Charlie Johnson looks at the work being done by Irish charities and Irish Aid to address the problems afflicting the people of Mozambique
For an Irish charity operating in Mozambique, the list of problems that require attention is long, daunting, and endless. HIV/Aids is rampant, agriculture struggles, businesses are difficult to get started and foreign investment is small in a country plagued by landmines, corruption and an inefficient courts system. But all the problems facing charities at work there come down to one broad but simple reality.
“The problem is poverty,” says Emma Bradley, a British citizen working with Trócaire in Mozambique. “Everything, in a sense, is aimed at reducing poverty.”
And tackling poverty is what the Irish are there for. Trócaire, Concern, and VSO Ireland all have current operations in Mozambique, and last year Irish Aid spent €42.8m on projects aimed at reducing poverty in the country.
While poverty in Mozam-bique may be bad now, it has been much worse. When Irish Aid began working with the country in 1996, approximately 69 per cent of its people were living in abject poverty. Nine years later that number has fallen to 54 per cent – in a country of roughly 20 million people, around three million have been raised from the depths of destitution.
Economic statistics tell a similar tale. Mozambique has posted steady growth rates from the end of the 1990s and into the 21st century. And even with the global economic slowdown, Mozambique’s economy grew by 6.5 per cent in 2008 and is expected to post five per cent growth for 2009, according to Irish Aid.
So what has been fuelling Mozambique’s steady success? The answers appear to be as numerous as the problems themselves.
Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, and only held its first multi-party elections in 1994, two years after the end of a protracted civil war.
As a result, the Mozambican government has experienced its share of growing pains, from corruption to administration issues. This is especially true in Mozambique’s prisons, where many prisoners cannot afford bail or effective legal counsel.
“They can spend years sitting in jail with no trial or sentence. And, of course, some are falsely accused,” says Bradley.
She and others at Trócaire have worked to attain speedy trial dates for prisoners, along with providing appropriate documentation for offenders who have been released.
Job training and rent assistance are also provided, as many released from prison after years of confinement have little if any chance of establishing income – and those without income are more likely to re-offend.
“It’s a vicious cycle,” adds Bradley, but breaking it is one of the many ways that Irish charities are fighting poverty by working through better governance.
Lack of education, too, has traditionally been a factor in Mozambique’s poverty. Fewer than one half of all Mozambican children complete seven years of schooling, and only 34 per cent of those are girls, according to Concern. And of those who do finish seven years, less than 40 per cent have appropriate literacy skills.
Irish charities have done their part to improve the situation for Mozambique’s children. Baby registration campaigns undertaken by Trócaire have led to increasing school enrolments, and Concern has worked since arriving during the Mozam-bican civil war in 1987 to keep students in schools.
“Education is a primary focus for us,” says Concern’s Angela O’Neill, who explains how “poorer children often drop out because their families cannot afford to keep them in school,” but adds that enrolment rates have been steadily increasing.
“When we talk about Mozambique, we’re talking about a country with fantastic natural resources, but yet so many people are subsistence farming and living below the poverty line,” says O’Neill.
Many of the country’s natural resources have gone untapped, a result of poor farming techniques and a lack of capital to irrigate and cultivate land. Concern has undertaken crop and livestock diversification programmes, provided tools and education to modernise agricultural techniques, and provided education and aid for flood and drought mitigation – regular problems for the country’s farmers.
Another problem concerns landmines. Mozambique was once one of the most heavily landmined areas in the world, meaning that those who wanted to expand agriculture, road building or resource development often took their lives in their hands. But after years of de-mining efforts, Irish Aid recently declared the northern province of Niassa to be “mine impact free” and projects that by 2010 the entire country will be free of landmines. This will open up land for new farms and natural resources to help beat back poverty.
But not all charitable efforts have been as successful. According to Irish Aid, HIV/Aids is recognised as the “single biggest threat to poverty reduction”, and is a particular concern in the entire southern Africa region. Mozambique’s adult HIV prevalence rate is 16.2 percent – the tenth highest in the world, and a number that continues to rise at the rate of about 500 new infections a day.
Trócaire, Concern, and VSO Ireland are all active in prevention and post-infection care efforts, and have worked hard to combat the spread of the virus. For example, the number of people in Mozambique on anti-retroviral treatment has jumped from 2,000 in 2002 to 78,000 in 2007. But no charity is saying that is near enough.
“Anti-retroviral therapy isn’t even available through much of Mozambique,” says O’Neill. “It’s a huge issue of world health and poverty that just can’t be ignored.”
And while Mozam-bique has been called “Africa’s rising star” for its economic growth, political stability, and burgeoning tourism industry, the global economic climate may threaten to undo much progress.
A 24-per-cent cut in funding for international aid from the Irish Government has dealt a significant blow to Irish charities operating in Mozambique. VSO Ireland has estimated that 2,800 Mozambicans receiving some sort of VSO aid have been abandoned due to cuts.
“What these cuts mean is that there is a great uncertainty in all of our programs,” says Malcolm Quigley, director of VSO Ireland. “Now we are all wondering if we are going to go through another round of cuts, and what programs we will be able to keep.”
It is certainly a blow to efforts that have been steadily, if slowly, winning Mozambique’s complex poverty war.
