Background

Despite rich natural resources—diamonds and precious metals in South Africa, and fertile agricultural areas in Zimbabwe and Mozambique—the southern Africa region faces widespread poverty and inequality.

Mozambique is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, with a per capita income of $210. Its 18.9 million people are predominantly rural and poor, with an extremely low level of literacy, short life expectancy, and limited access to health services and safe water. Each year roughly 190,000 children below the age of five die of preventable diseases.

Although it is the continent's economic powerhouse, South Africa is going through a difficult transition: from apartheid to a future of shared opportunity. The government is now working to increase housing and jobs and combat HIV/AIDS, which infects about 20 percent of the 44.2 million people who live there.

Zimbabwe, which used to be southern Africa's bread basket, has suffered its own dramatic downturn. An estimated five million people will require food aid this year, inflation is sky-rocketing, and life expectancy is falling, now down to 43 years of age.

Challenges to prosperity

HIV/AIDS is taking a devastating toll on the region. According to 2002 figures from UNAIDS, the infection rate in Mozambique for 15-49 year olds is 12 percent; South Africa is closer to 20 percent; and Zimbabwe is 33 percent. As a result, millions of children lose their parents and must fend for themselves.

Women in southern Africa are particularly vulnerable to poverty and the scourge of HIV/AIDS. Female-headed households represent a disproportionately large share of the poorest in the region, and some laws in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa—which have not changed very much since the end of the colonial era—are biased against women. This inequality constrains women in the inheritance of land and other property, as well as in marriage and divorce. Unequal access to education has left many women illiterate and unaware of their rights.

HIV/AIDS Crisis in South Africa

Southern Africa, home of a mere two percent of the world's population, is the site of 30 percent of HIV/AIDS-infected people. More than half of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the region are women. And a recent UN report shows that in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Zambia, 75 percent of the infected people in the 15-24 age group, the most heavily infected, are females.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is hitting women the hardest because they are the poorest, least powerful members of society. They suffer high rates of domestic and sexual violence, and endure discrimination in laws, policies, and traditions that deny them basic rights. The intersection of the HIV/AIDS crisis with poverty, unemployment, lack of education, and responsibilities for caring for sick family members further limits opportunities for women and girls. AIDS death rates for women will have serious implications for the future of the region.

Oxfam America is building on its successful program of women's rights to address gender inequalities in the areas of public health policy, law, and human rights that are contributing to the severity of the HIV/AIDS crisis, particularly for women. Immediate target countries for this program are Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa.

Change is possible: Recent legal reforms in Mozambique, where a new Family Law allows women greater rights than ever, as well as an influential women's rights coalition in Zimbabwe that is pushing for a new law on domestic violence, show the potential.

Expanding on these legal reform efforts, Oxfam America is helping organizations seeking to accomplish the following:

• Promote equitable access to social services such as health care and education, social security programs, law enforcement, and treatment for HIV/AIDS patients.
• Defend women's rights, promote human rights education, and other efforts to shift society and traditions to better respect for women.
• Free women, girls, and AIDS orphans from all forms of violence, help them defend their rights and protect their safety and health.
• Advocate for better laws ands policies that respect women's rights.