Children and women's rights to property and inheritance in Mozambique

Women and childrens' insecure rights to property and inheritance in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa is not a new issue. The extended family support systems that used to function as social safety nets for widows and orphaned children have weakened as a consequence of societal changes such as economic development, migration and urbanization. This situation has clearly been exacerbated by the AIDS epidemic. Though prevalence is starting to level off, or even decline, in several high prevalence countries, this comes after years of increasing prevalence. In Mozambique, 2007 prevalence was 12.5 percent, an increase from 10.3 percent in 2001. Increasing mortality due to HIV leads to growing numbers of widows (and widowers) and orphans and can amplify the challenges women and children already face in securing their rights to property and inheritance. The main objective of this report is to propose possible entry points for interventions, key messages and activities to lay down the basis for a strategy to secure women and children’s rights to inheritance and property. Its intended audience are government institutions, national and international NGOs and communitybased organizations that could intervene in different areas of work, based on their specific mandates and capacities.