Mozambique president calls for action on poverty
20/07/2010
The president of Mozambique, Armando Guebuza, has urged people living in the southern province of Gaza to continue with their efforts to combat poverty in the region.
The president made the plea while speaking at a rally in the district of Chigubo. During his speech, he encouraged local residents to make sure they do not lose focus and interest in ongoing attempts to lower poverty levels.
Guebuza called poverty "the main enemy" of the nation.
"When we defeat spiritual poverty we are in better condition to defeat material poverty that will then become a thing of the past," he said.
The province of Gaza has the highest rate of HIV and AIDs in the whole of Mozambique and three of its districts still do not have access to mains power, instead relying on diesel-powered generators which provide just a few hours of electricity each day.
Meanwhile, a report recently released by the Mozambique government showed that nearly 12 per cent of its population aged between 11 and 49 have HIV or AIDs.
Written by Clare Devlin.
