page 221 and 222: 7- Implementing social communicatio
Page 223 and 224: Form of Severe Deprivation Food Wat
Page 225 and 226: ANNEX II Calendar of the planning,
Page 227 and 228: ANNEX IV State Budget recurrent and
Page 229 and 230: REFERENCES AND MATERIALS CONSULTED
Page 231 and 232: Deaton, A., Ruiz-Castilo, J., and T
Page 233 and 234: Klasen, S. and Woltermann, S., ‘T
Page 235 and 236: Government of Mozambique, ‘Progra
Page 237 and 238: World Bank (WB), ‘World Developme
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World Bank (WB), ‘Mozambique Publ
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Ministry of Women and Co-ordination
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United Nations Children’s Fund (U
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Child Poverty in Mozambique. A Situation and Trend ... - Unicef

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