Toward Gender Equality in Mozambique

This is an update of the previous Gender Profi le for Mozambique which was produced in 2000. Sida produces gender profi les for several countries with the purpose of providing a short and concise summary of the gender equality situation in partner countries. The profi e is a desk study reviewing and compiling available statistical material that may be of interest to anyone interested in women’s social, economic and legal position and understanding gender relations in Mozambique. The human development indicators show that signifi cant gender gaps exist in Mozambique. Thus a study of gender relations must repeatedly stress the relative deprivation of women in relation to men. The present profile emphasizes data that illustrates the relative position of men and women rather than attempting to capture and analyze gender relations in the whole country. A detailed discussion of gender relations for each thematic area would require extensive data and sociological/anthropological literature on the construction and dynamics of power relations between men and women in relation to that specifi c aspect of public and private life. For the most part, this kind of data is not available in Mozambique. Thus, the profile gives an overview of the types of issues women face as well as a brief indication of what is being done to address these challenges. Sida has developed generic terms of reference that identify specific issues and topics to be dealt with in individual country profi les. While the updated country profi le for Mozambique addresses all of the issues and topics described in the generic terms of reference, the data is presented in a specific sequence in order to more closely reflect the structure of the PARPA (Poverty Reduction Programme) and PES (Social and Economic Plan) of the Government of Mozambique. The PARPA and PES are central planning instruments for the Government; it is thus considered that this structure highlights potential linkages between Government priorities and Sida’s own development cooperation planning.