Since the beginning of this year, Mozambique has treated 9,250 victims of violence throughout the country, including 4,556 women, 991 men, 3,301 children and 402 elderly people.

The figures were released yesterday, Monday (25), by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Action during the launch of the 16 Days of Activism campaign under the slogan "United to End Violence against Women Towards the 30th Beijing Declaration".

On that occasion, the deputy minister, Lucas Mangrasse, was quoted by the AIM that "these figures show that violence continues to claim victims and must be combated with the involvement of the family, religious institutions and the state in society".

"The Mozambican Executive assumes that women and men enjoy equal rights and opportunities for the development of the country. For this reason, the country has approved a number of normative instruments, from the approval of the Gender Policy, its implementation strategy, family and inheritance laws, to preventing and combating violence against women, among others," he said.

As a result, Mangrasse explains that in the education sector there has been an increase in the retention of children in school, especially girls in primary education, which has gone from two million pupils in 1995, of whom 42% were girls, to more than nine million in 2023 of whom 49.9% were girls.

Meanwhile, in the area of sexual reproductive health, there has been an expansion of family planning services, cervical cancer screening and antiretroviral treatment (ART).

"From 2009 to 2023, maternal mortality fell from 450 to 400 per 100,000 live births, an increase in households benefiting from social assistance programs and other forms of support that have resulted in women and men being able to cope with the effects of disasters.

Victims of domestic violence were assisted through multisectoral mechanisms via the 26 integrated care centers for victims of violence.

Even so, the government is aware that there is still a lot to be done for girls, which is why it continues to carry out actions to empower women, girls and other stakeholders.

"We have seen progress in women's access to water, sanitation, safe land and productive means, especially in rural areas. We are pleased to see women working as machinists, mechanics, locksmiths and others," she said.

(Photo DR)