Left with nothing

While visiting various projects in Mozambique's Zambezia Province in the north of the country last year, Chris McIvor, programme director of Save the Children, a UK-based non-governmental organisation that helps children in need, came across a house being built for four orphaned children aged between three and 12.

"What has happened to the original house where they lived with their mother and father? Why are they not living there?" he asked the community. The answer was that their father's extended family had taken it; they had taken all the children's belongings too, leaving them with nothing.

Despite the existence of inheritance laws that protect the rights of children and women, McIvor learnt that this was a common problem in Mozambique. A recent Save the Children report, Denied our rights: Women, Children and Inheritance in Mozambique, covered the issue in four provinces: Gaza in the south, centrally located Manica, and Zambezia and Nampula in the north.

Researchers found that in many instances extended family members supported orphans related to them, but there were some cases where, instead of protecting the children, they were exploiting them.

Mozambique has an HIV/ AIDS prevalence of over 16 percent and rising, so "orphanhood is assuming the proportions of a national catastrophe", the report said.

This is borne out in a recent Child Poverty Situation Analysis by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), which estimated that the country had 1.6 million orphans, of whom more than 380,000 had lost their parents to AIDS-related illnesses. The analysis forecast that the number of AIDS orphans would rise to 626,000 in 2010.

Cultural justification

McIvor told IRIN that the excuse of "culture" or "tradition" was often used to justify seizing property from children or women. "In my view there is no such thing as a fixed and unified culture ... And we have made it very clear in this report that we are not presenting a condemnation of the culture that exists in rural areas of Mozambique. What we are saying, however, is that arguments from tradition and culture can never be used to justify the exploitation and abuse of children and women."

What we are saying, however, is that arguments from tradition and culture can never be used to justify the exploitation and abuse of children and women

In patrilineal societies, mainly in Mozambique's southern and central regions, widows and girl orphans were often seen as the temporary guardians of assets, whereas a male heir could ensure continuity of the family.

"Local custom assumes that daughters and widows will have the chance to marry, which means the inherited assets would leave the deceased man's family ... In many cases, the family of the deceased man will feel that they have the right to claim the most valued items of the deceased," the report commented.

The value assigned to various items, from animals to axes, and even domestic utensils, varied from region to region, depending on the predominant economic activity.

One boy told a group discussion about the plight of some other orphaned children: "They [the children] knew that the father had a bicycle, but they said that the family of the deceased took it. They said that as they are children they are still too young to keep these things. They took all the clothing, the wardrobe, and the bicycle. If there had been a motorcycle they would have taken it.

"They only left things that are good for nothing, such as torn socks, a plate burned on one side; another one they also left because they said they couldn't use it, and they left behind the house because it had collapsed on one side."

Verbal wills

The report noted that making a will was not a common practice, especially in rural areas. "A will needs to be written by a registered authority, and many villages and communities do not have such a facility. It also requires appropriate papers from the father, mother and children, which are often lacking in parts of the country where the issuing of birth certificates and other ID [identity] documents is rare."

Save the Children found that it was normal for people to declare orally who should inherit their assets, "but verbal communication without a written and verified document to back it up is not respected in the eyes of the law".

Many community leaders, "most of whom are men, are still not aware of their [widows' and orphaned children's] rights under law". "A widow also faces the possibility of being ostracised by her family or being labeled a witch and could be accused of being responsible for her husband's death," the authors wrote.

They [relatives] only left things that are good for nothing, such as torn socks, a plate burned on one side; another one they also left because they said they couldn't use it, and they left behind the house because it had collapsed on one side

Widows also often lost their inheritance because they refused to participate in ceremonies, such as those for "purification". "The purification rite may require the widow to have sex with one of her late husband's family members. Because of the risk of HIV infection, however, sex is gradually being replaced in some areas with a more symbolic ceremony, or by taking herbal medicine prepared by a traditional healer."

Traditional leaders should be supported, informed and encouraged to do more to ensure that the culture they presided over did not receive a "bad name because it is used to justify disinheritance of more vulnerable sections of the society", the report said.

McIvor pointed out that many of Mozambique's progressive laws did not "adequately penetrate many rural communities. They are sometimes poorly enforced, and women and children are not made aware of them so that they can contest what happens to them when their property is seized".

The dissemination of information through radio, theatre, brochures and leaflets, posters, discussion groups and training community workers in legal issues would help, he suggested. "But, in some cases, if punitive action is taken it would send a message."

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