Multidimensional Child Poverty in Mozambique
Out of 14 million children, nearly 10 million across the country experience poverty in one form or another.
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Highlights
Mozambique experienced significant growth between 2000 and 2016, when GDP per capita1 more than doubled. However, children did not fully share the benefits; they are, in fact, likely to be among the most deprived children in the world as they live in a country with some of the highest levels of extreme poverty (64 per cent).This reality is the result of a long-term process of unequal growth and limited policy reforms in key sectors benefiting children. Moreover, the recent disaster caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth highlighted the extreme vulnerability of the country to natural disasters and their devastating impact on the lives of the most vulnerable, especially children.
There is much uncertainty about the levels of Mozambique’s social priority spending by 2024, which will depend on internal growth rates, the external context, and the outcome of the Government’s negotiations with donors. There is no doubt, however, about the urgency with which the country needs to address poverty and deprivation of children and their families, while reducing alarming equity gaps.
A coherent policy effort that the Government of Mozambique delivers now and in the near future will determine the opportunities available to over 14 million children and adolescents a decade from today in 2030, the target year for accountability on the country’s progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This report presents the level of poverty and deprivation of children (ages 0−17) in Mozambique, based on a multidimensional poverty analysis, a child-centred approach that identifies the scale and severity of deprivations in key areas of child well-being using the national Household Budget Survey (IOF) 2014/2015.
