Mozambique

Background of Mozambique

Mozambique runs down the southern part of the east coast of Africa. Following the gaining of independence from Portugal in 1975 Mozambique was a country ravaged by civil war that ran from 1977 to 1992. During the civil war 1 million people lost their lives, 1.7 million people escaped to foreign countries and 4 million people were internally displaced. The civil war was fuelled by neighbouring South Africa and Rhodesia who were unhappy with Mozambique's sheltering of liberalists from these countries. This resulted not only in a humanitarian disaster but also in an economic disaster as the economy collapsed and infrastructure in the country fell apart.

Since the civil war ended however Mozambique's economic performance has been very strong, bringing the rate of inflation down from 70% to under 5%. They have also experienced a sustained economic growth of around 8% GDP growth each year since 1996. In spite of this economic performance Mozambique still faces a number of major challenges as it remains one of the least developed countries in the world. It is one of the world's lowest ranked countries by the Human Poverty Index and around 75% of its population live below the international poverty line of $1.25 per day.

One of the reasons for this is that 75% of Mozambique's population is employed in small scale agriculture which suffers from poor infrastructure and which the government does not sufficiently provide key services for. This means that much of the country is not able to reap the rewards from the country's strong economic performance and there are still high instances of infant mortality and HIV/AIDS, from which around 1.5 million people suffer.

Children in Mozambique 

The civil war in Mozambique in the 1990s forced many children into armed conflict. Many of these child soldiers were left stranded on the streets when peace resumed, and these troubled children became street children.  However, these children have now grown up, moving on to leave space for a new type of child to come to the streets. These are the children who run to the streets as a result of crippling poverty and lack of education opportunities.  Poverty in Mozambique is widespread as a direct result of the war, and HIV/AIDS continues to spread throughout the surrounding areas, eliminating an entire generation and forcing older generations to look after very young families.  Children often feel that they have no choice but to live on the streets, begging and working so that they can survive.

Our partner in Mozambique estimates that there are currently around 250 children and young people living on the streets of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. These children sleep on pavements, in abandoned houses, or in their own makeshift shelters made out of discarded cardboard.  They rely on each other for support but are, never the less, extremely vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.  Girls in this position often quickly turn to prostitution.