Favourable IMF report on PRSP, MDG progress

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) review of Mozambique's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and economic and social plan for 2003 says the country is well placed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are a set of objectives for human development, to be met by 2015, agreed to by the 147 countries that are signatories to the Millennium Declaration of September 2000. The goals are, broadly, to: eradicate poverty and food insecurity; attain universal primary education; promote gender equality; reduce infant mortality; improve maternal health; fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; guarantee environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development. In terms of reducing extreme poverty and food insecurity, the central objective of Mozambique's PRSP (also known by its Portuguese acronym PARPA) is to bring poverty down to below 60 percent of the population by 2005 - a goal the review says "has already been met", however, "despite these favourable trends, poverty levels remain high". Regarding education, "the main sectarian indicators show a positive tendency" and were the result of improved access to all levels of education, "with special attention to girls". Although there was "strong growth in admission rates" at primary schools, an evaluation of education sector spending showed that current government expenditure was "still insufficient". "Secondly, as suggested by the high repetition rates, the quality of primary education remains low. Thirdly, the enrolment rates for upper primary education continues to be disappointing," the IMF noted. Both these problems were being tackled through various efforts, including teacher training and the introduction of a new curriculum that merges primary and upper primary education. The health sector showed "real possibilities of achieving the MDG targets", as the country had made significant progress in reducing child mortality but, to meet the child mortality MDG, Mozambique needed to reduce the mortality rate of children under five from 277 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1994 to 82 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015. "The mortality rate for children under five in 2002 was 135 per 1,000 births. This shows that it is possible to meet this MDG by 2015," the review noted. Great strides had also been made in improving maternal health. HIV/AIDS remained an "enormous challenge", with the prevalence rate rising steadily from 8.2 percent of the population aged 15 to 49 years being positive in 1998, to 14 percent of adults between 15 and 49 years in 2003. "If the historic trend is followed without an immediate and efficient intervention it [the prevalence rate] is expected to reach 16.8 percent by 2010," the report warned. The country also faced "huge challenges" in terms of repair and maintenance of the infrastructure, after road and rail networks were badly damaged during the civil war. The aim is to reduce the number of "non-passable" roads to under 5 percent, and bring the number of roads in poor condition to below 25 percent by 2005. "The agriculture sector shows a high growth, recording a meaningful recovery in the production of some crops such as tobacco and vegetables," the IMF noted. It concluded that these indicators, as well as legislative reforms and improved financial administration, had directed public resources "to areas considered as strategic in the fight against poverty".