MOZAMBIQUE AMONG WORLD’S TOP 50 PEACEFUL COUNTRIES
Maputo, 17 Jun (AIM) - Mozambique remains among the world’s top 50 most peaceful nations, taking the 48th position, for the second consecutive year, on the 2012 Global Peace Index (GPI) released in London last week.
The GPI is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). It gauges on-going domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society and militarization in 158 countries by taking into account 23 separate indicators.
Mozambique is in a better position compared to other countries from the Southern African region, such as Democratic Republic of Congo (154), Zimbabwe (140), South Africa (127), Madagascar (99), Angola (95), Swaziland (85), Malawi (60), Tanzania (55), Lesotho (53), Zambia (51) and Namibia (49).
Botswana is the most peaceful country is the region, taking the 31 place.
On top of the table is Iceland followed by Denmark , New Zealand , Canada , Japan , Austria , Ireland , Slovenia , Finland and Switzerland .
The least peaceful countries are Pakistan , Israel , Central African Republic , North Korea , Russia , Democratic Republic of Congo , Iraq , Sudan , Afghanistan and Somalia , which is ranked the least peaceful country according to the GPI.
The report sates that all regions apart from the Middle East and North Africa saw an improvement, with Sub-Saharan Africa lifting off of the bottom spot for the first time since the GPI was launched in 2007.
Madagascar , Gabon and Botswana experienced notable improvements over the past year and the region also shows the largest improvement in ‘Relations with Neighbouring States’ from 2009 to 2012.
Through its decline in peacefulness the Middle East and North Africa is now the least peaceful region globally. The drop largely reflects the upheaval and instability driven by the Arab Spring.
“What comes across dramatically in this year’s results and the six year trends is a shift in global priorities. Nations have become externally more peaceful as they compete through economic, rather than military means. The results for Sub Saharan Africa as a whole are particularly striking – regional wars have waned as the African Union strives to develop economic and political integration.” said Steve Killelea, founder and Executive Chairman of the IEP.
The IEP is an international non-profit research organization dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress.
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61612E CASHEW PRODUCTION HITS 10-YEAR LOW
Maputo, 17 Jun (AIM) – Mozambique’s cashew nuts production fell dramatically in agricultural season 2011/2012, the lowest in the last ten years.
In that period production reached 64,000 tonnes, down from the 113,000 reported in the previous year, when Mozambique also reached its peak in cashew production.
Quoted in the daily paper “Diario de Mocambique”, director of the government’s National Cashew Institute (INCAJU), Filomena Maiopue, attributes the decline to year-to-year natural variations of the cashew tree.
Speaking last week, on the sidelines of INCAJU national meeting on planning, held in the district of Dondo, in the central province of Sofala, Maiopue explained that "when cashew peaks in a certain year it is followed by a sharp decline in the following year. This is the natural cycle of the cashew tree."
Also, the last marketing season was marked by a 40 per cent decline compared to the previous year, said Maiopue, explaining that this was due to the world’s economic downturn that reduced demand for cashew nuts in the international market.
Other factors that contributed for the poor marketing season include low selling prices, which fell from 19 meticais (about 68 cents of the US dollar) to 13 meticais per kilo.
"This forced a number of producers to retain their production hoping to get better prices later, which never happened due to the lack of money," she said, adding that currently there huge amounts of cashew nuts in possession of peasant farmers.
Cashew is one of the major sources for much needed hard currency in the country. Official figures reveal that cashew exports rose from 13.7 million US dollars in 2000 to 39.5 million dollars in 2010.
To boost production, last year INCAJU approved its master plan for the period 2011/2020, which among others envisages an increase in the amount of unprocessed nuts sold by peasant producers to reach the figure of 180,000 tonnes a year by 2020.
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62612E USAID REITERATES ITS SUPPORT TO MOZAMBIQUE ’S DEVELOPMENT
Washington, 17 Jun - The Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Rajiv Shah, on Friday reiterated his country's commitment for the expansion of its programmes for Mozambique ’s development.
This commitment was made during a meeting with Mozambique’s First Lady, Maria Guebuza, held on the sidelines of a high level forum convened by the governments of the United States, India and Ethiopia in collaboration with UNICEF on the theme “Child Survival Call to Action”, which took place on Thursday and Friday at Georgetown University, in Washington.
According to Shah, a USAID delegation is expected to visit Mozambique between July and August to study the best ways to help Mozambique to develop its agricultural sector. This follows a decision of President Barack Obama’s administration to ensure food security in the country.
Currently, Mozambique is among the top 10 African recipients of United States aid.
"Under the G-8 we agreed with Japan to create a basis for joint cooperation to help Mozambique develop its agriculture," said Shah.
On the occasion, the First Lady asked for the USAID support to include livestock production, since it plays a major role in the fight against malnutrition through milk production and its derivatives.
"We want to complete the basis for cooperation to grant adequate resources to meet Mozambique ’s needs. This program will include livestock production, as in the case of other countries such as Kenya ," said Shah.
Maria Guebuza explained that Mozambique is gifted with huge tracts of arable land and water resources, but still lacks the skills and resources to fully exploit its potential, with farming still heavily dependent on rainfall and rudimentary agricultural techniques.
As for child survival initiatives, Rajiv Shah said he was impressed with the efforts made by Mozambican First Lady.
To express his satisfaction, Shah pledged to help the Mozambican authorities to implement country’s health programmes for 2013, including vaccination programme against rotavirus and pneumucocus which play a key role for child survival.
Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe gastroenteritis in children, an infection that attacks the stomach and intestines. A large percentage of cases of severe diarrhoea in children under five years are caused by rotavirus.
Pneumucocus, for its part, is a bacterium responsible for many diseases such as pneumonia and meningitis, among others.
USAID Administrator also pledged to help the country on family planning, construction of “casas mãe espera” (houses for expecting women) in rural areas, among other actions which may contribute to safeguard children’s and mothers’ lives.
Maria da Luz also asked for support on training for paediatricians and multipurpose health workers and provision of mobile clinics.
According to Maria Guebuza, the existing houses for expecting women are small size, with tiny rooms, and built with flimsy materials, and sometimes forced to accommodate over 50 pregnant expectant mothers.
As for the mobile clinics, Maria da Luz explained that play an important role to reduce the distances to reach the nearest health facility. In many cases people still have to walk over 10 kilometres to reach the nearest health centre in rural areas.
Maria da Luz took the opportunity to invite Shah to visit Mozambique to learn on the ground the plight of people, particularly women and children.
In attendance of the meeting were high ranking government officials, including Deputy Health Minister, Nazira Abdula.
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63612E AT LEAST 20 ELDERLY PEOPLE KILLED OVER WITCHCRAFT ALLEGATIONS
Maputo, 17 Jun (AIM) - At least 20 elderly people were killed in Mozambique between 2010 and 2011 over witchcraft allegations, and many others were physically, sexually psychologically abused and deprived of food assistance.
Speaking in Maputo on Friday, during the celebrations of the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), Chairperson of the Third Age Forum, Antonio Sitoe, said that witchcraft and other superstitious allegations are the leading causes behind the increasing cases of violence against elderly people across the country.
Figures from the Office for Assistance of Women and Children Victims of Domestic Violence of the Mozambican police, show that over 60 cases of violence against elderly people were reported in the first quarter of this year alone, in six provinces across the country.
Quoted by the daily paper “Noticias”, Sitoe explained that often elderly people are accused of witchcraft and very seldom find a satisfactory answer when they report their cases to the local police stations, which worsens their plight.
For Sitoe, the rates of violence against that elderly show an alarming increasing trend across the country, hence the need for increased efforts to combat this evil.
Antonio Sitoe pointed out that a number of elderly people have under their responsibility to take care of orphaned children, grandchildren and among other dependents, which means that abusing or killing them leads to the suffering of many people.
Janet Duffield, director of Beira-based NGO HelpAge, also agrees that there is growing trend in the number of cases of violence against the elderly, hence the need for the adoption of a law to protect this vulnerable group.
"It demands the will of all social actors to overcome this evil," said Duffield.
A study carried out by HelpAge in the districts of Boane, Manhiça and city of Matola , in the southern province of Maputo , found that six out of ten elderly women interviewed had been victim of violence and at least four had their property stolen.
Duffield acknowledges that these figures could be just the tip of the iceberg, since many cases remain unreported. Therefore, she argues that there is a need to launch a nationwide awareness campaign to encourage people to denounce these evil acts to the authorities.
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